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Production of a multi-functional 420 stainless steel-copper surface by laser texturing and hot pressing: a new solution for plastic injection moulds

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Abstract

The aim of this work was the development, production and characterisation of a multi-functional surface, consisting of a 420 stainless steel surface textured by laser and subsequently filled with pure copper by hot pressing, for plastic injection moulds. The influence of pure copper on the physical, chemical, surface, mechanical and thermal properties was analysed. The textured pattern consisted of unidirectional lines with a machined volume of approximately 12%. The steel and pure copper interface after sintering were well defined and sharp, and no significant diffusion was observed in the multi-material part produced. The pure copper zones exhibited grains of a quite heterogeneous size (lower than 50 µm) with twins and micropores at the grain boundaries, while the 420 stainless steel consisted of an iron-rich matrix (grains lower than 10 µm) and Cr23C6. The hardness values of the 420 stainless steel and copper measured were 385 HV and 84 HV, respectively, and the thermal conductivity of the multi-material solution was ≅ 4 times higher than the 420 stainless steel (62.54 and 15.72 W/m K, respectively).

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Funding

This work is supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) through the grant SFRH/BD/147460/2019 and the project POCI-01–0247-FEDER-024533. Additionally, this work is supported by FCT national funds, under the national support to R&D unit grants, through the reference projects UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020, and UIDB/00285/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CMEMS – Center for Microelectromechanical Systems, University of Minho, Guimarães, 4800-058, Portugal

    Ângela Cunha, Ana Marques, Bruno Guimarães, Flávio Bartolomeu, Filipe Samuel Silva & Óscar Carvalho

  2. LABBELS – Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Ângela Cunha, Ana Marques, Bruno Guimarães, Flávio Bartolomeu, Filipe Samuel Silva & Óscar Carvalho

  3. School of Chemical Engineering, Aalto University Foundation, Espoo, Finland

    Michael Gasik

  4. CEMMPRE – Center for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3030-788, Portugal

    Bruno Trindade

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  1. Ângela Cunha
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  2. Ana Marques
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  3. Bruno Guimarães
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Contributions

Ângela Cunha: methodology, investigation, writing—original draft. Ana Marques: investigation, writing—review and editing. Bruno Guimarães: investigation, writing—review and editing. Flávio Bartolomeu: writing—review and editing. Filipe Samuel Silva: supervision, writing—review and editing. Michael Gasik: writing—review and editing. Bruno Trindade: conceptualization, validation, supervision, writing—review and editing. Óscar Carvalho: conceptualization, supervision, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Ângela Cunha.

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Cunha, Â., Marques, A., Guimarães, B. et al. Production of a multi-functional 420 stainless steel-copper surface by laser texturing and hot pressing: a new solution for plastic injection moulds. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 123, 1341–1352 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10252-w

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