Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A scaffolding architecture for conformal cooling design in rapid plastic injection moulding

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 06 December 2006

Abstract

Cooling design of plastic injection mould is important because it not only affects part quality but also the injection moulding cycle time. Traditional injection mould cooling layout is based on a conventional machining process. As the conventional drilling method limits the geometric complexity of the cooling layout, the mobility of cooling fluid within the injection mould is confined. Advanced rapid tooling technologies based on solid freeform fabrications have been exploited to provide a time-effective solution for low-volume production. In addition, research has made attempts to incorporate conformal cooling channel in different rapid tooling technologies. However, the cooling performance does not meet the mould engineer’s expectations. This paper proposes a novel scaffold cooling for the design of a more conformal and hence more uniform cooling channel. CAD model for constructing the scaffolding structure is examined and cooling performances are validated by computer-aided engineering (CAE) and computer fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Chee KC, Siaw MC (2003) Rapid prototyping technologies and limitations. Computer-aided and integrated manufacturing systems, vol. 3. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 165–185

    Google Scholar 

  2. Rees H (2002) Mold engineering. Hanser, Munich

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bryce DM (1998) Plastic injection molding, mold design and construction fundamentals. Soc Manuf Eng Dearborn

    Google Scholar 

  4. Grimm T (2004) User’s guide to rapid prototyping. Soc Manuf Eng Dearborn

    Google Scholar 

  5. Decelles P (1999) Direct AIM prototype tooling procedural guide. 3D Systems, CA

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hilton PD (2000) Rapid tooling technologies and industrial applications. Marcel Dekker, New York

    Google Scholar 

  7. Harper CA (1992) Handbook of plastics, elastomers, and composites. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bennett G (1997) Developments in rapid prototyping and tooling. Mechanical Engineering Publications Limited, UK

    Google Scholar 

  9. Xu X, Sachs E, Allen S (2001) The design of conformal cooling channels in injection molding tooling. Polym E Sci 41:1265–1279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Li CL (2001) A feature-based approach to injection mould cooling system design. Comput Aided Des 33:1073–1090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Jacobs PF (1998) New frontiers in mold construction: high conductivity materials & conformal cooling channels. Conference of Rapid Technologies for Plastic Tooling Applications (CM99-115), pp 1–18

  12. Schmidt WR, White RD, Bird CE, Bak JV (2000) Conformal cooling versus conventional cooling: an injection molding case study with P-20 and 3DP-processed tooling. Symposium of Solid Freeform and Additive Fabrication, pp 51–56

  13. Ferreira JC, Mateus A (2003) Studies of rapid soft tooling with conformal cooling channels for plastic injection moulding. J Mater Process Technol 142:508–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Pham DT, Dimov SS (2001) Rapid manufacturing: the technologies and applications of rapid prototyping and rapid tooling. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  15. Bryden BB, Pashby IR (2001) Hot platen brazing to produce laminated steel tooling. J Mater Process Technol 110:206–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Fang Z, Starly B, Sun W (2005) Computer-aided characterization for effective mechanical properties of porous tissue scaffolds. Comput Aided Des 37:65–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Kalita SJ, Susmita B, Hosick HL (2003) Development of controlled porosity polymer-ceramic composite scaffolds via fused deposition modeling. Mater Sci E 23:611–620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Das S, Hollister SF, Flanagan C (2003) Freeform fabrication of Nylon-6 tissue engineering scaffolds. Rapid Prototyping J 9:43–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lam CXF, Mo XM, Teoh SH, Hutmacher DW (2002) Scaffold development using 3D printing with a starch-based polymer. Mater Sci E 20:49–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lal P, Sun W (2004) Computer modeling approach for microsphere-packed bone scaffold. Comput Aided Des 36:487–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Maekawa T (1998) An overview of offset curves and surfaces. Comput Aided Des 31:165–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lam TW, Yu KM, Cheung KM, Li CL (1998) Implementation an evaluation of thin-shell rapid prototype. Comput Ind 35:185–193

    Google Scholar 

  23. http://www.moldflow.com/stp/

  24. http://www.cosmosm.com/

  25. Kreith F, Bohn MS (2001) Principles of heat transfer. Brooks/Cole, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  26. http://www.solidworks.com/pages/products/cosmos/cosmosfloworks.html

  27. Lee KW (1999) Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE systems. Addison-Wesley, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  28. http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/EResnews/0005/sf/sf_4.htm

  29. Geiger M, Ozel T (2001) Development of rapid tooling for injection molding using metal-filled stereolithography (SLA) cavity inserts. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference and Exhibition on Design and Production of Dies and Molds, pp 1–4

  30. http://www.prometal.com/

Download references

Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    K. M. Au & K. M. Yu

Authors
  1. K. M. Au
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. M. Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. M. Yu.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00170-006-0879-6

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Au, K.M., Yu, K.M. A scaffolding architecture for conformal cooling design in rapid plastic injection moulding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 34, 496–515 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-006-0628-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-006-0628-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation