Abstract
The cooling system of plastic injection mold plays a critical role during the injection molding process. It not only affects part quality but also its cycle time. Traditionally, due to the limitations of conventional drilling methods, the cooling system of the injection mold usually consists of simple paralleled straight channels. It seriously limits the mobility of cooling fluid, which leads to the low cooling efficiency for the parts with complex free-form surfaces. In this research, an innovative design method for the cooling system of an injection mold is proposed by using conformal porous structures. The size and shape of each cell in the conformal porous structure are varied according to the shape of an injection molded part. Design cases are provided at the end of this paper to further illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method. Compared with those existing design methods for the uniform porous structures, the proposed method can further reduce the nonuniformity of the mold surface temperature distribution and decrease the pressure drop of the cooling system.
Issue Section:
Design for Manufacture and the Life Cycle
References
1.
Kalpakjian
, S.
, and Schmid
, S. R.
, 2014
, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology
, Pearson
, Upper Saddle River, NJ
.2.
Kimerling
, T.
, 2002
, Injection Molding Cooling Time Reduction and Thermal Stress Analysis
, University of Massachusetts
, Amherst
.3.
Osswald
, T. A.
, Turng
, L.-S.
, and Gramann
, P. J.
, 2002
, Injection Molding Handbook
, Hanser
, New York
.4.
Tang
, L.
, Pochiraju
, K.
, Chassapis
, C.
, and Manoochehri
, S.
, 1998
, “A Computer-Aided Optimization Approach for the Design of Injection Mold Cooling Systems
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 120
(2
), pp. 165
–174
. 5.
Huang
, J.
, and Fadel
, G. M.
, 2001
, “Bi-objective Optimization Design of Heterogeneous Injection Mold Cooling Systems
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 123
(2
), pp. 226
–239
. 6.
Xu
, X.
, Sachs
, E.
, and Allen
, S.
, 2001
, “The Design of Conformal Cooling Channels in Injection Molding Tooling
,” Polym. Eng. Sci.
, 41
(7
), pp. 1265
–1279
. 7.
Ferreira
, J.
, and Mateus
, A.
, 2003
, “Studies of Rapid Soft Tooling With Conformal Cooling Channels for Plastic Injection Moulding
,” J. Mater. Process. Technol.
, 142
(2
), pp. 508
–516
. 8.
Sachs
, E.
, Wylonis
, E.
, Allen
, S.
, Cima
, M.
, and Guo
, H.
, 2000
, “Production of Injection Molding Tooling With Conformal Cooling Channels Using the Three Dimensional Printing Process
,” Polym. Eng. Sci.
, 40
(5
), pp. 1232
–1247
. 9.
Mohammed
, M. I.
, and Gibson
, I.
, 2018
, “Design of Three-Dimensional, Triply Periodic Unit Cell Scaffold Structures for Additive Manufacturing
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 140
(7
), p. 071701
. 10.
Li
, D.
, Liao
, W.
, Dai
, N.
, Dong
, G.
, Tang
, Y.
, and Xie
, Y. M.
, 2018
, “Optimal Design and Modeling of Gyroid-Based Functionally Graded Cellular Structures for Additive Manufacturing
,” Comput. Aided Des.
, 104
, pp. 87
–99
. 11.
Tang
, Y.
, and Zhao
, Y. F.
, 2018
, “Multifunctional Design of Heterogeneous Cellular Structures
,” Struct. Multidiscipl. Optim.
, 58
(3
), pp. 1121
–1138
. 12.
Seepersad
, C. C.
, Dempsey
, B.
, Allen
, J. K.
, Mistree
, F.
, and McDowell
, D. L.
, 2004
, “Design of Multifunctional Honeycomb Materials
,” AIAA J.
, 42
(5
), pp. 1025
–1033
. 13.
Cui
, X.
, Zhao
, L.
, Wang
, Z.
, Zhao
, H.
, and Fang
, D.
, 2012
, “A Lattice Deformation Based Model of Metallic Lattice Sandwich Plates Subjected to Impulsive Loading
,” Int. J. Solids Struct.
, 49
(19–20
), pp. 2854
–2862
. 14.
Chen
, Y.
, 2007
, “3D Texture Mapping for Rapid Manufacturing
,” Comput. Aided Des. Appl.
, 4
(6
), pp. 761
–771
. 15.
Liu
, K.
, Detwiler
, D.
, and Tovar
, A.
, 2018
, “Cluster-Based Optimization of Cellular Materials and Structures for Crashworthiness
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 140
(11
), p. 111412
. 16.
Seepersad
, C. C.
, Allen
, J. K.
, McDowell
, D. L.
, and Mistree
, F.
, 2008
, “Multifunctional Topology Design of Cellular Material Structures
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 130
(3
), p. 031404
. 17.
Stanković
, T.
, Mueller
, J.
, Egan
, P.
, and Shea
, K.
, 2015
, “A Generalized Optimality Criteria Method for Optimization of Additively Manufactured Multimaterial Lattice Structures
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 137
(11
), p. 111405
. 18.
Yunlong
, T.
, and Yaoyao Fiona
, Z.
, 2016
, “A Survey of the Design Methods for Additive Manufacturing to Improve Functional Performance
,” Rapid Prototyping J.
, 22
(3
), pp. 569
–590
. 19.
Dimla
, D. E.
, Camilotto
, M.
, and Miani
, F.
, 2005
, “Design and Optimisation of Conformal Cooling Channels in Injection Moulding Tools
,” J. Mater. Process. Technol.
, 164–165
, pp. 1294
–1300
. 20.
Park
, H. S.
, and Pham
, N. H.
, 2009
, “Design of Conformal Cooling Channels for an Automotive Part
,” Int. J. Automot. Technol.
, 10
(1
), pp. 87
–93
. 21.
Wang
, Y.
, Yu
, K.-M.
, Wang
, C. C. L.
, and Zhang
, Y.
, 2011
, “Automatic Design of Conformal Cooling Circuits for Rapid Tooling
,” Comput. Aided Des.
, 43
(8
), pp. 1001
–1010
. 22.
Wang
, Y.
, Yu
, K.-M.
, and Wang
, C. C. L.
, 2015
, “Spiral and Conformal Cooling in Plastic Injection Molding
,” Comput. Aided Des.
, 63
, pp. 1
–11
. 23.
Wu
, T.
, Liu
, K.
, and Tovar
, A.
, 2017
, “Multiphase Topology Optimization of Lattice Injection Molds
,” Comput. Struct.
, 192
, pp. 71
–82
. 24.
Au
, K. M.
, and Yu
, K. M.
, 2007
, “A Scaffolding Architecture for Conformal Cooling Design in Rapid Plastic Injection Moulding
,” Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol.
, 34
(5–6
), pp. 496
–515
. 25.
Au
, K. M.
, and Yu
, K. M.
, 2011
, “Modeling of Multi-Connected Porous Passageway for Mould Cooling
,” CAD Comput. Aided Des.
, 43
(8
), pp. 989
–1000
. 26.
Dong
, G.
, Tang
, Y.
, and Zhao
, Y. F.
, 2017
, “A Survey of Modeling of Lattice Structures Fabricated by Additive Manufacturing
,” ASME J. Mech. Des.
, 139
(10
), p. 100906
. 27.
Brooks
, H.
, and Brigden
, K.
, 2016
, “Design of Conformal Cooling Layers With Self-Supporting Lattices for Additively Manufactured Tooling
,” Addit. Manuf.
, 11
, pp. 16
–22
. 28.
Nguyen
, J.
, Park
, S.-I.
, Rosen
, D. W.
, Folgar
, L.
, and Williams
, J.
, 2012
, “Conformal Lattice Structure Design and Fabrication
,” Proceedings of the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
, Austin, TX
, Aug. 6–8
, pp. 138
–161
.29.
Rosen
, D. W.
, 2007
, “Computer-Aided Design for Additive Manufacturing of Cellular Structures
,” Comput. Aided Des. Appl.
, 4
(5
), pp. 585
–594
. 30.
Thomas
, D.
, 2010
, “The Development of Design Rules for Selective Laser Melting
,” PhD, University of Wales
.31.
Ashby
, M. F.
, 2006
, “The Properties of Foams and Lattices
,” Philos. Trans. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci.
, 364
(1838
), pp. 15
–30
. 32.
Tang
, Y.
, Sheng
, Y.
, and Zhao
, Y. F.
, 2016
, “Design Method for Conformal Lattice-Skin Structure Fabricated by AM Technologies
,” ASME 2016 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
, Charlotte, NC
, Aug. 21–24
, p. V01AT02A037
. Copyright © 2019 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.
