Conformal cooling is a process in which the cooling passageway follows the shape of the cavity and moulds core to promote temperature uniformity and perform rapid uniform cooling process for injection molding process.Complex geometry plastic parts take longer time for cooling. Also, curved surface and varying wall thickness of plastic part hinders uniform cooling which results in residual stresses built-up which causes warpage.
There are several benefits of using additive manufacturing for conformal cooling such as improved product quality, energy savings, scrap reduction, productivity and overall efficiency. Using Additive Manufacturing for conformal cooling is more effective when the production volume is large and the parts have complex geometry. When using 3D printing, an excellent surface finish can be acquired, cycle time can be reduced drastically as much as 70% in some cases, and production costs can be lowered significantly.
Metal 3D printing has helped enormously in the conformal cooling process to increase the productivity and quality of plastic parts. Injection molding is an effective manufacturing technology in itself, but it has room for improvement, and additive manufacturing can make it more efficient.
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