Tool steels have historically been over-used for injection mold cores and cavities, simply because they've been both cheap and familiar. But soaring price tags on many tool steels, coupled with the push for more productive molding operations, is triggering an investigation of alternative mold construction materials. While not necessarily cheaper than steel on a price basis, these alternatives have thermal engineering or maintenance cost advantages that make them more attractive than ever. Copper alloys are one choice. They can speed the removal of heat from critical sections of the tool, potentially improving cycle times 20 to 50 percent and even improving the dimensional stability of the molded parts themselves. Look for more stainless steels, too. Stainless has always been the material of choice when molding acid-emitting resins, such as PVC. But now use of stainless is spreading, particularly for expensive tools, because corrosion-related maintenance efforts and costs are reduced through the life of the tool. Finally, important advances are also under development with aluminum mold materials, particularly in strength, surface hardness, corrosion resistance, and uniformity after heat treating (go to the Design News Materials Forum at http://rbi.ims.ca/4921-511 for more information). Here's a look at three recent mold materials that can serve as steel stand-ins:
Improved Stainless RoyAlloy is a new stainless mold-base steel, developed by Edro Specialty Steels, to overcome shortcomings associated with prehardened 420F (1.2085) stainless holder steels: a lack of toughness, unpredictable stability, inconsistent machinability and poor weldability. Edro says thermal treatments give the material improved dimensional stability after machining without the need for stress relieving. Simplified Plumbing The photo shows a MoldStar 90 beryllium-free copper alloy core for a 32-cavity mold running a polypropylene part used in a packaging application. "Because of the conductivity of the alloy, a water channel is cut only in the base of the core, in place of an intricate, small, water system normally needed had the material been tool steel," comments Cliff Moberg, president of Performance Alloys.
Molding Mounds MoldMAX V is a new copper-nickel-silicon-chrome alloy that has a hardness of 30 HRC and thermal conductivity approximately four to five times greater than P20 tool steel. The new grade is the second in a series of non-beryllium-copper alloys introduced by Brush Wellman. Moldmax XL is a copper-nickel-tin alloy with similar properties.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Designing and filling a new type of water bottle might take less engineering work, but the description will help kids understand how science, math, and engineering influence their lives even through things that seem mundane.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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