3D printing power mold development

Ke Bingguang, Design Manager, Bangnuo Mould Processing Department, Huicheng, Xinhui District, Jiangmen City

With the introduction of the German industry 4.0, various cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent manufacturing, 3D printing and digital factories continue to develop, and a wave of high-tech and intelligent manufacturing is sweeping the globe. As an important part of industrial production, the mold industry is booming under the constant impact of this wave.

In the mold development process, the product design is very important. A well-designed product should simplify the mold structure, reduce the mold production cost and improve the service life of the mold under the premise of ensuring beautiful appearance and reasonable structure.

A good design is the beginning of success, but as the speed of product innovation continues to accelerate, the product development cycle is continuously compressed, so the use of cutting-edge technology to help the early development of the mold is imperative. Let's take the development of a brand stainless steel pot handle as an example to describe the development of 3D printing technology.

Among the many inspection standards of the pot handle, the weight and feel of the product (the comfort of the handle of the handle) are two basic but different indicators. The small and light pot handle often sacrifices the feel and shape; the design of the hand and shape is satisfied, and the pot handle may be too heavy, causing the pot to tip over due to the shift of the center of gravity. With the help of industrial 3D design software, it is possible to solve the problem that the pot is overturned due to overheating of the pot handle by analyzing the center of gravity, and the handle of the pot handle is usually solved by the hand board evaluation.

First, the original plan pot handle is processed and delivered to the customer by the CNC. The customer evaluates it and feeds back the modification plan, and then processes the corrected pot handle sample to the customer for re-evaluation. This is repeated several times until the product is finalized and then the mold is made.

Now that we have introduced 3D printing technology, this process has become more intuitive and efficient:

Firstly, the 3D model of the original Shouban solution is sent to the customer through the network, and the customer then prints the model with the desktop-level 3D printer; then the two parties directly discuss the product design and modify the plan through the network video conference; then the modified 3D model Return to the customer, and then print and video conference evaluation of the new program, until the product is finalized and then make the mold. For this type of design that only evaluates the appearance, with the desktop-level 3D printer, the internal hollowed out products are printed with PLA material, which eliminates the high CNC hand processing costs and the logistics costs and time. Designing with web video breaks the geographical restrictions and makes the entire technology exploration process intuitive and convenient.

With the continuous improvement of technology, 3D printing will be widely used in the production of molds. For example, the art deco pattern on the surface of the product is recessed, and 3D printing can replace the traditional EDM or chemical etching process. For the repair of the loss of precision molds, 3D printing can replace brush plating and laser welding to some extent.

Looking into the future, the wave of high-tech intelligence will definitely push the mold industry to a new height.