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Efficient cooling of the mold is important for high-speed plastic injection molding. We have tested the performance of two different molds. One with conventional cooling channels and one made from SSAB AM steel powder.
The additive manufacturing (AM) mold has cooling channels that would be impossible to manufacture in any other way than with AM. The homogeneity of the printed steel mold makes it highly suitable for polishing and other surface treatment procedures.
The results are impressive. The AM mold stayed much cooler even when the cycle time was reduced by 30%. After 6 months of operation the AM mold showed no signs of wear.
A conventional CNC-machined mold has straight cooling channels placed at a large distance from the mold’s surface.
Cooling channels in a mold made with additive manufacturing allow for very efficient heat transfer since they can be placed just a few mm from the surface.