How can metal 3D printing solve the production problem of complex mold structures?

1, A flexible cooling water circuit that solves the main problem with injection molding
The speed of manufacturing and the quality of the products depend on how well the injection molds cool. Straight hole cooling water channels are used in traditional molds. These channels are hard to stick to complicated cavity surfaces, which causes too much local temperature variation and product flaws like warping and shrinkage markings. Using topology optimization methods, metal 3D printing can create a conformal cooling water channel that perfectly matches the shape of the product. This lets you control the temperature exactly where heat is made and where it is cooled.
For example, the cooling time for the car door handle mold went from 18 seconds to 12 seconds after using a 3D printed conformal waterway. The production efficiency went up by 33%, and the product warpage deformation went down from 0.8mm to 0.2mm. The pass rate went up from 92% to 98.5%. More crucially, this concept breaks past the physical restrictions of existing methods - within a 0.5mm thick mold core wall, a spiral cooling channel with a diameter of 2mm may be created to build a three-dimensional cooling network. The conformal waterway on the home appliance shell mold printed by Zhongrui Technology's iSLM420 equipment enhances the life of the mold by 40% and cuts the number of cracks caused by heat fatigue by 75%.
2, Innovation in lattice structure: making molds lighter and combining different functions
In the subject of die-casting molds, thermal fatigue of high-temperature alloy materials is a major reason why they don't last as long as they could. Metal 3D printing uses biomimetic lattice structures to make things lighter, improve heat conduction pathways, and keep things strong. The die casting mold for a specific aircraft engine blade used a TPMS (Three Period Minimally Curved Surface) lattice design. This cut the weight of the mold core by 35% and doubled its resilience to thermal shock. The continuous production cycle was lengthened from 5000 to 12000 molds.
This structural benefit is especially important when making parts for insulation. The insulation mesons in standard hot runner systems are solid, but 3D printing can make hollow hexagonal lattice mesons that are 60% more efficient at keeping heat from moving from the splitter plate to the mold. This design cuts the injection molding cycle by 22% and the amount of energy used by 18% in molds for medical consumables.
3, Micro porous exhaust system: solving the industry challenge of trapped gas deficiencies
When injecting molding, if the gas inside the mold cavity can't be released quickly enough, it might produce problems like gas streaks and burning on the product's surface. There are two main problems with traditional breathable steel inserts: first, they can only allow air to flow in one direction, and second, stress tends to build up at the point where the breathable area meets the dense area. Metal 3D printing breaks beyond these limits and can generate porous objects with multi-directional breathability.
Laser Luminescence's third-generation breathable steel method improves the laser scanning approach to create a dense breathable layer on the mold's surface with a pore size of 0.04mm. At the same time, it builds a three-dimensional connected pore network inside the mold. In the application of car dashboard molds, this concept reduces the trapped gas defect rate from 15% to 0.3%, without the requirement for extra exhaust ports, simplifying the mold construction. More importantly, 3D printing can make breathable parts and mold bodies work together, which means that there is no possibility of seam leaking like there is with traditional inlay procedures.
4, Integrated Manufacturing of Complex Parts: Changing the Value Chain of Mold Processing
In traditional mold making, the "separate processing + assembly" technique is used. This means that important parts like hot nozzles, inclined tops, and mold core pads need to go through several steps. Metal 3D printing shapes these complicated elements all at once using the idea of "integrated manufacturing." For instance, the hot nozzle system of the frame mold of a certain brand of mobile phone needs 12 parts to be put together in the usual way. With 3D printing, you may make an entire hot nozzle with an integrated flow channel and heating element installation groove. The assembly time is cut down from 8 hours to 0.5 hours, and the problem of breakage caused by thermal expansion and contraction is totally solved by cutting down on seams.
This change is most noticeable when making pieces with thin walls. The VoxelDance Engineering simulation program developed by Manga method has successfully solved the printing deformation problem of 316L stainless steel thin-walled parts (wall thickness 0.3mm) with the "scanning deformation compensation" method. This method makes parts for car grille molds more accurate, going from ± 0.5mm to ± 0.08mm. It also cuts the research and development period by 60% and enhances material use by 45%.
5, Technological integration: setting up a new paradigm of mold production
Metal 3D printing does not exist in isolation, but is thoroughly interwoven with technologies such as simulation analysis and intelligent detection. Zhongrui Technology's machines have a multi-layer optimized wind field system that can keep an eye on the temperature field of the powder bed in real time. It can also automatically change the laser settings to make up for thermal stress and reach a density of 99.95% for large molds (like car bumper molds that are 1.2m × 0.8m). Using flow analysis tools, designers can improve the arrangement of cooling water channels during the modeling process, which is a closed-loop iteration of "design simulation printing."
In terms of cost model rebuilding, 3D printing has exhibited unique advantages. For example, making molds for 1,000 pieces costs 280,000 yuan with traditional methods (180,000 yuan for mold development), but the 3D printing solution costs 20% more per piece but doesn't have any mold development costs, bringing the total cost down to 220,000 yuan. When the iteration speed of the product exceeds the standard mold payback period (generally 12-18 months), the economy of 3D printing becomes more apparent.