Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2017
24th ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Simulation study to evaluate the use of fully 3D printed injection molds optimized by topology
Submission Author:
Valter Estevão Beal , BA , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Petrucio Leal Pereira, Aline Silva, Luis Antônio Junior, Valter Estevão Beal
Presenter: Valter Estevão Beal
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2017.COB17-2730
Abstract
Nowadays the use of 3D printed molds is increasing. The reasons for the exchange from traditional tooling to 3D printed are the possibility of improvement on the conformal cooling design and building tool time in complex and detailed mold impressions. In this context and based on the perspective that the costs of metallic materials and time of 3D printing machines tend to continuously decrease with new technologies and companies, it is possible to see a variety of new possibilities of manufacturing metallic injection molds through 3D printing methods. Thus, the objective of this study is to verify the possibility of using 3D printing process to manufacture a whole injection mold, reducing weight and manufacturing time, without compromising its functionality and mechanical performance. In order to achieve the lightest possible 3D printed injection mold, it was performed in this study a topology optimization based on Finite Element Method (FEM). This optimization was carried out in a mold of cavities to inject two specimens of type tie tensile test (ASMI E8), because it has a simple geometry, and allows an easy positioning of its extractors, guides and bushings. As result of this optimization, it was achieved a weight reduction of 41,1% of the mold.
Keywords
3D printing, Additive manufacturing, Injection molding, Topology optimization
