Evolution of Additively Manufactured Injection Molding Inserts Investigated by Thermal Simulations

Injection molding using inserts from vat polymerization, an additive manufacturing technology, has been investigated for pilot production and rapid prototyping purposes throughout the past years. A standard mold is equipped with additively manufactured inserts in a rectangular shape of (20 x 20 x 2.7) mm³ and (60 x 80 x 10) mm³ produced with vat photo polymerization. This contribution discusses the heat transportation within the inserts made from a thermoset material, brass, steel, and ceramic material. It therefore elaborates on the possibilities of injection molding as well as the thermal challenges connected with the use of polymer inserts. They are an essential part for further calibrations of the injection molding process, which suffers from reduced lifetime due to the poor thermal conductivity of polymer inserts as compared to metal inserts. Multiscale inserts combining micro features at larger inserts in the cm-range.