Abstract
The soft tooling process chain consists of two major process steps, i.e., additive manufacturing of a soft tool followed by injection moulding [1]. A pair of moulds produced by vat photopolymerization can last up to 1000 cycles in a typical injection moulding process [2]. This process is suitable for prototype productions and pilot productions due to improved geometrical freedom, short lead time and low cost.
In this research, soft tooling was investigated for micro structuring on injection moulded surfaces. Com-pared with conventional machining methods, additive manufacturing enables fabrication of micro fea-tures on 3D surfaces and freeform surfaces. Applications that applied soft tooling for micro structuring on different surfaces are presented.
It is possible to use metal inserts on a soft tooling mould, in order to achieve dimensions that is beyond the capability of current 3D printing. Difference of expansion coefficient between metal and photopoly-mer resin did not lead to failure during injection moulding.
Not only polymer injection moulding, but metal powder injection moulding was investigated as well using soft tooling. A water-soluble mould produced by additive manufacturing enables the feasibility of powder injection moulding based routes for production of complex 3D geometries. It is demonstrated in this study that micro features like micro pillars and holes can be obtained on the surfaces [3].
Soft tooling, where polymer additive manufacturing is used for mould fabrication, has brought new pos-sibilities with respect to obtainable geometries for complex mould parts and micro structuring on sur-faces. This process is suitable for small batch production, pilot production or prototype production.
In this research, soft tooling was investigated for micro structuring on injection moulded surfaces. Com-pared with conventional machining methods, additive manufacturing enables fabrication of micro fea-tures on 3D surfaces and freeform surfaces. Applications that applied soft tooling for micro structuring on different surfaces are presented.
It is possible to use metal inserts on a soft tooling mould, in order to achieve dimensions that is beyond the capability of current 3D printing. Difference of expansion coefficient between metal and photopoly-mer resin did not lead to failure during injection moulding.
Not only polymer injection moulding, but metal powder injection moulding was investigated as well using soft tooling. A water-soluble mould produced by additive manufacturing enables the feasibility of powder injection moulding based routes for production of complex 3D geometries. It is demonstrated in this study that micro features like micro pillars and holes can be obtained on the surfaces [3].
Soft tooling, where polymer additive manufacturing is used for mould fabrication, has brought new pos-sibilities with respect to obtainable geometries for complex mould parts and micro structuring on sur-faces. This process is suitable for small batch production, pilot production or prototype production.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2022 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
| Event | Polymer Replication on Nanoscale - Online Duration: 9 May 2022 → 10 May 2022 Conference number: 8 |
Conference
| Conference | Polymer Replication on Nanoscale |
|---|---|
| Number | 8 |
| Location | Online |
| Period | 09/05/2022 → 10/05/2022 |