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On the effect of shear rates on the mechanical reliability of additive manufacturing plastic moulds

Book Contribution - Book Chapter Conference Contribution

The application of additive manufacturing (AM) for the production of plastic mould inserts for injection moulding (IM) is a cost-efficient alternative for conventional mould materials, when only small series production is envisaged. However, the mechanical in-process reliability of these plastic moulds and the flow behaviour of injected plastics inside these plastic moulds is still unknown. This paper therefore investigates the effect of shear rates of PA6 during the injection moulding process on the structural reliability of Digital ABS moulds produced via AM with a Stratasys Objet 350 Connex 3. These shear rates are evaluated by means of a coupled thermal-flow numerical model, where the shear at some selected critical locations in the mould design is evaluated. Simulations are furthermore used to compare the flow inside plastic and conventional metal moulds. The results of these simulations are correlated with typically occurring failure modes, as well as the total number of shots before failure, as measured during an experimental campaign that closely mimics the industrial application of such plastic inserts for IM. Good correspondence between simulations and experimental work are noted. This work is a first step in predicting mould breakout and lifecycle of plastic AM moulds and setting injection moulding parameters for these moulds.
Book: International Conference on Polymers and Moulds Innovations . PMI
Pages: 80 - 80
Number of pages: 1
ISBN:978-989-20-8809-9
Publication year:2018
Accessibility:Open