Experiment of Polylactic Acid as a Material for Candle Molding on Origami-Shaped Crash Box Patterns

This paper study experiment by utilizing Polylactic Acid (PLA) which was printed with 3D Printing technology by taking the form of origami-shaped crash box pattern designed for MPV cars. The first step is to design crash box origami patterns with CAD software, and continue with the mold wax design. Then print the model in the Cura software. Then print the mold with approximately 56 hours 31 minutes and spend a 16.38 m long PLA filament weighing 128 g. Then pour wax, as for the wax used is carnauba wax with the temperature of pouring into the mold approximately 110 °C, let it chilled for 11 minutes then the mold is released from the wax. The final step is inspection. The result of this experiment is that the PLA-based mold is capable of printing the origami-shaped crash box pattern well, shown by clear printing of sharp indentations both inside and outside. Percentage of nonconformity with design area A of 0.52 %, area B of 0.43 %, area C of 0 %, area D of 10.8 %, area of E1–4 of 0 % and area E5 of 3.2 % are obtained. A comparison of the overall size of the design with the experiment was 0.29 mm. PLA tends to show consistency of experimental results. This is shown in the consistency of experimental results 1 to 3 in areas A, B, C and E. But there are inconsistencies in the experimental results in area D which represents the thickness dimension. This is influenced by changes in mold patterns which are affected by temperature pour wax into the mold and trigger the change of mold due to heat received continuously.