Design of Advanced Injection Mold to Increase Cooling Efficiency

Cycle time reduction is one way to increase the energy efficiency of the injection molding production process. For injection molding, conformal cooling channels can be considered as a potential solution for obtaining a uniform temperature distribution in the mold, which results in a shorter cooling time and better quality of the molded part. However, the design and manufacture of optimal cooling channels is a challenge due to their complex geometry and heat transfer. This paper presents a method to maximize the efficiency of a conformal cooling channel made by 3D printing technology. The combination of analytical formulas and CAE simulation is applied to design optimal cooling channels in terms of cooling efficiency and manufacturability. An actual case study is introduced and analyzed to demonstrate the benefit of the conformal cooling channel and the robustness of the proposed design method. The results show that the cooling time and cycle time can be reduced more than 50% when molding a plastic product that is difficult to cool by conventional straight-drilled cooling channels. This is a great contribution to an environmentally friendly manufacturing technology.