Development of a low-cost epoxy resin mold with high cooling efficiency

A conformal cooling channel (CCC) is widely employed in the injection mold due to uniform cooling. The cooling efficiency of the epoxy resin mold (ERM) strictly depends on the thermal conductivity since the cooling time directly affects the productivity. According to the practice experience, the material cost of commercial aluminum (Al)-filled epoxy resin is high and the cooling efficiency of the injection mold fabricated by commercial materials is limited to the physical properties. Accordingly, developing an injection mold with high cooling efficiency at low cost is therefore of critical importance. This study develops a low-cost recipe for making injection molds. It was found that both the cooling efficiency and material cost are better than those made with commercial Al-filled epoxy resin. The difference in the cooling time of the injection molded parts between the simulation and experiment is approximately 22%. The remarkable findings of this study are very practical and provide good application prospects in the investment casting industry.