Development and application of a conformal cooling channel with easy removal and smooth surfaces

The cooling time in an injection molding process comprises about 60 to 80% of the entire molding cycle. Throughput and molded part quality can be improved by the mold with conformal cooling channels. Injection molds or dies with conformal cooling channels have been developed by rapid tooling technology. However, the manufacturing process for the injection mold with conformal cooling channels made of ABS polymers is not environmentally friendly. In addition, the fabrication process for a wax cooling channel with complex geometrical shapes is very time-consuming. It was found that the wax filament fabricated by the mold made by indirect tooling has better quality. A method for fabricating long wax filament using the butt joint method was developed. The optimal process parameters for making the long wax filament by the butt joint method are the butt angle of 30 degrees, wax temperature of 82 degrees C, and injection pressure of 0.6kgf/cm(2). The optimal process parameters for the surface quality improvement of wax cooling channels are the hot water temperature of 85 degrees C and the immersion time of 10s. Finally, the rapid tooling technology was used to make the injection mold with a smooth surface.