Abstract
The throughput of the injection molding process is restricted by the cooling time of each cycle which accounts for three-fourths of the cycle time. Manufacturing molds out of copper or copper alloys can reduce the cooling time because of their high thermal conductivity, but mold life is reduced because copper has much lower hardness and strength than traditional mold materials such as steels. By layering steel onto copper using directed energy deposition, the advantages of both materials can be exploited to reduce cycle time while maintaining mold durability. In this study, 17-4 PH stainless steel was deposited onto a copper substrate to demonstrate the potential to create multi-material injection molds.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 78-81 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Manufacturing Letters |
| Volume | 27 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2021 |
Funding
The authors would like to thank David Carter of DMG MORI for his assistance in the discovery of this application, and Suman Bhandari of Northwestern University for preforming the EDS mapping. The authors would also like to thank the U.S. Department of Commence National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) under grant No. 70NANB14H012. This work made use of facilities at DMG MORI and Northwestern University.
Keywords
- 17-4 PH stainless steel
- Additive manufacturing
- Copper
- Directed energy deposition
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Mechanics of Materials
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
