Manufacture of production injection mould tooling incorporating conformal cooling channels via indirect selective laser sintering

Abstract
This paper reports the results of a study designed to assess the extent to which layer manufacture processes were able to produce production quality injection mould tools. The specific layer manufacture process considered was the DTM RapidTool process. Tools produced using this process were used in industrial trials to assess productivity benefits arising from the use of conformal cooling channels and to investigate tool wear. A cost model of the injection moulding process has been developed to investigate the economic case for the use of layer-manufactured tools. It is concluded that significant productivity benefits are available through the use of conformal cooling and that the RapidTool process is economically competitive with existing production tool manufacture methods for injection mould tools which do not require significant finishing. Future developments in layer manufacture technology are expected to offer further challenges to conventional tool manufacture methods.