3D printing and software make the design of cooling channels easier

Related Vendors

HASCO Hasenclever GmbH + Co KG

Renishaw plc

3D Systems Corporation

Saving 30 to 40 hours per mould by eliminating drilling and EDM

The conformal cooling design was created with Cimatron, an expert CAD/CAM software that covers the entire mould-making cycle from quoting to design, applying engineering changes, NC and EDM programming. The latest version of Cimatron includes cooling design and analysis capabilities that support both traditionally drilled cooling channels and conformal cooling channels for manufacturing using 3D printing technologies.

Through close integration with Moldex 3D, injection mould designers working in Cimatron have the ability to perform automated mould-filling analysis to optimise cooling channel layout.

“The combination of Cimatron and Moldex delivers expert software to help less-experienced engineers create better-quality designs,” says Staub. “This is a major consideration as the demand for experienced tool-makers is much larger than the dwindling supply.”

“Designing for 3D printing requires an understanding of structural support design to accomplish true requirement-based design as well as reducing material cost and build time,” adds Scott Young, Bastech’s engineering manager. “This type of expertise is built within the Cimatron software to allow our designers to think about design without having to worry about navigating through the CAD package to define complex internal channels.”

Bastech’s design for the first benchmark was a tapered helix that is positioned on the inside of a spacing cone used for industrial assemblies. Conformal cooling channels were created by rotating a teardrop configuration so that one side was parallel to the outer surface of the core while maintaining a constant distance from it. By running the cross-section along a tapered helix, Bastech was able to design geometry that the Pro X DMP 200 could build in a single run.

Gallery

The design for the 3D-printed mould took two days and was built on the Pro X DMP 200 in three days. To maximise its productivity, Bastech combined the 3D print run for the mould with parts required for other Bastech projects.

(ID:44581513)