High Performance Injection Moulding Contract No: COLL-CT SMEs National Meeting, Bruxelles, October 20 th 2006 Denis Gravet CRIF

2 Content Work performed M13-M18 WP 1 – Thermal Management & CCC WP 2 – Manufacturing of HIPER tools WP 3 – High Performance Injection Moulding WP 4 – Cycle Time and Costing Analysis WP 5 - Training

3 Injection moulding parameters 3D part + 3D mould Finished LBMM inserts Injection moulding Machine information Part requirements + Part material Hipermoulding module HIPERMOULDING MODULE PowerMILL PowerSHAPE LBMM selection Cooling Channel Planner Cycle Time & Costing Analyses Knowledge Rules 1 Finishing Strategy Selector Injection moulding parameters GUI 2345

4 Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover SECTOR: ELECTRICAL Big warping Torsion deformations Long cycle time (32.4s) Production: parts/year MATERIAL: PA6 + 25% GF 44 x 44 x 16 mm Thickness: 4

5 Core insert: 45 x 45 x 35 mm - The core insert contains a lot of holes for sub-inserts, ejectors pins and fixation bolts. - This leaves a complex maze in the core insert and leaves little room for positioning a cooling channel (max 4.5mm). The only room for the inlet and outlet are the yellow marked areas. These areas are  8 mm Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover

6 Core insert: 45 x 45 x 35 mm Final cooling channel design -Channel diameter: 2 mm - Generated by the Hipermoulding software using shortest path strategy - The connections to the inlet and outlet are not implemented in the software yet, so these are modeled by hand in PowerShape Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover

7 Core insert: 45 x 45 x 35 mm - DMLS DM20 (Layers 20µm) - 0,5 mm offset generated by the 3Matic (Materialise) software - The bottom 20 mm can be replaced by a base plate of 20 mm Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover

8 Cavity insert: 45 x 45 x 16 mm Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover Cavity insert in bolster mould

9 Cavity insert: 45 x 45 x 16 mm - Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover Using existing the cooling channels and re-route the coolant through the insert

10 Cavity insert: 45 x 45 x 16 mm Polish geometry: LV Switch Cover

11 Belgium geometry: Container SECTOR: MEDICAL MATERIAL: PP 26 x 36 x 53mm Thickness: 2 mm Tool material: steel (50HRc) Annual production required: parts/year Part very tiny: internal cooling very difficult Difficulties for ejection Series: reduction of the cycle time is important

12 Difficulty to draw the CCC Possibility to reduce the LBMM building Belgium geometry: Container SECTOR: MEDICAL MATERIAL: PP

13 Belgium geometry: Container SECTOR: MEDICAL MATERIAL: PP Tips from the Belgian validation case Model channel as sketch cooling channel in one quadrant Mirror channel and rotate through centre planes using PowerSHAPE to obtain symmetrical solution

14 Portuguese geometry: TS carrier 56 x 48 x 36 mm Thickness: 0.7 – 1.9mm Production: parts/year T cycle: 26s complex geometry, difficult to make with a conventional cooling, some areas could not be reached. It is necessary to optimize the cooling to prevent warpage and achieve a better dimensional conformance in the plastic component. At the present the cycle time is longer than the original estimation. The goal is to reduce the cycle time for better competitiveness SECTOR: AUTOMOTIVE MATERIAL: PA6 + 30% GF

15 National geometries: The Spanish case: Gestap SECTOR: FOOD MATERIAL: HDPE Millions of them are produced, so a reduction of the cycle time is significant in the competitivity of the manufacturer. The cooling is in the slide of the mold because of the hot runner system. The plastic material is highly sensible to changes in colour and to mold surface temperature. The injection process is very well defined and allocated and even changes in the tool can be done easily. No is required apart from their one.

16 National geometries: The Spanish case: Gestap SECTOR: FOOD MATERIAL: HDPE

17 CRIF CoordinatorScientific Officer Jan Willem Gunnink Yves Maisonny Contact details

High Performance Injection Moulding Contract No: COLL-CT SMEs