Characterization of a direct metal printed injection mold with different conformal cooling channels

According to the practical experiences in the injection molding, the knowledge about conformal cooling channel (CCC) is an essential factor that affects productivity and quality of the molded part greatly. In general, the CCC provides a reduction in the cooling time in series production. However, the distance between cooling channel edges of the circular conformal cooling channel (CCCC) and mold cavity edge is not constant. The profiled conformal cooling channel (PCCC) has flat surface of the cooling channel facing the profile of the cavity fully. The distance between cooling channel edges of the PCCC and mold cavity edge is constant. In this study, two maraging steel injection molding tools with two different CCC were designed and fabricated by the direct metal printing technology. The difference between injection mold with PCCC and CCCC on the cooling time of the molded wax pattern, part temperature difference, mold surface temperature difference, and part warpage were numerically investigated using Moldex3D simulation software. It was found that the PCCC seems to be a good candidate in the CCC design and provides a better alternative in the conventional cooling channels. The PCCC reduced the cooling time about 33.33% compared with CCCC under the coolant water temperature of 25 °C. The temperature of 26 °C is the optimal value for the coolant water based on the dimensional accuracy of the wax pattern and energy consumption of the cooling system.