High-Efficiency Surface-Cooled Rapid Tooling Development for Injection Molding of Low-Density Polyethylene.

Abstract

Epoxy resin filled with aluminum particles constitutes a polymer composite material commonly utilized in research and development departments to fabricate rapid tooling for prototyping new designs. This study developed aluminum-filled epoxy resin molds by incorporating surface-cooled cooling channels (SCCCs) to enhance cooling performance, validated through Moldex3D simulation and experimental analysis. The simulation revealed that a 1 mm mesh size was utilized to balance accuracy and efficiency, with simulations revealing the complete filling of the injection-molded product within 5 s. This study examines rapid tooling with surface-cooled cooling channels in low-density polyethylene injection molding. The reliable parameters include a melt temperature of 160 °C, a mold temperature of 30 °C, an injection pressure of 10 MPa, and a heat dissipation time of 20 s. These parameters effectively minimize the risk of mold cracking while ensuring efficient molding. The SCCC demonstrates superior cooling performance, enhancing cooling efficiency by 58.7% compared to the conventional conformal cooling channel. It reduces cooling time, enhances production capacity, and shortens delivery times. Additionally, it lowers energy consumption, carbon emissions, and the rate of product defects in large-scale manufacturing. A cooling mechanism of SCCC after LDPE injection molding was also proposed.