In plastic injection molding, 3D printing of cores that include conformal cooling channels are set to become more of a mainstream choice. But there are a few rules that apply when creating such parts for plastic injection molding.
Gordon Styles, founder and president of Star Rapid, discusses key factors behind designing for the plastic injection molding process.
Good information. More of this type of interview is needed by industry.
My company recently started a 3D printed mold making service.
Another key issue has to do with the printed mold cavity surface. Surface preparation is essential in any injection mold, but especially when using printing plastic. Sticking, or even slowed flow of the injected plastic due to small amounts of friction(or chemical attraction) with the cavity surface will create a number of quality problems.
We use a proprietary formulation composite filament(FilaOne™ GRAY high performance composite filament) that exhibits a hard surface with very low surface energy. This minimizes the potential for sticking problems. Use of the appropriate mold release agent can help even more, but one should take care in matching the release agent with the type of plastic to be molded.