Video: Controlled Porosity Can Be Functional Advantage Realized via 3D Printing
A wall of metal that looks solid is actually 90% dense, allowing gas to pass through. Mold venting is one application.
Between the bowl and the channel is a region that is 90% dense by design.
Additive manufacturing (AM) makes it possible to realize geometric features no other process can produce. The video below shows an example: A wall of metal that looks solid from a distance, but is actually just 90% dense, allowing gas to pass through it. Mold venting is one application.
Transcript
In this mold component, this drilled hole doesn’t go all the way through, but the air escapes anyway. It escapes because this was made additively. It was made on this machine from Matsuura, a powder-bed additive machine – metal additive specifically for injection mold tooling. And by controlling the parameters of the build only in this spot, the metal was made to be 90% dense. That means it’s a little porous, just porous enough so that the air can escape. The result is a solution enabled by additive for mold venting.
Related Content
-
In "Hybrid" FIM Process, 3D Printing Complements Injection Molding
In a recent case study, Alpine Advanced Materials partnered with Nexa3D to produce 3D printed tooling for injection molded composites. Utilizing Nexa3D’s XiP desktop 3D printer and its Freeform Injection Molding process, Alpine was able to reduce prototype tooling production time and cost alike for its customers.
-
Nicolet Plastics Succeeds Using Mantle's Hybrid Metal 3D Printing Method for Mold Tooling
A recent webinar explores Nicolet Plastics’ success using Trueshape Technology, Mantle’s approach to print injection mold tooling. The current challenges this technology addresses and alleviates in additive manufacturing confirms this method is effectively reducing lead times and cost constraints, while producing better inserts.
-
Rekkie AR Ski Goggles Made Possible With 3D Printing: The Cool Parts Show #53
When the electronics enclosure key to these AR goggles proved difficult to mold, 3D printing allowed the inventors to keep the complexity — while also making improvements for assembly and user experience.
