Optimal Conformal Cooling Channels in 3D Printed Dies for Plastic Injection Molding

Reducing the cycle time in plastic injection molding is of significant importance to industry. One approach that has been proposed is to use conformal cooling channels, made possible by 3D printing which allows for greater geometric freedom. In this paper, a systematic approach is proposed to replace traditionally designed straight cooling channels in dies (for plastic injection molding) with optimally designed conformal cooling channels. First, a numerical model is developed to represent the thermal behavior and predict the cycle time. Next, the model is validated experimentally and used in conjunction with DOE (Design of Experiments) to study the effect of different design parameters of the channels on the die performance. Based on this study, an optimal design is identified. Future work includes using DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering) additive manufacturing to print dies with optimal conformal cooling channels for testing and validation.