
A method of making aluminum molds for casting foamed polymers has been developed in Germany.
A partnership between Siegfried Hofmann GmbH, a large toolmaker, and 3D printer manufacturer GROB-WERKE has resulted in a unique process to produce these aluminum molds.
Typically, molds are made from steel and are used repeatedly to produce foamed products through injection molding processes.
Here, the aluminum molds offer several advantages:
- The tools are significantly lighter, making them easier for humans and robots to move.
- They have more corrosion resistance than steel parts and can last longer.
- Heating and cooling cycles are faster due to aluminum’s thermal properties.
- The tools can be produced faster than steel equivalents.
- The tools can be produced in a less expensive manner than traditional approaches when using GROB-WERKE’s Liquid Metal 3D print process.
There’s another interesting advantage that comes from the better thermal properties: superior vapour distribution. This is important when producing foamed parts because the polymer pellets produce steam — that’s where the foam comes from. If the thermal distribution is more even, then the resulting foam is more uniform.
Finally, if you add up all these advantages, it’s pretty clear that you should be able to produce more parts of higher quality at lower costs. The efficiency and speed of thermal cycles mean you should be able to produce more foamed parts in a given time period.
This is quite an interesting application of 3D printing, albeit applicable to the niche area of foam mold production.
Via Siegfried Hofmann GmbH (Hat tip to Benjamin)