Additive Manufacturing of Mold Inserts in Die Casting Tools for Clutch Housings

The present paper examines additively manufactured tool inserts in the series production of a die casting tool for a clutch housing. The inserts are manufactured by laser powder bed fusion using the well-established maraging steel 1.2709. Various post-treatment approaches are examined as part of the investigations. In addition to different downstream heat treatments, a component variant with a specific surface structure in the direction of demolding is also tested. A comprehensive damage analysis is carried out to determine the causes of failure and to derive recommendations for action to improve the service life of the mold insert and, thus, ultimately the quality of the casting. The mold inserts selected for the test series demonstrate that additive manufacturing can increase the service life of this specific tool insert by more than three times, while the acquisition costs for the insert are reduced by more than 50 %. In tools with areas that are subjected to high thermal stress, which benefit from conformal cooling and therefore cannot be produced using conventional manufacturing processes, the implementation of additively manufactured tool inserts is therefore recommended for both economic and technological reasons.