Experimental evaluation shows Metal-FFF molds reduce cycle times by 30% in injection molding, indicating improved thermal control with design flexibility.
Injection molding is widely used for mass-producing plastic components, demanding precise thermal control to optimize cycle times and part quality. Traditional CNC-machined molds limit design flexibility and restrict advanced cooling features like conformal cooling channels (CCCs). Integrating CCCs improves cooling performance, reduces cycle times, and offers more efficient, cost-effective designs. Additive manufacturing (AM), especially Metal-Fused Filament Fabrication (Metal-FFF), offers geometries unattainable by machining. While most mold research focuses on Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), the feasibility of Metal-FFF molds remains underexplored. This study presents the design, fabrication, and experimental evaluation of an injection mold produced via Metal-FFF with integrated CCCs. The process included computational design, resistance simulations, fabrication, debinding, sintering, and post-processing, followed by testing under injection molding conditions. Results show that Metal-FFF molds with CCCs boost cooling efficiency, cutting cycle times by about 30% compared to conventional molds, while offering greater design freedom and economic benefits. Nonetheless, issues such as porosity and shrinkage need further refinement to fully leverage this technology for industrial use.
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Solis et al. (2025) studied this question.
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