Mold Core Package With Conformal Cooling Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for creating molding tools lack the ability to efficiently integrate conformal heating and cooling lines, limiting the precision and thermal control necessary for forming complex molded parts.
Innovation Solution
A mold core package is formed using stacked particulate layers with a binding agent, which includes sacrificial displacement lines and bodies to create conformal heating and cooling channels that closely follow the mold cavity, allowing for precise thermal management during the molding process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional methods are used to create molding tools, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the ability to integrate conformal heating and cooling lines is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates sacrificial displacement lines and bodies into the mold core package during the additive manufacturing process before the final molding tool is created. These sacrificial elements are strategically placed to define the exact locations where conformal heating and cooling lines will later form, enabling complex thermal management features to be built-in from the start rather than added later through complex post-processing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The sacrificial displacement lines and bodies serve as intermediary elements during manufacturing. These temporary structures are embedded in the molten material and later removed to create the conformal heating and cooling channels. This intermediary approach allows complex internal geometries to be formed indirectly through a simpler additive manufacturing process followed by sacrificial material removal.
2Manufacturing precision
If conformal heating and cooling lines are integrated into the molding tool, then thermal control precision is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conformal heating and cooling lines are designed to locally adapt to the specific thermal requirements of different regions of the mold cavity. The sacrificial displacement lines are positioned to create thermal pathways that closely follow the mold cavity surface, allowing each area to receive customized thermal management tailored to its specific cooling or heating needs, thereby achieving high thermal control precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional linear or radial cooling line configurations to three-dimensional conformal pathways that wrap around and follow the complex geometry of the mold cavity. This dimensional transformation allows thermal control lines to access and serve previously unreachable areas of the mold, achieving uniform thermal management across complex part geometries.
3Shape
If sacrificial displacement lines and bodies are used to create conformal channels, then the conformal lines can closely follow the mold cavity surface, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The sacrificial displacement lines and bodies are incorporated into the mold core package during the additive manufacturing process, before the final molding tool is completed. This preliminary incorporation allows the complex conformal geometry to be built-in from the start using layer-by-layer deposition, avoiding the need for complex post-processing operations to create the conformal channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The sacrificial displacement lines and bodies are designed as temporary, disposable elements that are easily removed after serving their purpose of defining the conformal channel geometry. These sacrificial materials are selected to be readily removable through simple processes such as dissolution or combustion, making the overall manufacturing process more economical despite the added step of incorporating and subsequently removing these temporary structures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables improved thermal control and precision in molding tools, reducing warpage and crack risks, enhancing part quality, and increasing manufacturing efficiency by allowing for integrated, conformal heating and cooling lines that match specific thermal loading requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of stacked particulate layers having a binding agent
Implementation Method 2
adapted to displace a molten material applied to the mold core package
Data Source
AI summary
A mold core package for forming a molding tool includes a plurality of stacked particulate layers having a binding agent. The plurality of stacked particulate layers form sacrificial walls defining a mold cavity. A sacrificial displacement line and a sacrificial displacement body extend from the mold core package and are adapted to displace a molten material applied to the mold core package.