Conformal Cooling
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CLIENT:
Packaging Components Manufacturer
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INDUSTRY:
Packaging
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CAPABILITIES USED:
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)
168 Production Hours Saved
13% Cycle Time Reduction
Increased Dimensional Accuracy
DMLS & Conformal Cooling Eliminate Part Warpage
A customer came to Fathom to solve a problem with one of their products. Fathom identified the source of the issue, engineered a solution and delivered results that saved the customer valuable time and money.
The Problem
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A leader in industrial closures and packaging components, and long-time customer of Fathom with services that include injection molding and CNC machining, was having assembly issues in the field due to a particular part feature warping, which limited its cap functionality.
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This faulty feature was caused from the long cycles necessary to cool part during the injection molding process. HDPE has high shrink rate percentage which will cause circular features like this to creep inward; in this application causing the cap/threads to be rendered useless. Material and part geometry required longer cycle times (for cooling) in attempts to mitigate this features issue.
The Solution
The experts at Fathom identified the problem as a cooling issue. They designed conformal cooling into a new core insert. Using DMLS, Fathom printed the insert in tooling steel to near net shape (fig. A, right) and post processed using CNC (fig. B) to hit the required tolerance requirements. Cooling channels (fig. C) were incorporated into the design in areas previously unattainable via traditional tooling practices, maximizing the amount of water flowing to these problem areas and forcing cooling at the exact spot required to remove residual heat, allowing the part to cool quickly and evenly.
The Results
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The customer was able to reduce cycle time by 13%, resulting in 168 production hours in savings on a 100,000 piece run. This led to Reduced wear and tear on the machinery, reduced operational cost and reduced warpage, resulting in increased product quality.
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This approach also increased the dimensional accuracy of the closures.
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The cycle time savings resulted in a side benefit: increased press availability.
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Fathom’s ability to identify the problem, design solutions, provide an accurate simulation analysis and produce and machine a DMLS core provides a unique solution for injection molders facing similar part cooling challenges.
168 Production Hours Saved
13% Cycle Time Reduction