Efciency Comparison of Conformal Cooling Channels Produced by Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing in Automotive İndustry Plastic İnjection Moulds: A Hybrid Application

Abstract

The stages of this study, in which conformal cooling channels (CCCs) integrated mould core produced by LPBF (laser powder bed fusion) and CCC integrated mould core produced by SM (subtractive manufacturing), are used in a hybrid primary mould, consisting of design, numerical study, mould core production with AM (additive manufacturing) and SM, product production and mould testing with PI (plastic injection), instant thermal measurement with IRT (infrared thermography), and OM (optical microscope) examination. The fndings of the transient simulation reveal that the additively manufactured CCC had a cooling time reduction of 234% when compared to the conventional straight-drilled CCC. In addition, the fow rate of the coolant in the mould core produced with AM increased approximately three times. Overall, the fndings of the steady-state simulation show that the total cooling capacity of the AM-CCC arrangement is 5.9% higher than that of the traditional straight-drilled cooling channel (SM-CCC).