9 Leden 2018
3D printing is becoming increasingly popular. The plastic industry is no exception. Rompa now has a partially 3D-printed mould with conformal cooling. Using this relatively new cooling technology, the product cools down faster and in a more constant manner, which allows it to retain its shape even better afterwards. Project manager Lion van Iersel explains how this technology works.
Lion first explains traditional cooling methods. “With injection moulding, molten plastic with a temperature of circa 250 degrees Celsius is injected into the mould. Cooling channels in the mould then cool down the plastic as fast as possible. Normally, these channels are drilled into the steel mould. That limits your options, because you can only drill straight channels. As a result, the cooling channels are not all equally close to the sides of the mould, which causes the product to cool down slower or faster in some places than in others. This can result in minor differences or deformations.”