It’s complicated to improve mold life consistency, as it depends on many factors. Such as mold design, hot runner quality, the cooling effect of mold steel, runner quality. A mold with short life and insufficient preciseness affects the quality of the part. It also proves huge material damage and labor waste.
During the injection molding procedure, some plastic can decompose. This plastic can release corrosion gases. It also becomes a cause of mold damage and corrosion. Injection mold is the main tool. Mold quality and proper working have great effects on the finished part. It determines the quality of your final parts. But due to excessive wear of the mold, your mold can’t fulfill the standard of quality. It may damage or its shape, surface finish, or accuracy have inferior quality standards. It causes flashing and your mold may damage or fail due to severe flashing. By improving mold life, you can also improve tool productivity. It also can reduce the cost of plastic parts.
What Is Meant By Injection Mold Life?
Injection mold tool life refers to the molding cycle that a mold can perform. Total numbers of molding cycles before its failure consider the service life of the mold. Approximately a mold service life is over 30,000 cycles. After mold life, it needs to replace mold. This is the reason molding companies are offering services for a lifetime of mold.
High-quality mold can use after its lifetime guarantee. But it has to need some craftsmanship and maintenance. P20 steel mold life guarantee is over 300,000 molding cycles. H3 steel mold life expects at least 500,000 mold cycles. For sourcing, make sure that you’re choosing the best mold makers. They’re providing well-made tools to you.
What Factors Are Involved In Mold Life Consistency/Improvement?
There are various methods that a molder adopts for surface finishing and machining. It has a great impact on mold life and the quality of products. You may face stress concentration in the molding operation. When mold has sharp corners, inappropriate cutting, or has a small fillet radius.
Many factors involve in mold life consistency and affect the lifespan of mold. Some are the following:
Cycle time & Material
Slow cycle time will be helpful for longer mold life. Mold design and design flexibility can affect the length of your cycle time. Mold material plays a major role in increasing mold life and mold quality. As mold made with steel material is more durable and harder than other materials. Check slide slots for grease and working. Inspect the sign of wear, metal shaving, and burrs. The slide’s position should be correct. Aluminum doesn’t recommend as a good material for the longevity of an injection mold.
Time & Mold Maintenance
The lifespan of mold will be short if it uses less time between runs. It means it doesn’t need full mold maintenance and repair. Mold condition and maintenance also affect the lifespan of mold. Which environment you’re using the mold, it’s also crucial for mold recovery and life. Proper mold maintenance is necessary, and it needs cleaning and stripping. You should set a regular maintenance schedule. Keep records of all services and repairs. Tool modification provides by molders may also be helpful for extending mold life.
Operational mistakes can be harmful to the injection mold life cycle. So a careful operating system should follow. Change or replace the worn parts and grease the parts when they’re becoming noisy. Water lines may create some problems. You should blow down the water lines when you need to pull the mold from the press. Usage of mold safety settings will have a positive effect on mold life expectancy.
Mold Material
Material has a great impact on improving injection mold life consistency. It requires different pressure and level of temperature in the injection molding process. Good quality material is a good decision for mold making. Most molders use steel base mold for the required quality that can fulfill the customers’ requirements and need. The hardness of the core and cavity may be 52HRC, and you can use greater than that limit. By using high-quality steel base mold and treatment of vacuum heat. You can get accurate hardness and the long service life of your mold. Raw material has great importance for increasing mold life. Different levels of tear and wear occur due to different plastic parts. Mold service life depends on many factors. Such as different working conditions, pressure, and temperature requirements for the molding process. Plastic materials having the best processability consider good for this purpose. This is good for the service life of the mold and the molding process.
Steel & Heat Requirements
The selection of mold material also affects the mold service life. Steel having excellent mechanical properties not only improves the quality of molded parts. But also proves beneficial on mold service life. Choosing good quality steel is the first preference by a mold maker company. Make sure your selected steel can fulfill all requirements and needs. Such as corrosion resistance and polishing requirements. Choose cost-effective steel. It prevents extra damage to the material. Nitrification can prove effective for increasing surface hardness. It will also increase die life. Appropriate heat has a great impact on mold life. So heat conditions and requirements must control and check. It’s better for the injection mold manufacturing process.
Accuracy & Surface Treatment
For ensuring the machine’s accuracy. You can select the high precision method of machining. You can choose wire cutting, NC machining, and EDM for the better service life of the mold. By improving the mold cavity surface, corrosion resistance, lubricating properties, and wear resistance, the mold service life can increase. How does mold use and maintenance is one of the major factors that are affecting the mold service life? Thus proper setup and planned maintenance can improve injection mold life. You can reduce grinding feed. It can also prevent grinding cracks generation and overheating of grinding.
Mold Structure Design
In mold structure design thermal balance of mold should check. Mold life can extend by following some steps. Such as the proper design of the gating system. A control system of venting and temperature can reduce the hot tearing of the mold. But it can increase mold life. The mold cavity is very complex and precise. Its requirements for surface roughness are very high.
Core and cavity are the main parts of molding. Cavity and core have different forms, repair ways, and strength. So we can improve mold life with high strength and by using easy methods of repair. We can improve the smoothness of the push mechanism with the setting of the push guide device. With a proper gating system and by regulating temperature and exhaust system. We can increase the service life of the mold.
With Proper Coating
You can improve mold life with the coating of PVD (physical vapor deposition). PVD makes tool material corrosion resistant and harder. It also gives lower surface energy for helping the ejecting and releasing of mold parts. In PVD, we ionize the source material for producing a high energy material. Different alloys like carbides, titanium, and oxides used in the PVD coating. Zirconium nitride uses and provides lubricity and hardness. That requires for the proper release of mold parts. It also maintains tolerance. PVD coating or process performs on various types of material. Such as 3d printing aluminum, CNC machines, steel, stainless steel, and plastic parts. PVD coating can increase mold life. It also proves helpful for protecting your investment and downtime.
Setpoint & Mold Watering
Over striking and wrong setpoints may decrease the lifespan of mold. Over striking causes strains on lifters and pins. You should make sure that pressure set pins use the required amount for their function. It will be helpful for reducing stress on ejection parts and components. High temperature has a negative impact the mold life. So it should not be more than 20ºF. High temperature can be a cause of improper heat soak and poor tool mating. It will damage the tool.
How lengthy is the lifespan of a plastic injection mold tool?
All mold tools may need to wear and tear. Some need it after a short service life, but some mold requires a repair after a long working life. It means some parts and tools will need repairs such as gates, sliders, and ejectors. Some factors involved in the mold’s lifespan. Some materials are abrasive and others are corrosive. Aluminum alloy or aluminum alloy plated mold may be perfect for mold usage in some cases. Molding companies also prefer steel mold and stainless steel for better mold life.
Soft aluminum molds are more prone to wear. Steel mold can give you millions of molding, but it has some restrictions. The poor setting is also responsible for quicker wear and tear of the mold. In injection molding, we should set molding machines up for avoiding any tool damage and wear. Poor alignment, over leaking, and insufficient lubrication affects the performance of mold. If all these problems didn’t solve mold life can be short and it needs to wear at the earliest stage.
So choose the best mold manufacturing company for your project. That can assist you in your production procedure and also guarantee you craftsmanship. Get a free quote for your project and contact us for further information.
Why Is Aluminum Mold Not Recommended For Improving The Injection Mold Life?
Before going forward, you should outline all specifications and requirements of your project. In the injection molding process, you can find many variations and choices. You can select material according to your priorities.
Aluminum mold has some advantages and disadvantages. You can use it for your project if you find it suitable for your work. Aluminum mold is a cost-effective mold. It can be effective for short runs, the cost per part, and for lower upfront. But if you are looking for millions of parts and you want to use your mold in high volume, it’s better to use steel mold. Aluminum mold is not good for this purpose. For low volume and production, aluminum mold doesn’t recommend by expert molders. For long life service and working, they’re not good. Steel mold is the first preference of injection molding companies.
Conclusion
Various factors take part in improving injection mold life consistency. Such as mold assembly, polishing, structure design, maintenance, material, coating, and surface structure. Some measures and steps can improve the plastic injection mold life. By choosing appropriate raw material, proper setting of temperature, pressure, and mold design. Improvement of mold can make possible.