An insight on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of deep core hybrid moulds

Precision products are coming into the market after increasingly shorter periods of development and production. This implies reduced design periods for the products and the tools. The mouldmaking industry is facing this reality by integrating the stages of conception, development and tool manufacturing in the design process. This integration use alternative fabrication technologies employed in rapid prototyping and tooling. Shorter lots of plastic components are consequently becoming possible through the use of hybrid moulds that use alternative non-metallic/metallic materials in the moulding blocks. The consideration of the wear and thermal characteristics of the moulding blocks are important for guaranteeing the precision performance of the hybrid moulds. The implementation of CAE tools during the development of an injection mould for a new product has already shown advantages. They can be used to foresee the mould behaviour during the injection moulding process without even start building the tool and minimise the risk of mistake during the design process. Aspects associated to the design and performance of an injection hybrid mould for a deep part are considered in this paper. Conventional Machining, Resin Casting and Prometal technologies were used to produce the moulding cores. In particular, the mechanical and the thermal behaviour of these hybrid components were assessed and compared with CAE simulations. The injection moulding programme was carried out with unreinforced polypropylene