techview Jason Warr
3D Printing, Conformal Cooling and Saving Energy
3
D printing is a matter of perspective. If your fi rst reac- tion is “We don’t use plastic parts here,” I’d suggest your perspective is a little too narrow. If it’s “There’s way too much to consider out there—we’ll wait ’til things settle out,” I’d suggest that perspective is a little too broad. In either case, my suggestion would include you keeping your mind open and start investigating conformal cooling and additive manufacturing. You’ll be seeing some mold-specifi c “Goldilocks” 3D-printing solutions—just right. My company, Linear Mold & Engineering, has been build- ing parts with Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) for going on 10 years now. We’ve already traveled a good way up the learning curve to where we are one of a very few number of companies over the hump.
Conformal cooling is one example. Conventional mold building uses straight water lines, but how many products are square-edged only? Where the part design might include such challenges as thin walls, intricate curves, or tight toler- ances, uneven cooling adds warp, sinks, and other problems that need fi xing. In addition, intersecting water lines are a low-turbulence trap for sediment buildup. 3D metal printing lets us grow cooling lines that conform
to a part’s geometric aspects. These lines can branch, curve, or otherwise follow individual part features. The molds that result have custom conformal cooling lines built in. Testing these cooling lines with fi nite element analysis means we can fi ne-tune conformal cooling lines to accurately predict optimum mold performance and improved cycle times. This isn’t theory, this is day-to-day experience at Linear.
Compared to conventional methods of designing and build- ing inserts, 3D metal printing makes what used to require days and even weeks, a matter of hours. Designers can explore more options and fi nal designs can be fi ne-tuned for not only improved production but quicker time to market. Energy savings accrue in a number of ways. We’ve seen
and qualifi ed cycle-time reductions from as little as 15% up to as much as 45%. This not only means reduced energy output but also extra capacity for a customer. Other tangible benefi ts include less scrap, improved fi nal part quality and
Senior Account Manager Linear Mold & Engineering Livonia, MI.
much more fl exibility when it comes to part features and the mold components necessary to make them. We also have 2.5-day and 4.5-day training courses to familiarize customer personnel with the ways 3D printing can better their part and production process. We’ve had cases where the payoff was a 40% lighter part or a more scalable design. For example, we redesigned a new downhole fi lter for an oil & gas company. This was a three-piece multipro- cess part assembly that we were able to grow as one piece. Combining multiple parts and processes saved the cus- tomer in the area of $180 per part while making it lighter and stronger. It also can be made in batches as needed for direct shipping to remote applications instead of building thou- sands for inventory and storage. We not only simplifi ed and optimized the supply chain, the customer does not have to invest in capital equipment. They can focus on making the parts.
We’ve seen and qualifi ed cycle-time reductions from as little as 15% up to as much as 45%.
For us, 3D printing does not exist in a vacuum. We have an excellent foundation in traditional mold building, meaning we have the experience and expertise in machining, fi nish- ing, welding, polishing and other postprocessing to take full advantage of the type of process improvements conformal cooling and other custom components present. It’s not all additive or subtractive manufacturing alone; it truly takes the best of both, attacking production problems with imagination. In the future, this kind of leading-edge performance will be part of a total rethinking of the moldmaking and manufactur- ing supply chain. For any component creation and production effort, improved value and better cost control from art-to-part is perhaps the best defi nition of energy effi ciency. That’s our perspective.
41 — Energy Manufacturing 2015
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