Test & measurement For corrosive or abrasive plastics, like glass
filled nylon, consider wear and tear. On top of standard hardened tool steels, Broanmain can offer different treatments and coatings, such as nitriding and hard chroming. These can further improve wear resistance. If the tool hasn’t been built using hardened or a wear-resistant material, its usable life will be cut short.
remember draft angleS
Often, drawings or 3-D prototype models do not factor in a draft angle. This can impact the tool design process and ultimately the mould ability of a component and how it is ejected from the tool cavity during production. As well as increasing the number of rejected parts and potentially affecting the finish of the component, not having a draft angle can also damage the mould tool. Rather than having squared walls in the injection moulded part, they need to be slanted at an angle to the ejection and opening of the tool. The general rule of thumb is one degree of draft per one inch of cavity depth. Special consideration should also be given to the draft angle when using textured finishes.
Switching materialS
Moulding tools are typically designed for processing a particular plastic. That is because each polymer has different shrinkage rates and also has different gating and venting requirements. Occasionally it is possible to mould multiple plastics in the same mould. However, there is always a size difference in the part. This can be particularly troublesome if the component forms part of an assembly where pieces are slotted together with great precision. Changing the material can also cause other
quality issues such as flash and burns in components. Heat transfer also needs to be considered. Using copper alloys for certain sections of the tool can help to defuse the heat a bit better. Generally, a tool can be built using 30+ different materials, tool steels and alloys. Mixing different grades and hardness of tool steels is advisable, especially when there are sliding parts and complex shut offs within the mould cavity.
tooling for undercutS
An undercut is a feature that is formed perpendicular to the mould tool standard opening direction and prevents easy demoulding. A typical example is an opening in the side of a part. Designers love them. Yet for an open and shut moulding tool, filling the perpendicular opening can be complex and costly. The more openings, the more expensive it can be, as additional tooling actions are often required. Furthermore, parts with internal threads or ridges can add to the tooling complexity and be expensive to address. A well-made and regularly serviced, high-
quality master tool will enjoy a long and successful service life, optimising efficiency, manufacturing productivity and component quality. Yet, the more detailed information a toolmaker has at the outset, including original drawings, the simpler and quicker moulding tools are to fix.
Broanmain Plastics
www.broanmainplastics.co.uk
NI aNd KT To acceleraTe auToNomous vehIcle TesT
autonomous driving software and hardware validation. Together, the companies plan to deliver new technologies to help automotive Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs leverage real-world road data and simulation, to help improve vehicle and passenger safety and bring the promise of autonomous driving (AD) to the roads faster. AD requires a complex mix of rapidly evolving
N
technologies such as machine learning, LiDAR and imaging radar to come to life. It involves a challenging process that forces test systems to adapt in tandem to efficiently validate the complex embedded software required to operate autonomous vehicles (AVs) safely in real-world scenarios. By combining NI’s software-connected test solutions with KT’s expertise in system integration and solution delivery for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) test, the two companies expect to streamline validation to accelerate the shift to self-driving cars. While the plan is that the test solutions will scale across fleet management, data utilisation and sensor test, initial solutions will focus on high bandwidth data recording and hardware-in-the-loop test systems for testing ADAS and AD software algorithms. “AVs are among the most complex systems
being tested today, and no one company can tackle the challenge of getting these vehicles to market alone,” says Chad Chesney, general manager of NI’s Transportation business unit. “Our strategic agreement and a seat on the KT board will deepen our long-standing partnership with KT and give customers the system-level capabilities they need to quickly and efficiently test the complex embedded software found within today’s AVs —helping them ensure that test is not a bottleneck but a competitive advantage on the road to autonomy.” “Connecting NI’s open instrumentation to our
system integration expertise will allow us to build turnkey solutions that help customers shorten their time to market,” says Michael Konrad, CEO of Konrad Technologies. “This partnership with NI is expected to provide a consistent tool chain that will help customers rectify multiple challenges efficiently in all stages of the ADAS and AD system product cycle.”
NI Instrumentation Monthly February 2021
www.ni.com 49
I and Konrad Technologies (KT) have entered into a strategic agreement to develop test systems and solutions for
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