Trends in the Popularity of 3D Printed Conformal Waterways in Die Casting Molds

With the continuous progress of science and technology, 3D printing technology is gradually penetrate into all walks of life, especially in the field of mold manufacturing to show significant advantages. Among them, 3D printing with the shape of the waterway technology has been widely used in injection molds, and is accelerating to the expansion of die-casting mold field.
Traditional CNC and other material reduction process can make flat cooling water, but in the manufacture of complex shapes such as spiral cooling water with the shape of the road is not satisfactory. In contrast, 3D printing technology by virtue of its complex structure of the ability to form a one-piece, with the shape of the water line in the injection mold has been widely used to effectively control the mold temperature, improve product yield, shorten the cooling time, improve the dimensional stability and surface finish, and to promote the demolding beat, widely used in 3C, packaging, medical, automotive, home appliances and other industries.
Die casting mold because of the working environment is more harsh, higher working temperature, the 3D printing materials put forward higher requirements. Currently on the market, die casting 3D printing materials are mainly H13-based, such as DAC55, Dievar, W350, etc., but there are few materials that fully meet the needs of die casting molds. In response to this challenge, Shanghai Yisu launched EM213 hot work mold steel powder after a long period of research and development. The material has excellent performance in printing performance, toughness, thermal stability, thermal fatigue and thermal conductivity, etc. The impact toughness (ISO V) is up to 35, which is very suitable for die-casting molds. Currently, EM213 has been successfully applied in automotive manufacturing, aerospace, marine, electrical appliances and other fields, significantly promoting the adoption of 3D printing technology in these industries.
Looking ahead, with the accelerated research and development of metal 3D printing materials, the emergence of more high-performance new materials will further broaden the scope of application of 3D printing technology. Die casting molds using efficient with the shape of the cooling water circuit will become the industry norm, for die casting mold manufacturing brought revolutionary changes.