How to apply metal 3D printing in the automotive mold industry?

The main benefit of metal 3D printing is that it can make things with "free design" and "material structure performance integration." Selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM) are two methods that can be used to stack metal powders layer by layer to make complicated geometric patterns. This is a big improvement over standard processing on mould shapes.
1. Flexible cooling channel: a huge step forward for mould performance
The cooling efficiency of injection and die-casting moulds has a direct effect on the quality and cycle of the product moulding process. Most of the time, the cooling water channels in traditional moulds are straight, which makes it hard to suit the surface of the mould cavity. This causes uneven cooling and changes the shape of the product. Metal 3D printing can make irregular waterways like spiral and biomimetic tree branches. This increases the contact area between the cooling liquid and the mould cavity by more than three times, cuts the cooling cycle in half, and raises the product certification rate to over 99%. For instance, a company used 3D printing technology to make engine cylinder head die-casting moulds. This cut the production time from 2 months to 2 weeks, increased the mould life to over 100,000 times, and got a 100% product yield rate.
2. Lightweight structure: the "weight reduction and efficiency improvement" of moulds
Automotive moulds have to be able to handle very high temperatures and pressures. To make sure they are strong, traditional designs generally use solid structures. This makes the mould heavy and gives it a lot of inertia, which makes processing less accurate and less efficient. Using topology optimisation technologies, metal 3D printing may make the mould 20% to 30% lighter while yet keeping its robustness. For instance, a certain automotive firm makes moulds for aluminium alloy electric drive housing utilising 3D printing technology. By employing integrated moulding and designing walls that are very thin, the weight of the housing is cut by 20%, the machining process is cut by 50%, and the material utilisation rate goes up by 40%.
3. A big change in how materials work: going from "Universalisation" to "Scenarios"
The new metal 3D printing materials make it possible to make moulds that work in different ways. You can use standard H13 tool steel, high-entropy alloys, or gradient functional materials to make 3D-printed moulds that are harder, more resistant to wear and corrosion, and better for varied uses. For instance, a company has made nano tungsten carbide reinforced H13 steel powder, which makes the mould harder to HRC 60 while keeping its great toughness. This meets the high temperature and high pressure needs of aircraft engine turbine disc moulds.
2, Application scenarios: From "prototype validation" to "large-scale production"
Metal 3D printing moulds have a different cost structure than traditional methods. The prices of equipment and materials are greater, but the steps of mould design, trial production, and modification are no longer needed. The overall cost goes down as the manufacturing batch size goes up. Right now, it can be used in three main situations:
1. Complex structure moulds: overcoming the limits of traditional manufacturing
3D printing can speed up the development cycle a lot for moulds with delicate textures, deep voids, or rivers that aren't straight. For instance, one company uses 3D printing to make shoe sole pattern stamping moulds. This cuts the time it takes to get from design to delivery from six weeks to ten days and allows for personalised customisation to match the needs of small quantities and a wide range of products. The COMAC C929 employs SLM to print titanium alloy wing support moulds in the aerospace business. This makes the moulds much lighter and stronger.
2. Moulds with a lot of value added: they guarantee both performance and precision.
In the sphere of new energy vehicles, moulds for fundamental parts like batteries and motors need to be very precise and work well. 3D printing technology may make moulds with "one-time moulding," which stops faults from building up when moulds are clamped several times in traditional procedures. For instance, a new energy vehicle business has used 3D printing technology to make integrated chassis moulding moulds, which cuts down on welding operations, makes vehicles more sturdy, and speeds up mould development cycles by 80%.
3. Mould repair and remanufacturing: lowering costs over the entire life cycle
To fix a mould the old-fashioned way, you have to cut out the damaged layers using wire and electrical discharge, then weld them back together. This takes a long time and costs a lot of money. 3D printing technology can do "precise repairs" on the damaged areas of the mould, and laser cladding deposition (LC) technology can swiftly bring the mould back to its original size and performance. For instance, one company employed LC technology to fix the surface of the stamping mould cavity. This cut the repair time from 7 days to 2 days, cut expenditures by 50%, and brought the mold's original precision back.
3, Trends in the industry: going from "technological substitution" to "ecological restructuring"
To make metal 3D printing moulds more common, we need to get over three big problems: the cost of materials, the standardisation of the process, and the stability of the equipment. Right now, the industry is pushing for the use of technology in the following ways:
1. New materials: making it easier to use
The research and development of novel metal powders is working to find a balance between low cost and good performance. For instance, a company made bio-based nylon PA11 material by extracting castor plants. This cuts costs by 30% compared to traditional engineering plastics while keeping great mechanical properties, making it perfect for making moulds for car interiors. The study and development of new materials, such high-entropy alloys and gradient functional materials, will also make it possible to use 3D-printed moulds in situations where they need to be able to withstand high temperatures and corrosion.
2. Intelligent production: making things faster and more accurate
AI parameter optimisation and online monitoring technologies can change printing settings in real time to get rid of faults. For instance, a company has released an automatic grafting feature that keeps the mould splicing error to within 0.05mm by using benchmark location. This makes it possible to mass-produce big moulds. IoT technology can also let you monitor and fix items from a distance, which lowers the expenses of running and maintaining them and makes them more reliable.
3. Working together in the industrial chain to create an open ecology
Companies that make equipment, supply materials, and make moulds are working together to create a complete solution of "hardware+materials+services." For instance, one company offers a full solution of "equipment+process+consumables." Its UM600MT equipment has a forming size of 400mm × 600mm × 500mm, which is big enough to print huge car moulds. Also, the cloud platform would link design resources from across the world with manufacturing nodes in different areas, creating a new business model called "local printing and global distribution."