Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Publication
    Potential of Rapid Tooling in rapid heat cycle molding: a review
    ( 2022)
    Nurul Hidayah Mohamad Huzaim
    ;
    ; ;
    Abdellah El-hadj Abdellah
    ;
    ;
    Allan Rennie
    ;
    ;
    Sebastian Garus
    ;
    Katarzyna Błoch
    ;
    Andrei Victor Sandu
    ;
    Petrica Vizureanu
    ;
    Marcin Nabiałek
    Rapid tooling (RT) and additive manufacturing (AM) are currently being used in several parts of industry, particularly in the development of new products. The demand for timely deliveries of low-cost products in a variety of geometrical patterns is continuing to increase year by year. Increased demand for low-cost materials and tooling, including RT, is driving the demand for plastic and rubber products, along with engineering and product manufacturers. The development of AM and RT technologies has led to significant improvements in the technologies, especially in testing performance for newly developed products prior to the fabrication of hard tooling and low-volume production. On the other hand, the rapid heating cycle molding (RHCM) injection method can be implemented to overcome product surface defects generated by conventional injection molding (CIM), since the surface gloss of the parts is significantly improved, and surface marks such as flow marks and weld marks are eliminated. The most important RHCM technique is rapid heating and cooling of the cavity surface, which somewhat improves part quality while also maximizing production efficiencies. RT is not just about making molds quickly; it also improves molding productivity. Therefore, as RT can also be used to produce products with low-volume production, there is a good potential to explore RHCM in RT. This paper reviews the implementation of RHCM in the molding industry, which has been well established and undergone improvement on the basis of different heating technologies. Lastly, this review also introduces future research opportunities regarding the potential of RT in the RHCM technique.
  • Publication
    Irregular shape effect of brass and copper filler on the properties of Metal Epoxy Composite (MEC) for rapid tooling application
    ( 2022) ;
    Safian Sharif
    ;
    ;
    Allan Rennie
    ;
    Mohd Azlan Suhaimi
    ;
    Abdellah El-hadj Abdellah
    ;
    ;
    Mohd Tanwyn Mohd Khushairi
    ;
    Aurel Mihail Titu
    Due to their low shrinkage and easy moldability, metal epoxy composites (MEC) are recognized as an alternative material that can be applied as hybrid mold inserts manufactured with rapid tooling (RT) technologies. Although many studies have been conducted on MEC or reinforced composite, research on the material properties, especially on thermal conductivity and compressive strength, that contribute to the overall mold insert performance and molded part quality are still lacking. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of the cooling efficiency using MEC materials. Thus, this research aims to appraise a new formulation of MEC materials as mold inserts by further improving the mold insert performance. The effects of the thermal, physical, and mechanical properties of MEC mold inserts were examined using particles of brass (EB), copper (EC), and a combination of brass + copper (EBC) in irregular shapes. These particles were weighed at percentages ranging from 10% to 60% when mixed with epoxy resin to produce specimens according to related ASTM standards. A microstructure analysis was made using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to investigate brass and copper particle distribution. When filler composition was increased from 10% to 60%, the values of density (g/cm3), hardness (Hv), and thermal conductivity (W/mK) showed a linear upward trend, with the highest value occurring at the highest filler composition percentage. The addition of filler composition increased the compressive strength, with the highest average compressive strength value occurring between 20% and 30% filler composition. Compressive strength indicated a nonlinear uptrend and decreased with increasing composition by more than 30%. The maximum value of compressive strength for EB, EC, and EBC was within the range of 90–104 MPa, with EB having the highest value (104 MPa). The ANSYS simulation software was used to conduct a transient thermal analysis in order to evaluate the cooling performance of the mold inserts. EC outperformed the EB and EBC in terms of cooling efficiency based on the results of thermal transient analysis at high compressive strength and high thermal conductivity conditions.
      4  9