what is conformal cooling?
Traditional cooling channels are designed as straight lines since they are restricted by the drilling and machining used to create them.
With 3D printing, designers are not limited to straight lines, allowing cooling channel designs that closely conform to the molding part’s shape and contour.
Reduce cycle time with improved cooling
Enhance part quality with more uniform cooling
Improve process stability for better repeatability and consistency
REDUCE CYCLE TIMES
Improved cooling efficiency significantly reduces mold cycle times.
Cooling is the longest part of the molding cycle, so even small savings during the cooling cycle can dramatically reduce cycle times.
ENHANCE PART QUALITY
Conformal cooling ensures uniform, balanced cooling, minimizing residual stresses, warpage, and distortion in molded parts.
The result is a molded part with improved dimensional accuracy, fewer defects, and enhanced surface finish.
COST SAVINGS AND ENERGY REDUCTION
Faster production cycles lead to lower energy consumption, reduced machine idle time, and increased machine utilization.
The improved part quality reduces the need for reworking or scraping, saving material costs.
INCREASE SHOP THROUGHPUT
Conformal cooling reduces cycle time, allowing manufacturers to produce more parts in a given timeframe to meet production demands while increasing total shop throughput.
DESIGN FLEXIBILITY
Conformal cooling allows greater design flexibility in molded plastic parts. Conformal cooling enables designers to optimize cooling where it is most needed. This flexibility expands the design possibilities for the molded part, including the ability to mold thin or thick sections that would otherwise warp with traditional cooling.
PROCESS STABILITY
Conformal cooling maintains consistent temperatures throughout the mold, reducing temperature variations affecting part dimensions, material flow, and overall process stability.
That stability leads to improved repeatability and consistency when producing high-quality parts. This improved stability is especially critical when molding hard-to-work plastics, like bio-based or highly-filled materials.
MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURING AID
