As an important branch of the casting industry, die-casting molds play an indispensable role in various fields such as automobiles, home appliances, electronics, aerospace, etc. With the increasing demand in the die-casting market, the quality, functionality, and structural requirements for castings are becoming more diverse. Traditional mold manufacturing technology is no longer able to meet the complex and ever-changing mold opening needs. However, metal 3D printing technology, with its unique advantages, can maximize the value of adaptive temperature control, achieve precise mold temperature control, improve product yield, and enhance die-casting production conditions, which has enormous economic value.

Xiaojiao Company focuses on mold 3D printing services. In 2021, advanced metal 3D printing equipment was introduced to provide a complete set of services including waterway/exhaust design, mold flow simulation, 3D printing, heat treatment, and post finishing. We have provided hundreds of thousands of additive manufacturing mold inserts to over 100 customers, assisting in their industrialization.

Recently, Xiaojiao Company has successfully broken through the technological application of die-casting molds through continuous innovation and practice - the service life of 3D printing integrated die-casting mold inserts exceeds 50000 times, the impact toughness reaches 22J (hardness after heat treatment is 48-50HRC), and the product yield rate reaches 100%. This marks that the material strength, wear resistance, and overall structural design have all met customer standards.

In addition, 3D printing can reduce local hot spots in mold inserts, minimize product shrinkage, and avoid abnormal situations such as bubbles, mucous membranes, cold joints, and deformations. The splitter cone is the most compressed and heated part inside the die-casting mold, and its cooling standard is very high. Metal 3D printing technology can achieve highly flexible design, breaking the constraints of traditional design ideas. It can integrate the internal irregular flow channel structure, solve the problem of uneven temperature control in complex deep cavity molds, and achieve precise temperature control of molds.

Rapid cooling can help shorten the cooling cycle to accelerate the ejection process, preserve the intact material cake, facilitate subsequent automated clamping and removal, and reduce the occurrence of hammer head jamming due to thermal expansion, thereby improving the lifespan of the hammer head.  

The advantages of 3D printing technology in the application of die-casting molds

The production efficiency can be increased by 50% without additional quick cooling (such as spray cooling), saving coolant and time for spraying release agent; Avoid shrinkage and indentation, improve surface smoothness, and reduce product scrap rate; Shorten the forming cycle and increase production efficiency by more than 50%;

Extending the service life of molds through metal 3D printing can avoid cracking caused by thermal and stress concentration, and reduce the energy of thermal shock. It can effectively improve the crystalline layer, refine the grain size, stabilize the product strength, and enhance the mechanical properties of the product; Reduce thermal deformation and internal stress; Stabilize shrinkage rate and improve product size tolerance level;

Efficient and flexible layout of temperature controlled flow channels is crucial for the quality of the final product during the die-casting process, as temperature control of various parts of the casting is essential. By 3D printing a temperature controlled mold core that follows the shape, the temperature distribution during the solidification process of castings can be accurately simulated and optimized, achieving highly flexible placement of temperature controlled flow channels inside the mold according to specific temperature control requirements during the solidification process of castings.