Series molds

Whereas aluminum and zinc alloys or low-hardness steels can be used for small-series molds (prototypes and pre-series), the processing of SMC to serial parts is done in heated steel molds. 

After a review of the procedures in elastomer processing, the following describes the specifics in the manufacture of molds. A distinction is made between test or prototype molds and series molds. 

Series molds are designed according to the number and life time of products. The number of cavities and the process and degree of automation are defined according to the product specification. The series molds are mostly manufactured from hardened steel (up to 65 HRC) and are coated with for an optimization of the demolding process as well as the service life. 

FIGURE 3.13 Series mold with 4 cavities made from ALUMOLD 1-500 for the production of a wiper wheel... 

For a long time, it was considered that the engineered product in the CAD system was sufficient enough to evaluate the design. However, the visualization of data in the form of a cubing model, or using stereolithography or a prototype mold which is preceded by a series mold, has proved to be successful. 

FIGURE 4.6 Arrangement of slider parts for the ejection of a bumper productfrom the series mold... 

---