Introduction to the three mainstream technologies of domestic mold manufacturing

In recent years, domestic mold manufacturing technology has developed rapidly and has now become an important part of modern manufacturing technology. Luo Baihui, secretary general of the International Mould Association, said that the modern mould manufacturing technology regime is developing in the direction of accelerating information-driven, improving manufacturing flexibility, agile manufacturing and system integration. The CAD/CAM technology of molds, the laser rapid prototyping technology of molds, and the Precision forming technology, ultra-precision processing technology of molds, dynamic simulation technology of flow, cooling, and heat transfer process using finite element method and boundary element method in mold design, mold CIMS technology, mold DNM technology and numerical control that have been developed Technology, etc., cover almost all modern manufacturing technologies.

1. High-speed milling: the third generation of mold making technology

High-speed milling processing not only has high processing speed and good processing accuracy and surface quality, but also has low temperature rise compared with traditional cutting processing (the workpiece is only raised by 3℃), and the thermal deformation is small, so it is suitable for temperature And thermal deformation sensitive materials (such as magnesium alloy, etc.) processing; also because of the small cutting force, it can be applied to the processing of thin-walled and poor rigid parts; reasonable selection of tools and cutting parameters can achieve a series of advantages such as hard material (HRC60) processing . High-speed milling processing technology is still a hot topic at present. It has developed in the direction of higher agility, intelligence, and integration, and has become the third generation of mold making technology.

2. EDM milling and green product technology

From the perspective of foreign EDM machine tools, whether in terms of performance, process indicators, intelligence, and automation, they have reached a very high level. At present, the new trend in foreign countries is to carry out EDM machining technology (EDM The research and development of machining technology), which is a new technology to replace the traditional molding electrode machining cavity. It uses a simple tubular electrode rotating at high speed for three-dimensional or two-dimensional contour machining (like CNC milling), so it is not Then there is a need to manufacture complex shaped electrodes, which is obviously a major development in the field of EDM.

Recently, Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation launched the EDSCAN8E EDM machine tool and has made new progress. This machine can automatically compensate for electrode loss. The dedicated CAM system developed for this machine on Windows 95 can be linked with general CAD such as AutoCAD, and can perform online precision measurement to ensure high-precision machining. In order to confirm whether the processed shape is abnormal or incomplete, the CAM system can also realize simulation processing. (Guide: Introduction to Grinding Precision Machining Methods)

Along with the advancement of EDM technology, people pay more and more attention to the safety and protection technology of EDM, and many EDM machine tools have considered safety protection technology. At present, the European Community has stipulated that machine tools without the CE mark cannot enter the European Community market. At the same time, the international market is paying more and more attention to the requirements of safety protection technology.

At present, the main problem of EDM machine tools is radiation harassment, because it has a greater impact on safety and environmental protection. As the international market pays more and more attention to green products, EDM machine tools are the leading equipment for mold processing. Green product technology will be a problem that must be solved in the future.

Three, a new generation of mold CAD/CAM software technology

Luo Baihui, secretary general of the International Mould Association, said that at present, the mould software developed by the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and some Chinese universities and research institutes has the intelligence, integration, and integration of a new generation of mould CAD/CAM software. Features such as mold manufacturability evaluation.

Luo Baihui believes that the new generation of mold software should be based on a large amount of knowledge summarized from mold design practices. This knowledge has been systematically and scientifically sorted, stored in the engineering knowledge base in a specific form and can be easily called by the mold. With the support of intelligent software, mold CAD is no longer an imitation of traditional design and calculation methods, but under the guidance of advanced design theories, full use of the rich knowledge and successful experience of experts in the field, the design results must be reasonable Sexuality and advancement.

The new generation of mold software designs mold structures with three-dimensional ideas and intuitive feelings. The generated three-dimensional structure information can be conveniently used for mold manufacturability evaluation and CNC machining, which requires mold software to parameterize features in three-dimensional Modeling, molding process simulation, CNC machining process simulation, information exchange, organization and management have reached a fairly complete level and have a high level of integration. To measure the degree of software integration, it depends not only on whether the functional modules are complete, but also whether these functional modules share the same data model, and whether they form a global dynamic database in a unified manner to achieve comprehensive management and sharing of information to support mold design , Manufacturing, assembly, inspection, testing and the whole process of production.

Mold manufacturability evaluation function is very important in the new generation of mold software. It is necessary to screen multiple solutions, and also to evaluate the rationality and economy of the mold design process, and provide mold designers with Basis for modification.

In the new generation of mold software, manufacturability evaluation mainly includes evaluation of mold design and manufacturing costs, evaluation of mold assemblability, evaluation of mold parts manufacturing processability, evaluation of mold structure and forming performance, etc. The new generation of software should also have assembly-oriented functions, because the function of the mold can only be reflected through its assembly structure. After the assembly-oriented design method is adopted, mold assembly is no longer a simple assembly of parts one by one. Its data structure can not only describe the function of the mold, but also define the assembly characteristics of the relationship between the mold parts, and realize the association of the parts. Can effectively ensure the quality of the mold.

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