The aim of the project is to create new molds able to reduce the energy consuming during the process of moulding of expanded polymers.
Energy efficiency and sustainability are the future keywords of any industrial process and they define the way to follow for the innovation both of products and processes. For this reason the introduction of technologies focused on the reduction of the energy waste is today the main challenge for the research and the industry.
Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers new opportunities for the design of moulds and dies with improved performance and new functionalities. Conformal cooling channels can be easily integrated into dies and increased freedom in shape generation is made available. By AM a faster, more flexible and sustainable processing route becomes available for the tooling industry. A joint research was therefore undertaken to develop a new generation of moulds for expanded polymer parts, aimed at achieving reduced energy consumption during production and faster processing cycles so as to bring remarkable competitive advantages over the traditional processing tools for the moulding of expanded foams.
The early phase of the project was financed by the Lombardy Region - INNODRIVE-S3 - Edition 2019.
The current development phase is financed by the Lombardy Region - TECH FAST - Edition 2021.
Riferimenti
- 1 Alessio, F., Alessio, M., Vedani, M. and Viganò, R. (2020). Novel concepts for the design of moulds and equipment for expanded polymer bead foams. Progress in Additive Manufacturing, pp.1-8. ISSN: 2363-9520, doi: 10.1007/s40964-020-00153-3
- 2 K2019 Messe Düsseldorf
- 3 RM Forum 2020
- 4 Alessio, F., Alessio, M., Savoldelli, P. Vedani, M. and Viganò, R. Design of additively manufactured moulds for expanded polymers. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 125, 4899–4908 (2023), doi: 10.1007/s00170-023-10936-x