CAE DS Mould Design

Manufacturability
Tuula Hk Tampere University of Technology
There are three basic manufacturing methods, which can be adopted in making the
basic shapes in a mould/die cavity

high speed milling

die sink electro discharge machining (die-sink EDM)
wire EDM

There are also some not so commonly used methods like hobbing and rapid prototyping. Rapid prototyping methods are very useful in prototype mould making, but only
for injection moulding technology. It is not possible to make a high pressure die
casting prototype in a cavity made with some rapid prototype method. The cavity will
break before a prototype series is finished. Hobbing is a good method for making a
series of small, relatively simple cavities or some details like fixed cores.

Infrequently used
methods

High speed milling is a similar to the traditional milling method. The difference is in
that the tool rotating speed is higher, cutting speed is higher, the tooling forces are
smaller, and the tool diameter can be smaller. There are certain limits in cutting tool
diameter versus length, but generally it is possible to manufacture smaller corner
radiuses and smaller details than with traditional milling method. The smallest cutting tool diameters for finishing operations are smaller than 1 mm. With these
extremely small cutting tools it is possible to produce corner radiuses of 0,2 0,5 mm,
but with these smallest grades, the tool wears fast and the tool life can be as short as
10 30 minutes.

High speed
milling

With the smallest cutting tools, it is possible to mill very small details, but because the
tool length decreases while diameter decreases, there are certain limitations. The
narrow and deep cavities are still best produced with a die sink EDM method. EDM is
basically machining by melting the workpiece through electric sparks between an
electrode and a workpiece. The workpiece is sunk to a dielectric fluid, which changes
constantly and rapidly from an electric insulator to an electric conductor posing an
electric spark (See image).

Die-sink EDM

Image 1. Die-sink EDM system consists of an

electrode, a workpiece, a container of dielectric
fluid and a control system, which produces
electric sparks between the electrode and the
workpiece. The control system also produces the
electrode movement. It is common to retract the
electrode from the workpiece between the sparks.
This aids the chip removal from the machining
area. Machined shapes are typically narrow and
high slots and cavities.

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CAE DS Mould Design

Die-sink EDM is expensive compared to high speed milling. There is a need to make
the electrode by machining it from graphite or some copper alloy. EDM is machining
by melting and also the electrode heats up and wears during the machining process.
The tool maker does not get along only with one electrode. There has to be few specially dimensioned rough machining electrodes and few specially dimensioned
finishing electrodes.
The EDM machining speed is very slow and the surface finishing takes more time.
The workpiece surface is filled with small cavities after the EDM operation. Sometimes these cavities are the wished surface condition, because they produce a
decorative appearance to injection moulded parts. In high pressure die casting die
cavity the EDM surface will not do, because the cavities are a starting point for heat
cracking. The deformed EDM surface has to be removed completely.
Wire EDM is a common method in making fixed cores along with high speed and
traditional milling. The core fitting is wire cut as well.

Wire EDM

Wire EDM is a similar method to die-sink EDM. The wire EDM system consists of an
electrode wire, which moves through the workpiece and cuts it with an extremely
slow movement. The workpiece is sunk to dielectric fluid like in die-sink EDM and
also the machining principle is the same. The moving wire does not heat up like the
electrode in die-sink EDM. It is possible to wire EDM materials with very high melting points materials which are almost impossible to machine with the die-sink EDM
method.
The shape of a part has to be such that it can be machined with a straight wire. Fixed
cores, core fittings and ejector holes are typical examples of shapes, which are very
easy to produce with wire EDM.

Image 2. A core, which is manufactured with a wire

EDM method and fit to a wire ED machined hole.

Image 3. A high and massive machined core, which is fit to a

wire ED machined hole.

Wire EDM is more expensive than high speed machining, but cheaper than die-sink
EDM. The costs are usually compensated with savings in cavity material. Example of
this is shown in the image 3 above. The separate fixed cores are easily replaceable. The
cores are usually first to wear and when they wear; there is no need to re-machine the
whole cavity. The solution is more expensive in the beginning, but pays off with lower
mould/die maintenance costs.
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CAE DS Mould Design

The part designer decides also the visual appearance and details like colour, the
material to be used and the method for surface finishing. These selections influence on
the injection moulding mould cavity surface finishing. High pressure die casting die
cavity surface is finished mainly to help die spraying agents to lubricate the cavity.
Part surface quality is an important issue mainly from the heat checking and cavity
wear point of view. Not from the visual point of view like in injection mouldings.
The most common injection moulding mould cavity surface finish operations are:

Polish of a different degree

Polishing produces a shiny surface to the part. If the part should be transparent, the mould cavity has to be polished to the finest degree. The tightest
demands are in the case of optical components like lenses. There are special
polishable mould steel grades.
Die-sink EDM surface
Die-sink EDM produces small round craters to the machined surface. The size
of the craters depends on the intensity of the electric sparks. These craters
mould small and round bubble-like protrusions to the part surface. If the
spark intensity is right, the surface is decorative. Die-sink EDM is a very common surface finishing method, because it is cheap compared to polishing,
which may need several hours of manual work.
Chemical etching
With this method it is possible to mould 0,01 0,6 mm deep patterns to the
part surface. A film with a negative of the surface pattern and a light sensitive
layer is attached to the mould cavity. The film is exposed to a light and removed. The light sensitive agent attaches to the mould cavity and forms a
protective layer around the pattern. The cavity is flushed with a chemical agent, which etches the pattern to the surface. The etching companies typically
have ready films to produce different surface patterns. There is no complete
freedom of design. The costs depend on the cavity shapes and the area to be
treated.
Laser engraving
With this method it is possible to produce small, accurate markings to the
mould cavity surface. The maximum depth is around 0,75 mm.

Part coating can set special requirements to the mould/die cavity surface finishing.
The part surface should be at a certain roughness and clean. High pressure die castings may have some remains of spraying agents and plunger lubricants, which have
to be completely removed in order to secure permanent coating. Injection mouldings
are cleaner. Consult the tool maker to be sure that the tool designers have understood
the requirements for the selected coating.

References
E. C. Jameson, Electrical Discharge Machining, Society of Manufacturing Engineers,
Michigan, 2001.
G. Menges, W. Michaeli, P. Mohren: How to make injection molds, Hanser, Munchen,
2000
Sandvik web pages: http://www.sandvik.com/
Various chemical etching and laser engraving service company web pages

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