Bastech 使用 3D 打印随形冷却插件来降低成本和时间

Since the inception of industrial injection molding, keeping an even temperature on the surface of the mold has been a constant challenge.
自工业注塑成型开始以来，保持模具表面的均匀温度一直是一个持续的挑战。

In their quest to maintain even temperatures, manufacturers have used baffles, bubbles, and heat pipes; they have laminated blocks together and added complex drilling setups to their molds.
为了保持均匀的温度，制造商使用了挡板、气泡和热管;他们将砌块层压在一起，并在模具中添加了复杂的钻孔设置。

Over the last decade or so, conformal cooling—designing cooling channels that naturally follow the contours of a part—has been positioned as a solution for controlling injection-molding temperatures. But conformal cooling adds new layers of design and production complexity to the mold-making process, placing it beyond the means of most shops.
在过去十年左右的时间里，随形冷却（设计自然遵循零件轮廓的冷却通道）已被定位为控制注塑成型温度的解决方案。但是，随形冷却为模具制造过程增加了新的设计和生产复杂性，使其超出了大多数车间的能力范围。

Rock-Solid Methodology 坚如磐石的方法论

Bastech—an Ohio-based, one-source solution provider for shop floor, additive manufacturing services, and equipment sales—has wrestled with temperature issues, but believes it has found a way to introduce a new level of simplicity, efficiency, and economy to conformal cooling. 
Bastech 是一家总部位于俄亥俄州的一站式解决方案提供商，致力于车间、增材制造服务和设备销售，该公司一直在努力解决温度问题，但相信它已经找到了一种方法，将随形冷却的简单性、效率和经济性提升到一个新的水平。

The Bastech breakthrough, documented in two recent benchmark tests, is based on Cimatron CAD/CAM software and the ProX DMP 200 3D printer. Bastech performs simulations for the conformal cooling mold designs using Moldex3D software, and inspects the completed direct metal printing (DMP) molds using Geomagic Control X inspection and metrology software.
Bastech 的突破，在最近的两次基准测试中有所体现，它基于 Cimatron CAD/CAM 软件和 ProX DMP 200 3D 打印机。Bastech使用Moldex3D软件模拟随形冷却模具设计，并使用Geomagic Control X检测和测量软件检测完成的直接金属打印（DMP）模具。

The process represents an end-to-end manufacturing solution with easy integration between the digital and physical worlds, all powered by Cimatron products.
该工艺代表了一种端到端的制造解决方案，可在数字世界和物理世界之间轻松集成，所有这些都由 Cimatron 产品提供支持。

"The combination of powerful software designed to leverage the full capabilities of 3D printing with printers that deliver a fully dense metal part with smooth surfaces and limited post processing provides a rock-solid methodology for building customized cooling molds," says Bastech CEO Ben Staub.
Bastech 首席执行官 Ben Staub 表示：“旨在利用 3D 打印的全部功能的强大软件与打印机相结合，可提供具有光滑表面和有限后处理的完全致密金属部件，为构建定制冷却模具提供了一种坚如磐石的方法。

Design and Analysis Automation
设计和分析自动化

The first Bastech benchmark compared two very similar parts in terms of volume, size, and design configuration. Bastech designed one with a conformal core and then 3D printed the part; it designed the other with a standard spiral baffle configuration and manufactured the part conventionally.
第一个 Bastech 基准测试在体积、尺寸和设计配置方面比较了两个非常相似的部件。Bastech 设计了一个带有保形芯的零件，然后 3D 打印了该零件;它设计了另一个具有标准螺旋挡板配置的零件，并按传统方式制造零件。

Bastech created the conformal cooling design with Cimatron software that covers the entire mold-making cycle—from quoting, to design, to applying engineering changes, to NC and EDM programming. Cimatron includes cooling design and analysis capabilities that support both traditionally drilled cooling channels and conformal cooling channels for manufacturing using 3D printing technologies.
Bastech 使用 Cimatron 软件创建了随形冷却设计，该软件涵盖了整个模具制造周期 — 从报价到设计，到应用工程变更，再到 NC 和 EDM 编程。Cimatron 包括冷却设计和分析功能，支持传统的钻孔冷却通道和随形冷却通道，用于使用 3D 打印技术进行制造。

Through close integration with Moldex3D, injection mold designers working in Cimatron have the ability to perform automated mold-filling analysis to optimize cooling channel layout.
通过与Moldex3D的紧密整合，在Cimatron工作的注塑模具设计师能够进行自动化的充模分析，以优化冷却通道布局。

"The combination of Cimatron and Moldex delivers expert software to help less-experienced engineers create better-quality designs," says Staub. "This is a major consideration as the demand for experienced toolmakers is much larger than the dwindling supply."
“Cimatron 和 Moldex 的结合提供了专业的软件，帮助经验不足的工程师创建更高质量的设计，”Staub 说。“这是一个主要的考虑因素，因为对有经验的工具制造商的需求远远大于供应的减少。”

"Designing for 3D printing requires an understanding of structural support design to accomplish true requirement-based design as well as reducing material cost and build time," adds Bastech engineering manager Scott Young. "This type of expertise is built within the Cimatron software, which enables our designers to think about design without worrying about navigating through the CAD package to define complex internal channels."
“3D 打印设计需要了解结构支撑设计，以实现真正的基于需求的设计，并降低材料成本和构建时间，”Bastech 工程经理 Scott Young 补充道。“Cimatron 软件内置了这种专业知识，这使我们的设计师能够考虑设计，而不必担心在 CAD 软件包中导航以定义复杂的内部通道。”

Time and Cycle Savings
节省时间和周期

The Bastech design for the first benchmark was a tapered helix positioned on the inside of a spacing cone used for industrial assemblies. It created conformal cooling channels by rotating a teardrop configuration so that one side was parallel to the outer surface of the core while maintaining a constant distance from it. By running the cross-section along a tapered helix, Bastech designed geometry that the ProX DMP 200 could build in a single run.
第一个基准测试的 Bastech 设计是一个锥形螺旋，位于用于工业组件的间距锥体的内侧。它通过旋转泪滴配置来创建随形冷却通道，使一侧平行于核心的外表面，同时与核心保持恒定的距离。通过沿锥形螺旋线运行横截面，Bastech 设计了 ProX DMP 200 可以在单次运行中构建的几何形状。

The mold design took two days and was 3D printed on the ProX DMP 200 in three days. To maximize its productivity, Bastech combined the 3D print run for the mold with parts required for other Bastech projects.
模具设计耗时两天，并在三天内在 ProX DMP 200 上进行 3D 打印。为了最大限度地提高生产力，Bastech 将模具的 3D 打印运行与其他 Bastech 项目所需的零件相结合。

The ProX DMP 200 is a cost-effective alternative to traditional manufacturing processes, offering reduced waste, greater speeds for production, short setup times, very dense metal parts, and the ability to produce complex assemblies as a single part. 
ProX DMP 200 是传统制造工艺的一种经济高效的替代方案，可减少浪费、提高生产速度、缩短设置时间、处理非常致密的金属部件，并能够将复杂组件作为单个部件进行生产。

"It's a tool that enhances our capabilities on the molding side," says Staub. "It gives us higher turnaround tooling and solves bottleneck problems in the shop. We can save 30-40 hours per mold by eliminating EDM and drilling and drastically reducing CNC and polishing work."
“它是一种增强我们在成型方面能力的工具，”Staub 说。“它为我们提供了更高的周转时间，并解决了车间的瓶颈问题。通过消除电火花加工和钻孔，我们可以为每个模具节省 30-40 小时，并大幅减少 CNC 和抛光工作。

For the reverse-flow helix core, the design and analysis in Cimatron software combined with 3D printing on the ProX DMP 200 saved more than 40 hours of programming and shop time. When all costs were taken into consideration, the 3D-printed core yielded a net savings of US$1,765 (18 percent) over conventional methods, according to Young.
对于逆流螺旋芯，Cimatron 软件中的设计和分析与 ProX DMP 200 上的 3D 打印相结合，节省了 40 多个小时的编程和车间时间。Young表示，当考虑到所有成本时，3D打印核心比传统方法净节省了1,765美元（18%）。

More importantly, the conformal cooling mold maintained a lower temperature throughout the run and reduced cycle time by 22 percent.
更重要的是，随形冷却模具在整个运行过程中保持较低的温度，并将循环时间缩短了 22%。

"Cycle time is nearly everything in injection molding, with the ability to consistently control temperature a close second," says Staub.
“在注塑成型中，周期时间几乎是一切，能够始终如一地控制温度，”Staub 说。

"The more consistently we can hold temperature, the more consistently we can mold quality parts," says Young. "Eliminating warping due to temperature variation and lowering cycle time represent huge performance gains."
“我们保持温度越稳定，我们就能越稳定地塑造出高质量的零件，”Young 说。“消除由于温度变化引起的翘曲并缩短循环时间代表了巨大的性能提升。”

Savings Beyond the Core
核心之外的节约

In a second benchmark, Bastech went beyond the conformal core to design a complete core, cavity, and slide-mold set for 3D printing. In this case, the goal was to maintain the same temperature (110F) between the conventional and conformal designs to see how it would affect cooling and cycle time results.
在第二个基准测试中，Bastech 超越了保形型芯，设计了用于 3D 打印的完整型芯、型腔和滑模套件。在这种情况下，目标是在传统设计和随形设计之间保持相同的温度（110F），以了解它将如何影响冷却和循环时间结果。

Once again, Bastech recorded major time savings for programming, machining, and polishing, and completely eliminated EDM in the conformal cooling design. Automation within Cimatron software reduced design time from 30 hours to just seven for the conformal cooling mold. Total cost savings for the 3D-printed mold was US$2,505, a 16 percent savings.
Bastech 再次在编程、加工和抛光方面节省了大量时间，并在随形冷却设计中完全消除了 EDM。Cimatron 软件中的自动化将随形冷却模具的设计时间从 30 小时缩短到仅 7 小时。3D打印模具的总成本节省为2,505美元，节省了16%。

Cooling time was reduced from 10.5 seconds for the conventional mold to 7.5 seconds for the conformal mold, and the all-important cycle time was reduced by 14 percent.
冷却时间从传统模具的 10.5 秒缩短到随形模具的 7.5 秒，最重要的循环时间缩短了 14%。

"Even though the temperature remained the same for both the conventional and the conformal cooling designs, the conformal design forced more liquid through a greater surface area, making it more efficient in cooling the mold," says Young.
“尽管传统冷却和随形冷却设计的温度保持不变，但随形设计迫使更多的液体通过更大的表面积，使其更有效地冷却模具，”Young 说。

Major Bottom-Line Impact
主要底线影响

"The desire for better cooling techniques has been hanging out there for a long, long time," says Young. "We now have the software to help mold makers make better decisions about how to set up their cavities, cores, and inserts, then bring them into reality with direct metal 3D printing."
“对更好的冷却技术的渴望已经存在了很长很长一段时间，”Young说。“我们现在拥有软件，可以帮助模具制造商更好地决定如何设置他们的型腔、型芯和嵌件，然后通过直接金属 3D 打印将它们变为现实。”

"With traditional cooling for injection molding, there is no perfect situation," says Staub. "You can only drill holes in certain places, and you can't curve holes around channels like you can with conformal cooling designed for 3D printing. Now we no longer have to accept compromises in conformal cooling designs."
“对于传统的注塑成型冷却，没有完美的情况，”Staub说。“你只能在某些地方钻孔，你不能像为3D打印设计的随形冷却那样在通道周围弯曲孔。现在，我们不再需要接受随形冷却设计中的妥协。

Bastech purchased the ProX DMP 200 printer through a grant from the state of Ohio and the University of Dayton Research Institute, so part of its mission is to share results with the industrial community. Staub hopes that the Bastech benchmark efforts will show shops of all sizes that there are solid, end-to-end solutions available to achieve conformal cooling.
Bastech 通过俄亥俄州和代顿大学研究所的资助购买了 ProX DMP 200 打印机，因此其使命之一是与工业界分享成果。Staub 希望 Bastech 的基准测试工作能够向各种规模的商店展示，有可靠的端到端解决方案可用于实现随形冷却。

"A lot of toolmakers will need to adopt these 3D technologies to improve their shops," he says. "We want to share our successes so other shops can see that it not only can be done, but it can be done in a way that has a major impact on your bottom line."
“许多工具制造商将需要采用这些 3D 技术来改善他们的车间，”他说。“我们希望分享我们的成功，以便其他商店可以看到，它不仅可以做到，而且可以以一种对您的底线产生重大影响的方式完成。”