Rapid tooling development for low volume injection molding of cosmetic compacts

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the capability of different additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technologies to rapidly manufacture mold inserts for injection molding as well as to evaluate the performance of the printed mold inserts and the quality of the injection molded parts. Fused filament fabrication (FFF), stereolithography (SLA), and multi-jet fusion (MJF) 3D printing technologies were used to produce the mold inserts, whereas a cosmetic compact base was selected as the case study part. The results obtained show that it is possible to use the mentioned technologies to manufacture tool inserts for rapid prototyping or low volume production of cosmetic compact bases using injection molding. When using the FFF mold inserts, the cosmetic compact bases produced were not of the best quality and surface finish but still acceptable for prototyping purposes only. The vertically printed SLA mold inserts as well as the MJF mold inserts produced cosmetic compact bases with no flashes and the best surface finish. The MJF mold inserts had excellent thermal properties so that apart from HDPE, a higher melting temperature ABS was also successfully molded. Also using the MJF mold inserts, the highest production number of 80 cosmetic compact bases of a good quality could be achieved.