WP3 – Hybrid Molds for High Performance Products

Technology is constantly changing, always needing new components to keep up with market developments. The injection molding process is one of the most used methods in recent decades to produce plastic parts for people’s everyday lives; for example, in communication, electronic, kitchen and daily consumer products.

The main objective of this WP is to develop productive tools that result from the combination of different technologies and materials, with the aim of obtaining polymeric parts by injection for everyday use. These tools are called hybrid molds, as they consist of a conventional structure and molding inserts that are produced by combining traditional and additive manufacturing materials, through conventional and additive manufacturing technologies. The hybrid mold can be used as a molding tool, for example, in injection, thermoforming, blow molding, or other technologies, for the production of small and medium runs, as well as injected prototypes for product or system validation, before mass production.

With hybrid molds, there is also the possibility of embracing new markets, such as the production of small customized batches, production of replacement parts and the production of test parts, to accelerate product development.

Thus, the project will develop a product consisting of a hybrid mold with molding inserts for the production of high-performance polymeric parts, through the injection molding process, to be applied in the heaters, boilers and heat pumps industry.

The objective of hybrid molds is to reduce the time-to-market of a product and the cost of small production runs. The main advantages associated with hybrid molds are: efficiency, in terms of reducing waste and energy consumption, and the fact that it is easy to customize channel layouts in temperature control systems. One of the most talked about topics in hybrid molding is the ability to design temperature control systems with channels that are conformable to the part.

The main objectives of this WP are:

• Develop at least one high-performance polymeric product, using hybrid molds;
• Study different materials, technologies and geometries for the development and production of molding inserts;
• Use conformable channels to effectively and efficiently conduct heat from injection into molding inserts;
• Reduce the final cost of the product;
• Reduce time-to-market, from the development process to product availability, without compromising its quality;
• Evaluate the high-performance polymeric product and the respective hybrid mold, from an economic and environmental point of view.