ساخت سريع قالب هاي تزريق پلاستيك به روش تف جوشي ليزري پودرهاي فولادي

RAPID TOOLING FOR PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDING THROUGH LASER SINTERING OF STEEL POWDERS

In this paper, a new steel powder and a novel method for rapid manufacturing of plastic injection mold inserts using laser sintering process were developed. In this process, the 3D-CAD models of parts are converted to triangulated surface models in the standard STL format. The computer process slices the standard STL format to thin horizontal layers, e.g. 50µm, demonstrating the part as a stack of thin slices. The data preparation step is followed by the laser sintering process in which the loose powder bed is sintered layer by layer to form a dense body. The processed parts can be post-sintered in order to improve the density and to decrease the porosity. This article presents the sintering behavior, mechanical properties, and microstructural features of the laser sintered steel powder. A case study has been conducted to prove the applicability of the material for rapid tooling.