Manufacturability

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)
wireEDM

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.
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.

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).

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.
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 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.
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.