Using direct metal laser sintering to produce tool inserts - a white paper

26 June 2009

Laser sintering specialist, Electro Optical Systems (EOS) has published a white paper examining the benefits of using direct metal laser-sintering (DMLS) to create tooling inserts. Entitled “Optimised Mould Temperature Control Procedure Using DMLS,” the study combines descriptions of moulding innovations with documented field results - time and cost savings and quality increases - taken from injection-moulding projects that use tooling manufactured with DMLS.

The whitepaper was written by Siegfried Mayer, application engineer, who has more than 14 years of experience in the tooling sector and is responsible at EOS for tooling and moulding customers.

Results already obtained by using DMLS to create injection moulds and mould inserts with conformal cooling include:

· 20 percent increase in mould productivity and a 50-hour toolmaking time for a blow-mold (Es-Tec)
· Reduced cycle times from 15 to 9 seconds, enabling a 75 percent increase in productivity on a 4-bottle blow mold with DMLS inserts (SIG Blowtec)
· Reduced cycle time by two-thirds using a DMLS designed core effectively cooling down a critical hot spot (LaserBearbeitungsCenter)

A PDF of the new EOS Tooling white paper can be downloaded here