Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Additively Manufactured Carbon Fiber- Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Mold Plates For Injection Molding Process, C. Bivens, A. Wood, D. Ruble, M. Rangapuram, S. K. Dasari, K. Chandrashekhara, J. Degrange

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Polymer injection molding processes have been used to create high-volume parts quickly and efficiently. Injection molding uses mold plates that are traditionally made of very hard tool steels, such as P20 steel, which is extremely heavy and has very long lead times to build new molds. In this study, composite-based additive manufacturing (CBAM) was used to create mold plates using long-fiber carbon fiber and polyether ether ketone (PEEK). These mold plates were installed in an injection molding machine, and rectangular flat plates were produced using Lustran 348 acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Tensile and flexural testing was performed on these parts …