TY - JOUR

T1 - Selective Laser Melting for improving quality characteristics of a prism shaped topology injection mould tool insert for the automotive industry

AU - El Kashouty, Menna

AU - Rennie, Allan

AU - Ghazy, Mootaz

AU - El Aziz, Ahmed Abd

PY - 2021/12/1

Y1 - 2021/12/1

N2 - Manufacturing process constraints and design complexities are the main challenges that face the aftermarket automotive industry. For that reason, recently, selective laser melting (SLM) is being recognised as a viable approach in the fabrication of injection moulding tool inserts. Due to its versatility, SLM technology is capable of producing freeform designs. For the first reported time, in this study SLM is recognized for its novel application in overcoming fabrication complexities for prism shaped topology of a vehicle headlamp’s reflector injection moulding tool insert. Henceforth, performance measures of the SLM-fabricated injection mould tool insert is assessed in comparison to a CNC-milled counterpart to improve quality characteristics. Tests executed and detailed in this paper are divided into two stages; the first stage assesses both fabricated tool inserts in terms of manufacturability; the second stage assesses the functionality of the end-products by measuring the surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and light reflectivity from the vehicle reflectors. The results obtained show that employing SLM technology can offer an effective and efficient alternative to subtractive manufacturing, successfully producing tool inserts with complex surface topology. Significant benefits in terms of surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and product functionality were achieved through the use of SLM technology. it was concluded that the SLM-fabricated inserts products proved to have relatively lower values of surface roughness in comparison to their CNC counterparts.

AB - Manufacturing process constraints and design complexities are the main challenges that face the aftermarket automotive industry. For that reason, recently, selective laser melting (SLM) is being recognised as a viable approach in the fabrication of injection moulding tool inserts. Due to its versatility, SLM technology is capable of producing freeform designs. For the first reported time, in this study SLM is recognized for its novel application in overcoming fabrication complexities for prism shaped topology of a vehicle headlamp’s reflector injection moulding tool insert. Henceforth, performance measures of the SLM-fabricated injection mould tool insert is assessed in comparison to a CNC-milled counterpart to improve quality characteristics. Tests executed and detailed in this paper are divided into two stages; the first stage assesses both fabricated tool inserts in terms of manufacturability; the second stage assesses the functionality of the end-products by measuring the surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and light reflectivity from the vehicle reflectors. The results obtained show that employing SLM technology can offer an effective and efficient alternative to subtractive manufacturing, successfully producing tool inserts with complex surface topology. Significant benefits in terms of surface roughness, dimensional accuracy and product functionality were achieved through the use of SLM technology. it was concluded that the SLM-fabricated inserts products proved to have relatively lower values of surface roughness in comparison to their CNC counterparts.

KW - Injection Moulding

KW - Additive Manufacturing

KW - Geometrical Complexity

KW - After-Market-Automotive Industry

KW - Optical Reflectivity

U2 - 10.1177/0954406221989382

DO - 10.1177/0954406221989382

M3 - Journal article

VL - 235

JO - Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science

JF - Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science

SN - 0954-4062

IS - 23

M1 - 989382

ER -