Part Design
This part design was provided by a premier global automotive manufacturer based in Germany. For FIM, STEP files are preferred.
Car Cable Bracket
Freeform Injection Molding in Automotive
Challenge
Insufficient spare parts inventory.
Solution
Use FIM to produce spare parts using customer-specific material,
BASF Ultramid® 30% glass-filled PA66.
60 Minutes
Mold Design
The next step is converting the STEP file into a mold design which is done by inverting the part into a cavity, in a block of material, and then adding the inlet gate(s) and initial venting.
2 hours
Printed Tooling
The part design was large, so the mold was split into 2 mold units and assembled.
5 Minutes
Freeform Injection Molding (FIM)
The parts were molded on a 50-ton press. FIM molds work hand-in-hand with any installed base molding unit.
An aluminum mold frame was used to hold the large mold assembly in place.
1 day
Demolding
The Nexa3D alkaline solution was used for demolding these parts, over a 2.5 day period.
This time can be optimized through mold re-design or by removing a part of the mold before demolding.
The bracket above is straight out of the tool: no post-processing, no polishing. Details in the design and part functionality stand out clearly.
Total time to Injection Molded Part:
3 hours 5 minutes + 1 day of demolding
Observations
- The mold design is an easy process.
- The material (BASF Ultramid®) fills the molds nicely in the first test rounds.
- Optimization for demolding is always a good thing, improving subsequent iterations.
- Datasheet materials were used for molding data, settings, pressure, temperatures, and more.
- Iterating the design, changing materials, or both, based on obtained results are just some of the benefits from working with Freeform Injection Molding.
Live testing for 9 weeks:
3 days after receiving part design
Result
The parts were mounted in a range of high-end sports cars.
- The part is located directly on top of the turbo charger in the engine area.
- Multiple parts were live-tested for more than 9 weeks including:
- Extreme temperature conditions.
- Humidity testing.
- UV exposure.
- Various vibratory conditions.
- Mechanical performance testing.
The parts passed all tests
Speak to a product expert about xMOLD. Complete the form and we’ll be in touch!
