COPPERPLAS: Application of copper alloys in manufacturing of injection moulds for plastics

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 96.0119

Key words (English)

Industrial material technology

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: BRST-CT96-5069

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 4. Frame Research Programme - 2.1 Industrial and materials technologies

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

Objectives:
The objective of copperplas was to focus on the development of effective copper alloy mould tooling to provide production process benefits for the european plastics processing industry. The project concentrated activity was injection moulding.
Research areas:
Research focused on mould manufacturing methodology, i.e. machining, cast-to-shape and repair/refurbishment for vital aftermarket support. The cast-to-shape option was fully researched and a number of usable moulds were built by this method of which one has proved to be successful in moulding trials. A mould machined from copper plate has also produced favourable results. A thrid option, 'time-compressed-manufacturing' was selected using a copper-steel-tungsten sintering process to produce a tool for moulding an electronic assembly component. This mould tool also performed satisfactorily. Locating a satisfactory method for surface modelling scanned data for investment casting were less successful.
Project results:
1. New technical knowledge acquired on mould tool development options
2. Heat transfer properties of copper alloy moulds quantified
3. Preliminary injection moulding trials indicate potential productivity gains as high as 33%
4. Welding-repair techniques have been developped
5. Significant increase in injection moulding machine utilisation
Conclusions:
- Copper alloys have excellent potential in the plastic moulding industry.
- Mould design may maximize cooling at reduced cost.
- Quality of moulded components is consistent.
- Insufficient time to realistically assess long-term durability.
The results achieved are most encouraging but with hindsight, the copperplas project would have benfited from a four year brite euram RTD project.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 96.0119