Plastic molds are essential components in the plastic processing and molding process. The performance requirements of plastic molds mainly include high hardness, good wear resistance, high toughness, good crack resistance, good angular resistance, good corrosion resistance to corrosive plastics, and achieving the designed processing accuracy. So, what is the future development trend of plastic molds?

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   1、 High quality

   The development trend of European and American mold steel is that a series of new mold materials have emerged successively, including carbon tool steel, low-alloy tool steel, and high alloy tool steel, and the alloying degree of mold standard steel is also increasing.

   1. The Development Trend of New Plastic Mold Steel Abroad

   Plastic mold steel with easy cutting and good polishing properties, such as 412 from the United States M-300， YAG from Japan, EAB from the UK, STAVAX-13 from Sweden, etc;

   Pre hardened plastic mold steel, such as P20 and 445 from the United States, PDS from Japan, MOVTREX-A (2312) from Germany, etc;

   Solid hardened plastic mold steel, such as A2, D3, and H13 from the United States;

   Corrosion resistant plastic mold steel, such as 110Cr-Mo17 in the national standard ISO and 4Cr13 from ASSAB in Sweden.

   2. Advanced surface treatment technology for molds

   Using multi-element co infiltration and composite infiltration instead of single element infiltration method to treat the surface of the mold.

   Coating can be applied on the surface of the mold using methods such as TiC, TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, CrN, Cr7C3, W2C, etc. Physical and chemical vapor deposition, ion infiltration, ion implantation, etc.

   2、 High precision

   The high-speed scanning machine and mold scanning system provide many functions required from scanning models or physical objects to processing the desired model, greatly shortening the development and manufacturing cycle of molds.

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   The mold scanning system has been successfully applied in the mold industry in Europe and America. Equipment in this area, such as Renishaw's high-speed scanner (CYCLONSERIES2), can complement the advantages of laser probes and contact probes, with a laser scanning accuracy of 0.05mm and a contact probe scanning accuracy of 0.02mm.

   3、 High efficiency

   1. Widely adopting high-speed cutting technology

   Generally used for large cover mold, its surface machining accuracy can reach 0.01mm. After high-speed milling precision machining, the mold surface can be used with only slight polishing, saving a lot of time for grinding and polishing. High speed cutting significantly shortens the molding cycle, thereby enhancing the market competitiveness of the product.

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   2. The combination of rapid prototyping technology and rapid prototyping technology

   The combination of rapid prototyping technology and rapid prototyping technology is applied to mold manufacturing, that is, using rapid prototyping technology to manufacture prototypes of product parts, and then quickly manufacturing molds based on the prototypes. The application of this technology from mold design to manufacturing completion costs only one-third of traditional methods. Using rapid prototyping to cast silicone rubber molds for small-scale plastic parts, it is very suitable for product trial production. Using aluminum to manufacture injection molds can shorten the injection molding cycle by 25-30%, greatly reducing the weight of the mold and shortening the grinding and polishing time by half.

   4、 Innovation drive

   In order to enhance competitiveness, the production of foreign mold steel has shifted from dispersion to concentration, and multiple companies have undergone cross-border mergers. In order to compete better, these companies have built complete and technologically advanced mold steel production lines and mold steel scientific research bases, forming several world-class mold production and research centers to meet the rapidly developing mold industry.

   Editor's note: The mold industry is a modern craft substrate industry that exists through technology and quality. Only by increasing research and development efforts can we stand invincible in the industry. At present, there is still a certain gap between the domestic mold industry and foreign counterparts, but as long as we quickly absorb advanced foreign technology and constantly try to improve and innovate, we will surely make huge breakthroughs in the near future.