Case Study to Illustrate the Potential of Conformal Cooling Channels for Hot Stamping Dies Manufactured Using Hybrid Process of Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) and Milling
Date
2018-02Keywords
Additive manufacturing
Laser metal deposition
Hot stamping
Die and mold
Conformal cooling
Design optimization
Abstract
Hot stamping dies include cooling channels to treat the formed sheet. The optimum cooling channels of dies and molds should adapt to the shape and surface of the dies, so that a homogeneous temperature distribution and cooling are guaranteed. Nevertheless, cooling ducts are conventionally manufactured by deep drilling, attaining straight channels unable to follow the geometry of the tool. Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing technique capable of fabricating nearly free-form integrated cooling channels and therefore shape the so-called conformal cooling. The present work investigates the design and manufacturing of conformal cooling ducts, which are additively built up on hot work steel and then milled in order to attain the final part. Their mechanical performance and heat transfer capability has been evaluated, both experimentally and by means of thermal simulation. Finally, conformal cooling conduits are evaluated and compared to traditional straight channels. The ...
Type
article