1 Topic by NicoleJS (edited by NicoleJS 2021-08-25 04:19:49)

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Topic: Is 3D Printing the End of Injection Molding?

Some analysts of the manufacturing industry insist that the rise of 3D printing is the demise of injection molding. It is true that there are cases where 3D printing is preferred over injections molding, but the reports about the end of injection molding are essentially made by people with a vested interest and are untrue or exaggerated. tono para cecular

Plastic injection molding is in no danger of fading anytime soon and will continue to hold a great deal of the market share when it comes to creating plastic parts. Despite the recent advances in 3D printing technology, more than 80% of plastic parts manufactured today are injection molded.

When asked “which technique should I use to manufacture my parts?” any serious specialist would say, “It totally depends.” It depends on variables like material type, cost, quality, and quantity of course.

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2 Reply by Tin Falcon

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Re: Is 3D Printing the End of Injection Molding?

I see the future change in spare parts. The problem with today's supply chain is if a supplier stops production of a item  they need to stock spare parts for years to support the product. Many of these parts collect years of dust oly to be sold to secondary aftermarket selles of may just be disposed of.
There is already one European Appliance maker that offers stl files for spares to be printed on a home printer or through a print service. So parts are stored in a digital format in a server rather than a warehouse less physical space no need for inventory or need to pay taxes on parts inventory that may never be sold.

Time will tell how much 3d printing changes history.
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3 Reply by Heartlander

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Re: Is 3D Printing the End of Injection Molding?

In my own experience, there seems to be a fairly predictable production curve. If you want to make a part that could be made either with 3D or IM, it usually works out that it is cheaper to print them if you need less than 1500. More than that, injection molding wins 98% of the time. That's just the economics. IM wins on quality 98% of the time (my loosey goosey stats) regardless the qty.

The ability of 3D to make obsolete or specially modified parts is a true benefit. But more than that, in routine manufacturing there are sometimes parts that either can only be made on a printer (due to undercuts or other geometry difficult to injection mold) or because it would take a lot of expensive extra work (cams, multiple molds, etc) to mold them.

So, yeah. "It totally depends".

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4 Reply by Heartlander

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Re: Is 3D Printing the End of Injection Molding?

I can foresee a day when we have software that evaluates your OBJ or STL for its suitability for IM. Then, it could "convert" the design from a 3D centric drawing to an IM compatible design (with appropriate "draft" angles, min thickness, curved internal corners, etc. so that the finished part pops out of the mold okay, has good visual appearance and physical strength and with no flow problems, voids or other defects.

A mold could then be printed with ceramic or some other material. That mold would then be set up in your desktop Injection Molding machine which would begin to crank them out by the hundreds or thousands unattended.

Three years, maybe four. The basic chunks are already there they just need to be "Symplified" (a reference to Symplify3D style of simplified user interface and robust design management.

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