High-pressure die casting dies are produced in most cases by conventional subtractive manufacturing processes. In this case, a massive design of the die usually ensures high stability during the casting process. However, at the same time, it leads to low flexibility in casting production and high material costs. The basic approach in the present work is to reduce the conventional subtractive production process of a die casting die in favor of a flexible, modular design, where only a few contour elements of the die have to be replaced for achieving different castings. In order to pave the way for this design principle, basic thermal and structural properties of a lightweight design die casting die were analyzed. The finite element calculations carried out showed that the modular lightweight die casting die consumes considerably less energy for preheating and during operation. Due to the reduced stiffness and material, however, calculated deformations and stresses in the die are considerably higher during the casting process. Although the initial calculation results look very promising, further knowledge must be gained in order to ensure the future success of modular lightweight die casting dies.
Multi-material structures made from renewable materials are increasingly being addressed in research and industry. Especially lightweight applications based on wood and polymer materials offer an important opportunity to reduce weight and CO2 emissions, and thus create a sustainable economy. When establishing new material combinations, it is necessary to take economical and efficient manufacturing processes into count to enable the market entry. Therefore, the existing manufacturing processes needed to be adapted and improved in terms of the specific machining characteristic of the wood material. This study targets a combined process where a forming and shear-cutting process is also integrated in an injection-molding tool. The findings on the shear-cutting process of wood veneers are not widely investigated yet. Therefore, process and material-related dependences like cutting velocity, tool shape design, and preconditioning of wood veneers were examined. The target values cutting force and cutting-edge quality were used to describe the relations. The results showed specific damage and fiber fractions of the wood material compared to the isotropic materials (e.g., metal). In addition, low cutting forces appeared by realizing a drawing cut and high cutting speeds. A decrease in the cutting force with a higher moisture content could not be shown for the used wood types.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.