Progress of Surface Engineering Technology in Mould Manufacturing
The development of mold manufacturing technology is the focus of modern industry, especially the rapid development of the surface engineering technology of mold manufacturing process. surface engineering technology for moulds and dies plays a key role in improving surface wear resistance, extending service life, improving processing accuracy and enhancing process flexibility. Compared with traditional electroplating, this technology is more suitable for the characteristics of mould products and has higher cost performance. This paper will analyze the development of mould surface engineering technology at home and abroad, and analyze the development trend in the future.
Structural characterization of surface engineering technology
Mould surface engineering technology can be divided into three categories, namely coatings, surface modification, and diamond machining.
1. Coatings
Coatings are including: PVD, CVD, HVOF and other special coatings. CVD (chemical vapor deposition) technology deposits material to the work surface. The substrate is heated in a vacuum and saturated with reactant gas. Some of the reactant gas react together and deposit atomic particles on the substrate, finally forming a good film of different structure, composition and properties on the surface. HVOF (High Velocity Oxy Fuel) technology is a method for producing high quality surface materials. It is sprayed with very high speed and atomized fuel through a small diameter opening. The spray gun is designed to inject the powder into the stream of combusting gas at the highest speed, forming the materials corrosion resistance, heat resistance and wear resistance.
2. Surface modification
Surface modification techniques usually use physical and chemical processes to modify the surface properties of materials. Such as: laser surface modification and thermal spraying, chemical and electrochemical methods such as electroless plating and electroplating. The surface modification of moulds and dies can improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of its products. Laser surface modification is one of the main methods of surface modification technology. By controlling the laser parameters and irradiating the surface of the workpiece, the morphology and chemical composition of the surface layer of the workpiece can be changed, thereby modifying the properties of the surface. For example, the carbon deposition technology combines the electron beam excitation effect and the ion beam catalytic effect to directly cause the deposition of pure carbon atoms on the surface of the moulds and dies, which can greatly improve the surface properties of the moulds and dies, such as wear resistance, corrosion resistance and hardness.
3. Diamond machining
Diamond machining is a precision machining technique which is used to increase the surface precision and smoothness of workpiece. In the process of mould manufacturing, the diamond machining has the characteristics of high machining accuracy, high efficiency and low energy consumption, which is suitable for the machining of the internal cavity surface of the mould. The diamond machining technology is to use the abrasive particles with high hardness and high durability to cut away the material surface being machined to obtain the required surface roughness and shape.
Progress of surface engineering technology at home and abroad
In recent years, with the rapid development of international mold industry, mold surface engineering technology has also achieved many results. At present, the coating technology has been able to meet the service requirements of moulds with different materials, complexities, workpieces and industry fields. For example, carbon deposition technology has been widely used in automobile, aerospace and other industries because of its unique advantages in improving low temperature mold life. Matching with different coating technologies and developing more new coating technologies are the key to further development of mould surface engineering technology. In other surface modification technology, laser surface modification technology has made great progress in improving surface wear resistance, accuracy and life of moulds.
In addition, the diamond machining technology of mould surface also gets a big breakthrough. The large-scale intelligent machining technology of mold internal cavity surface has made remarkable progress. For example, high-precision five-axis knife machine body was equipped with diamond tool and water cutting technology, to achieve simultaneous high efficiency machining and multi-sided machining of mold inner cavity.
Another kind of cutting technology is EDM technology. EDM technology plays an important role in extending the performance of mould products. A common process is to use EDM electrodes to form the cutting features, such as the electroplated diamond milling wheel, which can obtain the high-precision micro machining effect.
The Development Trend of Mould Surface Engineering Technology in the Future
With the continuous progress of surface engineering technology in the process of mould manufacturing, the application fields of surface engineering technology will expand continuously, and with the development of Internet of things, the application scope of intelligent technology in the field of surface engineering technology in mould manufacturing also will be extended wider and deeper.
In the future, coating technology will continue to develop high performance, ceramic coatings and other novel high precision coatings, such as TiCN and TiAlN, will be used for surface engineering of molds and dies in more industries. In addition, with the continuous progress of 3D metal printer and powder layer forming technology, new applications can be found in metal, polymer, ceramic and composite materials.
Surface modification technology will also be further developed by combining with other technologies. For example, the combination of laser peening process and laser shock technology will bring more precise shock modification effect and expand the application of the technology.
In diamond machining, intelligent control and process optimization technology, such as reversed engineering technology, will become more and more popular, to realize more precise and efficient processing of moulds and dies.
Conclusion
Mould surface engineering technology is becoming more and more important in the process of mould production. With the continuous development of coating, surface modification and diamond machining technology, the application of surface engineering technology in mould production process will be more extensive and in-depth. In the future, by combining with other technologies and developing high performance, precision coatings, the application scope of mould surface engineering technology will be further expanded, and the service performance, cost and efficiency of mould products will be further improved.
