Earticle

일반적으로 금형은 소재 부품 분야에서 제품의 대량 생산에 널리 이용되는 중요한 생산 도구이다. 그러나 최근 다품종 소량생산의 확산에 따라 보다 효율적이고 경제적인 금형에 대한 요구가 증가하고 있으며, 본 연구에서는 금형 재료로서 초고강도 콘크리트의 적용 가능성을 모색해 보고자 한다. 초고강도 콘크리트는 80MPa 이상의 압축강도를 갖는 콘크리트로서 금속에 비해 저렴하고 무게가 가벼우며 조형이 용이하다는 장점을 가지고 있다. 초고강도 콘크리트 가 비록 일반 금형 재료인 공구강에 비해 강도는 낮지만 상대적으로 낮은 응력이 발생하는 성형 공정에 사용된다면 금형 재료로서 충분히 활용 가능하다고 판단하였다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 플라스틱 저압 생산공정의 하나인 폴리우레 탄 반응사출 성형공정용 시작 금형에 초고강도 콘크리트를 적용해 보았으며, 금형 제작 및 성형 과정을 통하여 금형 소재로서의 가능성과 특징을 고찰해 보았다.

There is an increasing demands of more efficient and economical ways of mold making according to the spreading trend of small quantity batch production system. Therefore, this study aims to examine the applicability of ultra high strength concrete, which has a compressive strength over 80MPa, as a mold material. The ultra high strength concrete has several advantages such as lower cost, lighter weight and convenience of shape making compared to the traditional mold materials. Although the strength of the ultra high strength concrete is lower than that of the tool steel, it was considered to be useful for small batch processes with relatively low pressure. Therefore, in this study, a prototype mold for reaction injection molding of polyurethane was developed using ultra high strength concrete and it was examined that the possibility and characteristics of concrete as a mold material.

Application of gas assisted injection molding has been expanded during last two decades because of many advantages such as design flexibility, dimensional stability, reduction of machine tonnages, and so on. However, the surface defects including hesitation mark and gloss difference are observed for thick parts. Difficulties in lay-out of the gas channel and processing condition are another disadvantages. Liquid gas assisted injection molding(LGAIM), in which a liquid with a boiling point lower than the temperature of the polymer melt is injected into the melt stream, and travels with the melt into the mold where it vaporizes and pushes the melt downstream and against the cavity walls to create hollow channels within the part, is a good alternative of the conventional gas assisted injection molding especially in manufacturing simple and very thick parts. Though this is a new frontier of the innovation in the injection molding industry, there is no guideline for the design and processing conditions. In this paper, theoretical analysis has been made to describe the hollow formation dynamics in LGAIM. This model provides an insight into LGAIM process: explains why LGAIM has advantages over conventional gas assisted injection molding, and gives a guideline for the design and processing conditions.