What factors affect the life of injection mold design

The design of injection molds plays a vital role in the plastic molding industry, and its quality directly affects the service life of the mold, production efficiency, and the quality of the final product. From a professional perspective, the impact of the design of injection molds on their service life is mainly reflected in several key factors, including material selection, structural layout, cooling system, and parting surface design.

Material selection
In the design of injection molds, material selection is the primary consideration. High-quality mold steel is the basis for ensuring the durability of the mold. The hardness, wear resistance, fatigue resistance, and thermal stability of mold steel directly determine the service life of the mold. Taking high-performance mold steels such as Cr12MoV and Cr12Mo1V1 as examples, these materials are widely used in injection mold manufacturing due to their excellent comprehensive properties. However, inclusions in mold steel, such as brittle oxides and silicates, may become potential sources of cracks inside the mold. Therefore, in the process of material selection, the content of inclusions must be strictly controlled to ensure that the strength and toughness of the mold are optimally balanced.

Structural layout
The structural layout of the mold also has a profound impact on its life. Reasonable structural design can effectively reduce the stress of the mold during the injection molding process and improve its bearing capacity. Specifically, the geometric shape design of the mold, such as the fillet radius, the end face shape of the punch, the cone angle of the die, and the change of the die section, must fully consider the flow characteristics of the plastic melt and the stress of the mold to avoid stress concentration and mold cracking. In addition, the design of the mold guide mechanism is also extremely important. A reliable guide mechanism can ensure the precise centering of the mold during the mold closing and opening process, avoid mutual wear between the punch and the die, and thus extend the service life of the mold.

Cooling system
The cooling system is an indispensable part of the injection mold design. Reasonable cooling water channel design can ensure that the mold maintains a suitable temperature during the injection molding process and prevents mold deformation and cracking caused by overheating or overcooling. The layout, number and size of the cooling water channel should be scientifically designed according to the shape, size and characteristics of the injection molding material to ensure uniform cooling of the mold and avoid mold damage caused by local overheating. In addition, the flow and temperature of the cooling water also need to be precisely controlled to meet the cooling requirements during the injection molding process.

Parting surface design
The parting surface plays a vital role in the injection mold. As the channel for the plastic melt to flow into the mold cavity, its design is crucial to the service life of the mold. The positioning, shape and size of the parting surface should be reasonably designed according to the specific requirements of the product and the characteristics of the injection molding material to ensure that the plastic melt can flow smoothly into the mold cavity and avoid stagnation or burning at the parting surface. In addition, the gap at the parting surface also needs to be precisely controlled to prevent the mold from being worn and damaged during the mold closing and opening process.