In recent years, the rapid growth of China's mold industry has led to a significant increase in the number and scale of mold production enterprises, drawing global attention. In the field of automotive molds, China has become a major manufacturing hub, yet it still lags behind in becoming a true "mold power." While the country has made remarkable progress, there remains a noticeable gap in high-end precision mold design and manufacturing compared to foreign counterparts. As a result, certain advanced molds are still imported from countries like Germany and the United States to meet domestic market demands.
Today, mold design and manufacturing technology is gradually aligning with international standards, and competition in the market is intensifying. Customers not only seek better quality and lower costs but also faster delivery times. This article explores how to improve the efficiency and quality of high-end precision mold processing from five key perspectives.
**1. Inheriting and Promoting Excellent Design Concepts: Standardization of Mold Design and Processes**
Among various automotive precision molds, especially continuous stamping dies, the design process has unique characteristics. First, standardization of mold design plays a crucial role. For instance, when foreign engineers design precision molds, they consider factors such as mold life, application scenarios, processing methods, and potential issues during the manufacturing process, along with the profit impact on the enterprise. By starting from the design stage, the mold patterns are standardized and optimized from the beginning.
Additionally, clear and detailed design drawings are essential. When designing automotive precision stamping molds, sharp edges for holes or notches are required to ensure smooth stamping of formed parts. Bolt hole tolerances may vary, such as x±0.1mm or x±0.5mm, which helps in efficient production planning, cost reduction, and shorter delivery cycles.
**2. Optimization and Development of Processing Technology**
Once the mold design is completed, the next critical step is developing the processing technology. The general mold processing sequence includes cutting, rough machining, heat treatment, flat grinding, finishing, and fitter work. However, mold processing differs significantly from regular part manufacturing due to the strict dimensional requirements. For example, the parallelism, coaxiality, roundness, and flatness of mold components must be extremely precise, often within 0.01mm to 0.03mm.
During the process planning phase, it's important to consider machine tool rigidity, precision, and stroke, as well as the consistency and rationality of the process flow. For instance, when machining a stamping die, sufficient radial retention (6–10mm) should be left to facilitate clamping and wire cutting. Ensuring that the design basis, processing benchmarks, programming benchmarks, measurement standards, and mold assembly standards are unified helps reduce cumulative errors, which are often overlooked and can lead to poor-quality molds.
**3. Machine Tool Selection and Matching**
In the processing of high-end precision molds, selecting and matching the right machine tools is critical. Some state-owned or small enterprises often face challenges when using economical CNC machines for precision mold surfaces and outer circles, resulting in visible tool marks. These issues may arise even if the machine's precision meets the required standards.
Some foreign companies, by contrast, prioritize long-term benefits and invest in advanced CNC machine tools, fully utilizing their capabilities. Machines like MAZAK or DMG offer internal cooling channels, enabling high-speed drilling and efficient hole forming. Such technologies significantly boost processing efficiency, making them essential for modern mold manufacturing.
**4. Tool Selection and Matching**
Choosing the right tools is vital in precision mold machining. The selection should be based on the material being processed, combined with tool holder and blade data provided by manufacturers. For example, when roughing carbon steel or titanium alloys, high feed rates and medium speeds are preferred, while fine machining requires high spindle speeds and low tool wear.
Chip breaking and hole machining can sometimes cause issues like the sickle phenomenon. Using a blade with a large R tip angle, such as R0.8mm, can help avoid this problem and improve machining results.
**5. Software Usage and Integration**
With the advancement of CNC machine tools, CAM programming software has become more intelligent. Complex parts and high-end precision molds now require higher-level CNC machines and advanced software. The shift from manual to automated programming has improved accuracy and reduced error rates. Many companies now use custom software tailored to their specific needs, such as PRO/E, which simplifies programming by allowing minor modifications and inputting relevant parameters.
Regardless of the complexity of the parts or molds, choosing the right software that you're familiar with can greatly enhance processing efficiency.
**6. Conclusion**
Improving the efficiency of high-end precision mold processing involves many factors beyond just the technical aspects. With the continued development of CNC machine tools and the increasing intelligence of software, future advancements will further optimize processes and boost productivity. It is an urgent and necessary direction for the industry.
Author: Ginger Guilin Electrical and Electronic Materials Technology Co., Ltd. Vendelin
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