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A Comprehensive Review of Additive Manufacturing Mold Inserts; Metal LPBF Inserts Exceed 500 Injection Molding Cycles
2026-05-18
Researchers from the Public University of Navarre in Spain and others have published a systematic review covering 67 studies on 3D-printed injection mold inserts from 2013 to 2024. The review identifies Material Jetting (PolyJet), Vat Photopolymerization (SLA), and Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) as the three most commonly used additive processes for manufacturing mold inserts. Among these, metal LPBF inserts achieved the highest number of injection molding cycles, with reports exceeding 500 cycles; Material Jetting inserts reached approximately 116 cycles; and SLA inserts around 85 cycles. Metal inserts offer superior mechanical and thermal dissipation properties suitable for higher-volume production, but their surface roughness requires post-processing. Polymer inserts provide good surface finish but have limited thermal performance and cycle life, making them suitable only for prototyping, temporary molds, and short-run production.
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增材制造模具嵌件系统综述，金属LPBF嵌件注塑循环超500次
西班牙纳瓦拉大学等机构发表系统综述，回顾2013-2024年间关于3D打印注塑模具嵌件的67项研究。研究发现，材料喷射（PolyJet）、光固化（SLA）和金属激光粉末床熔融（LPBF）是制造模具嵌件最常用的三种增材工艺。其中，金属LPBF嵌件的注塑循环次数最高，报告值超过500次；材料喷射嵌件约116次；光固化嵌件约85次。金属嵌件因力学和散热性能优异适合较高批量生产，但表面粗糙度需后处理。聚合物嵌件表面光洁度好，但热性能和循环寿命有限，仅适用于原型、临时模具和短批量生产。