Reduced Risk of Part Warpage

During the molding process a part cools from the exterior surface to the inner core of the plastic, ideally at the same rate for all areas of the part when it is designed with consistent wall thickness. When injection molding simple, uniform parts conventional cooling typically doesn’t pose any challenges, as all areas of the part generally cool at a similar rate.

However, if a part design is geometrically complex, then the part may not cool at an even rate in all areas, resulting in potential warpage or longer cooling cycles to ensure solidified parts before ejection. The truth is that in today’s world with increasingly complex part geometries, perfectly uniform cooling rates are difficult to attain. In the case of low volume runs, the inefficiencies of having a slightly longer cooling cycles can be negligible and tolerable for molders. However, in the case of high volume runs, these efficiencies can be opportunities to improve productivity or reduce waste. The resulting efficiency of conformal cooling depends on many factors, from the design of the cooling channels, the design of the part, the mold design and even the molding recipe. When done properly, conformal cooling solutions can improve tooling output by 50% or more.