Ahmad, Aznizam (2023) Performance evaluation of nickel coated stereolithography mould insert fabricated using desktop 3D printing. Doctoral thesis, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

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Abstract

Advanced developments in Additive Manufacturing Technology have provided benefits in many areas, including plastic injection moulding applications using the stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing process. However, the significant problem in the limited lifespan of SLA moulds is often caused by failures during the moulding process that can be attributed to the ejection force required to remove the product from the mould core. This research aims to evaluate the performance of metallised SLA mould inserts by coating the mould with copper and nickel through electroless and electrodeposition processes, respectively. In addition, an evaluation was also carried out for the design of the SLA mould gate system, the effect of cooling time on moulded part shrinkage and ejection force during the moulding process. Relevant tests were conducted on metallised SLA material such as adhesion test, tensile strength, and plastic injection moulding experimental work. The copper adhesion test results according to ASTM D3359 showed that etchant concentration was a significant contributor to adhesion quality, followed by etching time, formaldehyde reducing agent and deposition time. For the tensile test results conducted according to ASTM D638 type V, the Young's modulus with a deposition thickness of 120 μm has shown an increase of 240% compared to the SLA specimen without metallisation. The final tensile strength results showed a decrease for the deposition thickness of 30 μm but increased for the deposition thickness of 60 μm and 120 μm. Meanwhile, the elongation percentage at break was reduced from 24.30% to 14.95% for the SLA specimen with a deposition thickness of 120 μm. Evaluation of the injection moulding process showed that the SLA core insert with metallisation was intact until the last moulding cycle of 350 compared to the core without metallisation which cracked at 222 moulding cycles. Research findings conclude that metallisation on SLA mould inserts increases tensile strength, thereby extending the life of SLA mould

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