Molding Tools

By using diamond processing, ultra-precise molding tools for plastic and glass replication are produced at Fraunhofer IOF. Depending on the application, different materials with adapted processing technologies are used. The institute possesses technological process chains for processing nickel-phosphorous alloys on bulk materials such as aluminum or steel for low-temperature replication of the injection molding and injection compression processes. There are also molding tools for glass replication with steel, silicon and tungsten carbide. Processing of these special and hard materials is achieved by the use of ultrasound-supported techniques, usually with polycrystalline diamond tools. Typical sizes of the molding tools include an inner diameter of less than 100 mm. With grinding, particularly small cavities can also be created as an array sequence with a high quality of form and low roughness. The number of aspherical components, diffractive structures and complex free-form surfaces is growing constantly.

Our work:

• Ultra-precise molding tools for injection molding
  
• Ultra-precise molding tools for glass replication