What type of mold steel is best for injection mold inserts used to mold PA66+GF30 reinforced nylon? A question from a viewer during the 301st live stream.
Plastic reinforced with 30% glass fiber causes severe erosion to molds. The mold steel must offer good wear resistance and prevent material adhesion, and the mold must definitely be made of hard steel.
Reinforced PA66+30GF: If your mold life requirements are not very high—say, 100,000 to 200,000 cycles are sufficient—you can use mold inserts made of H13, S136, SKD61, 2083, or other tool steels that can be quenched and hardened to 50 HRC.
If you require a very high mold life—such as 1 million cycles—you should use 8503 mold steel, which resists material adhesion.
8503 mold steel has twice the toughness of DC53 and a hardness of 55–61 HRC. Compared to DC53, its performance is doubled without a corresponding increase in price, and it offers the added benefit of non-stick properties. In particular, this non-stick characteristic, combined with its high hardness, is the fundamental and effective solution to the problem of molds with high glass fiber content being easily worn down, which leads to product flash and mold surface roughness.
Mr. Wang said: For a PA66+GF30 mold, the 8503 steel can easily withstand 1 million cycles.
The netizen asked: What material is best for the core of a reinforced PA66+GF30 injection mold? The primary consideration for the core material is wear resistance, to prevent the mold from wearing down and causing flash on the product. From the perspective of wear resistance and ease of use, 8503 steel—which is both hard and non-stick—is definitely the best choice for durability and performance.
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Wu Dejian’s tool steel, the chief of staff of the user, bought everything he had used.