Dongguan Enuo mold Co., Ltd is a subsidiary of Hong Kong BHD Group, plastic mold design and manufacturing is their core business. Furthermore, metal parts CNC machining, prototype products R&D, inspection fixture/Gauge R&D, plastic products molding, spraying and assembly also be engaged in.

Creativity 5 Comments Nov-27-2021

What are the general polishing methods for plastic molds

Polishing method of plastic mold

Mechanical polishing

Mechanical polishing is a polishing method that relies on cutting and plastic deformation of the material surface to remove the polished convex parts to obtain a smooth surface. Generally, oil stone sticks, wool wheels, sandpaper, etc. are used, and manual operations are the main method. Special parts such as the surface of the rotating body can be used. Using auxiliary tools such as turntables, ultra-precision polishing can be used for those with high surface quality requirements. Ultra-precision polishing is the use of special abrasive tools, which are pressed tightly on the processed surface of the workpiece in a polishing fluid containing abrasives for high-speed rotation. Using this technology, the surface roughness of Ra0.008μm can be achieved, which is the highest among various polishing methods. Optical lens molds often use this method.

Chemical polishing

Chemical polishing is to make the surface microscopic convex part of the material in the chemical medium dissolve preferentially than the concave part, so as to obtain a smooth surface. The main advantage of this method is that it does not require complex equipment, can polish workpieces with complex shapes, and can polish many workpieces at the same time, with high efficiency. The core problem of chemical polishing is the preparation of polishing liquid. The surface roughness obtained by chemical polishing is generally several 10 μm.

What are the general polishing methods for plastic molds

Electrolytic polishing

The basic principle of electrolytic polishing is the same as that of chemical polishing, that is, by selectively dissolving tiny protrusions on the surface of the material to make the surface smooth. Compared with chemical polishing, the effect of cathode reaction can be eliminated, and the effect is better. The electrochemical polishing process is divided into two steps: (1) Macroscopic leveling The dissolved products diffuse into the electrolyte, and the geometric roughness of the material surface decreases, Ra>1μm. ⑵ Low-light leveling: Anode polarization, surface brightness is improved, Ra<1μm.

Ultrasonic polishing

Put the workpiece in the abrasive suspension and put it together in the ultrasonic field, relying on the oscillation effect of the ultrasonic, so that the abrasive is ground and polished on the surface of the workpiece. Ultrasonic machining has a small macroscopic force and will not cause deformation of the workpiece, but it is difficult to manufacture and install tooling. Ultrasonic processing can be combined with chemical or electrochemical methods. On the basis of solution corrosion and electrolysis, ultrasonic vibration is applied to stir the solution, so that the dissolved products on the surface of the workpiece are separated, and the corrosion or electrolyte near the surface is uniform; the cavitation effect of ultrasonic in the liquid can also inhibit the corrosion process and facilitate surface brightening.

Fluid polishing

Fluid polishing relies on high-speed flowing liquid and abrasive particles carried by it to wash the surface of the workpiece to achieve the purpose of polishing. Commonly used methods are: abrasive jet processing, liquid jet processing, hydrodynamic grinding and so on. Hydrodynamic grinding is driven by hydraulic pressure to make the liquid medium carrying abrasive particles flow back and forth across the surface of the workpiece at high speed. The medium is mainly made of special compounds (polymer-like substances) with good flowability under lower pressure and mixed with abrasives. The abrasives can be made of silicon carbide powder.

Magnetic grinding and polishing

Magnetic abrasive polishing is to use magnetic abrasives to form abrasive brushes under the action of a magnetic field to grind the workpiece. This method has high processing efficiency, good quality, easy control of processing conditions and good working conditions. Using suitable abrasives, the surface roughness can reach Ra0.1μm. 2 Mechanical polishing based on this method The polishing mentioned in the processing of plastic molds is very different from the surface polishing required in other industries. Strictly speaking, the polishing of the mold should be called mirror processing. It not only has high requirements for polishing itself, but also has high standards for surface flatness, smoothness and geometric accuracy. Surface polishing generally only requires a bright surface. The standard of mirror surface processing is divided into four levels: AO=Ra0.008μm, A1=Ra0.016μm, A3=Ra0.032μm, A4=Ra0.063μm. It is difficult to precisely control the geometric accuracy of parts due to methods such as electrolytic polishing and fluid polishing. However, the surface quality of chemical polishing, ultrasonic polishing, magnetic abrasive polishing and other methods are not up to the requirements, so the mirror processing of precision molds is still mainly mechanical polishing.


Post time: Nov-27-2021