Case Research: Jap Rail Company

Enhancing Injection Molding Effectivity with Conformal Cooling

Based in 2007, Jap Rail Company constructed a fame on designing sustainable, high-quality options for the Metro Rail infrastructure within the US. For a particular element—an insulator that isolates the electrified third rail in underground subway programs–Jap Rail wanted to replace the fabric to satisfy security requirements. A change to Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) subsequently required a reevaluation of the prevailing mould. To sort out this challenge, Jap Rail approached Linear AMS, a Shapeways Firm, in search of partnership in creating an revolutionary answer to reinforce performance and effectivity.

Jap Rail is a long-standing buyer, supporting transit companies in metropolitan areas like New York Metropolis, Washington, D.C., and Miami, the place city rail programs steadily function in underground tunnels. Such an setting calls for elements with particular dielectric properties, safeguarding towards undesirable electrical expenses and permitting for simpler administration of underground prepare strains.

Incorporating Superior Cooling Know-how

Injection molding producers typically face challenges associated to lengthy cycle occasions, half high quality, and general effectivity. Conformal cooling expertise particularly resolves these issues. Counting on 3D printing for personalisation and effectivity, conformal cooling adapts to suit into industrial molds. 

In distinction to traditional strategies, that are restricted to machining in straight strains, conformal strains are designed to comply with the form of the half itself–resulting in a extra constant temperature all through the half’s cooling stage. Which means elements are much less prone to warp, whereas additionally cooling as much as 50% sooner. With conformal cooling, producers can scale back their cycle time and improve their throughput, all whereas enhancing half high quality. 

For Jap Rail, integrating this expertise produced extra constant temperatures in tooling, resulting in extra environment friendly manufacturing cycles, satisfying stringent necessities for dependable and environment friendly rail programs.

Enhancing Tooling for Complicated Supplies

Initially, Jap Rail encountered challenges as a result of complicated half design and core mould options, mixed with the character of Xencor™ PPS LGF-3045, a forty five% long-glass, fiber-reinforced Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS).

Whereas offering useful properties like warmth resistance and sturdiness, PPS additionally presents manufacturing difficulties. Linear carried out a complete evaluation, revealing that Jap Rail’s current tooling with standard cooling–together with a PPS materials–wouldn’t produce a moldable half.

“I used to be conscious a brand new method can be needed with the change in materials,” mentioned Mickey Morales, CEO of Jap Rail. “After working with Linear for the previous decade, I used to be assured of their engineering experience and knew they had been able to delivering the dynamic answer this challenge wanted.”
To deal with these points, Linear and Jap Rail labored side-by-side for months in prototyping and testing, experimenting with molds and the combination of 3D printed conformal cooling strains.

Upon preliminary evaluate, the group advised making the change to a metal mould over aluminum for manufacturing volumes. The PPS materials is extremely corrosive and would deteriorate the aluminum mould. Transitioning to a metal mould additionally opened up the potential for utilizing conformal cooling to permit for higher thermal management. Moreover, based mostly on the molding temperature necessities of PPS, the group decided scorching oil can be needed to keep up software temperature, versus water which is extra generally used.

“The shift to metal molds considerably reworked our method, working a lot better with the distinctive traits of PPS and the necessity for a exact, managed molding setting,” mentioned John Tenbusch, Director of Automotive Gross sales at Shapeways.

“After working with Linear [A Shapeways Company] for the previous decade, I used to be assured of their engineering experience and knew they had been able to delivering the dynamic answer this challenge wanted.”

Mickey Morales, CEO of Jap Rail

Lowering Cycle Instances & Enhancing Half High quality

The introduction of conformal cooling was extremely efficient, yielding a exceptional enchancment in effectivity after Linear launched metal tooling. Implementing conformal cooling led to a design adjustment that considerably reduce prices. Interchangeable inserts, normally requiring three cores, had been diminished to only one.

“We needed to incorporate cooling a method or one other,” mentioned David Dickerson, Supervisor of Consumer Providers at Shapeways. “With out conformal cooling, we couldn’t have made the interchangeable elements we would have liked for the assorted sizes of the insulator.”

With the brand new metal molds and conformal cooling inserts, the Linear group was in a position to scale back the cycle time from 181 seconds to 138 seconds, reflecting a 23% enchancment. Lowered manufacturing time permits for extra elements to be made, reducing each piece price and general program price, with out sacrificing half high quality. The extra even, managed temperatures additionally led to the manufacturing of higher-quality, extra dependable elements.

Whereas the preliminary prototyping and testing part required vital time and monetary funding, the fee financial savings over the long run greater than justified the upfront expenditure. The improved materials sturdiness, decrease upkeep wants, and elevated manufacturing speeds collectively contributed to vital long-term financial benefit for Jap Rail.

“Whereas we encountered a number of obstacles throughout our journey, Linear’s group of specialists was once more in a position to present a extremely engineered answer whereas offering cost-saving advantages,” mentioned Mickey Morales, CEO of Jap Rail.

Aligning with Regulatory and Environmental Concerns

Jap Rail’s openness to new options enabled enhancements with each quick and long-term advantages, assembly industry-specific wants whereas sustaining a dedication to environmentally pleasant supplies and regulatory compliance.

This case examine presents helpful problem-solving insights for points associated to supplies, tooling, and cooling. These options could also be relevant to different manufacturing sectors as effectively. Total, this challenge showcases the worth of teamwork, innovation, and excellence in manufacturing

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