When designing a production alumi-num mold, several factors need to be taken into consideration for a successful mold.

1) Is the resin conducive for aluminum?

2) What is the geometry of the part to be molded?

3) What is the quantity?

4) What is the desired cycle time?

5) How long does the mold need to last?

It is interesting that these factors are very much the same ones designers look at when considering P20 for molds. High-strength aluminum is required for a productionized aluminum mold. As an example, Aluminum Injection Mold Company (Rochester, NY) prefers a high strength, heat-treated wrought aluminum alloy for its production molds using the shop’s “AIM FRAME” because of its high quality, consistent through-thickness hardness as well as its strength and durability. Aluminum Injection Mold developed the

“AIM FRAME”—which incorporates steel support pillars and an all steel U-box with guided ejection—to create a mold that has all of the thermal benefits of aluminum matched with the durability of a steel mold. The use of these steel support pillars avoids any possibility of overclamping the mold and crushing the part line.