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Use of additive manufacturing for polymer tooling: Case study from reaction injection molding

Manufacturing tooling for injection molding has traditionally been associated with high cost and long lead times, due to the complex geometry and demanding machining requirements. This has caused injection molding to be limited to large-volume production, as the tooling needs to amortize over large volumes to achieve a low unit cost. Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies enables a high degree of complexity at a low cost, which enables cost-efficient manufacturing of the geometries required for injection molding tooling. Using AM tooling for thermoplastics injection molding presents a challenge, as it requires high pressures and temperatures, which destroy the tooling after only a few shots. Hence, this study focuses on investigating the use of softer polymer tooling with Reaction Injection Molding (RIM), which requires lower temperatures and pressures than those of thermoplastics injection molding. A case study has been performed to assess both the cost implications and how the use of AM tooling for RIM affects organizational agility.