Opportunities and Challenges of Profile Extrusion Dies Produced by Additive Manufacturing Processes
Opportunities and Challenges of Profile Extrusion Dies Produced by Additive Manufacturing Processes
Opportunities and Challenges of Profile Extrusion Dies Produced by Additive Manufacturing Processes
manufacturing processes
Nafi Yesildag, Christian Hopmann, Christian Windeck, Sebastian Bremen, Konrad Wissenbach, and Simon Merkt
Determination of the optimum coupling agent content for composites based on hemp and high density
polyethylene
AIP Conference Proceedings 1914, 030003 (2017); 10.1063/1.5016690
Influence of graphite and SEBS addition on thermal and electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of
polypropylene composites
AIP Conference Proceedings 1914, 030009 (2017); 10.1063/1.5016696
Opportunities and Challenges of Profile Extrusion Dies
Produced by Additive Manufacturing Processes
Nafi Yesildaga*, Christian Hopmanna, Christian Windecka, Sebastian Bremenb,
Konrad Wissenbachb and Simon Merktb
a
Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University, Seffenter Weg 201, 52074 Aachen, Germany
b
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Steinbachstr. 15, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Abstract. The design and manufacture of profile extrusion dies is characterised by costly running-in trials. Significant
cost and time savings can be achieved by replacing the experimental running-in trials by virtual ones. A simulative
optimisation, however, often leads to complex, free-formed flow channels. A feasible manufacture of such dies is only
possible with additive manufacturing processes such as the Selective Laser Melting (SLM). Against this background, the
manufacture of profile extrusion dies by SLM is investigated. A major challenge is to ensure a specific surface quality of
the extruded plastics profiles. The roughness of SLM surfaces does not meet the high demands that are placed on the
surface quality of extrusion dies. Therefore, in case of the SLM die a concept for the surface finishing of the flow channel
is required, which can be applied to arbitrarily shaped geometries. For this purpose, plastics profiles are extruded both
with a conventionally and an additively manufactured die. In case of the SLM die only the die land of the flow channel
was reworked by polishing. The comparison of PP profile surfaces shows that the SLM die with polished die land leads
WRWKHVDPHVXUIDFHTXDOLW\RIWKHH[WUXGHGSURILOHDVWKHFRQYHQWLRQDOGLH5D§P Another important task in the
design of profile dies by SLM is the optimisation of the die topology. The efficiency of the SLM process largely depends
on the volume of the part being produced. To ensure the highest possible efficiency, it is necessary to adapt the die
geometry to its mechanical loads and minimise its mass. For this purpose, the internal pressure in the die was numerically
calculated and used for a first optimisation of the die topology. The optimisation, however, leads to a free-formed outer
die wall so that the die cannot be tempered with heating tapes anymore. This problem is solved by using the high
potential of SLM for functional integration and integrating contour adapted tempering channels into the extrusion die..
Keywords: Profile extrusion, extrusion die, additive manufacturing, Selective Laser Melting
PACS: 68.08.Bc, 81.05.Bx, 81.20.Ev, 81.65.Cf83.50.Uv
INTRODUCTION
The most common production process for plastics profiles is the profile extrusion as it combines high
throughputs with a high level of automation. Here, the design and manufacture of the profile extrusion die is a key
element for the product quality and process efficiency. To date, extensive running-in trials and reworking steps are
required for the design and manufacture of the die and its flow channel [1]. Due to the high fixed costs resulting
from these iterations, profile extrusion is only profitable for high lot sizes. A promising approach to minimise the
necessary amount of design and manufacture iterations consists in the usage of numerical flow simulations in the
design process before the die manufacture [2]. However, a numerical optimisation of the flow channel often leads to
complex, free-formed channel geometries [3]. In this case, conventional processes for the manufacture of the die,
such as milling or wire eroding [1], reach their limit and lead to high manufacture costs. Depending on the
complexity of the free-formed geometries, it may even be that a conventional manufacture of the die is not possible
at all. Remedy can be provided by additive manufacturing (AM) process, in which the product, in this case the
profile die, is manufactured without a shape-giving die or mould by layer-wise application of material [4].
The main advantage of an additive manufacture of profile extrusion dies is the possibility to economically
manufacture arbitrarily shaped flow channels, especially ones with free-formed shapes. Furthermore, AM enables
the integration of additional functional elements, such as geometrically adapted tempering channels, into the die
without additional process steps. Another advantage of AM of the die is the possibility to implement a monolithic
die design. Currently, profile extrusion dies usually possess a slice design, i.e. they consist of several, screwed
together slices in which the respective flow channel is incorporated [1]. This design is necessary in order to produce
and rework complex flow channel geometries with conventional manufacture processes. In contrast to this, with AM
the die can be built as a single part even in case of a free-formed flow channel. In this way, the costs for the die
Proceedings of PPS-32
AIP Conf. Proc. 1914, 040002-1–040002-5; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5016712
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1606-2/$30.00
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manufacture can be decreased and the die quality can be increased as there are less parting lines in the die where
melt leakage may occur. A promising AM process for the profile extrusion die is Selective Laser Melting (SLM).
This process enables the production of metal parts with series identical mechanical properties without the need for
part specific tooling or downstream sintering processes [5]. Against this background, the use of profile extrusion
dies manufactured by SLM is being investigated as part of the Cluster of Excellence “Integrated Production
Technologies for High-Wage Countries” at RWTH Aachen University. In this article, investigations about two main
challenges in the additive die manufacturing are presented: The surface quality of the plastics profiles extruded with
additively manufactured dies and the topology optimisation of the die.
Sliced
3D-CAD model
Metal or
ceramic powder
Lowering of building platform
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assisted calibrator in a water bath and a take-off unit. The extruder used is a laboratory scale extruder 19/10DW by
Brabender GmbH & Co. KG, Duisburg, Germany, with a diameter of 19 mm and a length of 25D.
Inlet
Inlet section
Middle section
Die land
Outlet
In the extrusion trials the process parameters mass throughput (1.4 kg/h, 1.7 kg/h, 2 kg/h) and die temperature
(225 °C, 230 °C, 235 °C) are varied. The material used in the trials is Polypropylene (PP) Moplen HP400H of the
company Basell Polyolefine GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. After the extrusion trials, the surface roughness
Ra of the extruded profiles are measured with a laser confocal microscope type VK-X200 of the company Keyence
Deutschland GmbH, Neu-Isenburg, Germany. For each test point, the roughness Ra of several samples is measured
and subsequently averaged in order to determine the mean roughness.
Figure 3 shows the measured roughness of the profiles obtained with the two different dies. First of all, it can be
seen that the varied process parameters have a slight influence on the roughness in both cases. Hereby, an increase
of the throughput leads to a rougher profile surface since the higher internal die pressure leads to a stronger
replication of the rough flow channel surface. An increase of the melt temperature on the other hand improves the
surface quality. The reason for this is the decreasing melt velocity. This leads on the one hand to a stronger
replication of the protrusions in the flow channel by the melt. On the other hand, a higher mass temperature also
means a lower viscosity at the inlet of the calibrator so that the smoothing effect of the calibration is also improved.
In this case, the latter effect dominates so that the roughness decreases with increasing temperature.
5
Profile in case of conventional die
Profile roughness Ra [μm]
0 .
m 1.4 kg/h 1.4 kg/h 1.4 kg/h 1.7 kg/h Commercial
T 225 °C 230 °C 235 °C 230 °C profile
FIGURE 3. Average roughness of the profiles manufactured with conventionally and additively manufactured dies [8]
When comparing the conventional die and the SLM die, it can be seen that the SLM die with polished die land
leads to profiles with a surface quality comparable to that of the ones from the conventional die. In this case, the
profiles extruded with the SLM die even have a smoother surface than the ones extruded with the conventional die.
This observation, however, cannot be generalised: Roughness measurements on the investigated dies show, that the
die land of the SLM die was polished better (R¬¬¬¬Z = 7 μm) than the flow channel of the conventional die (RZ =
11 μm). Hereby, the average roughness in the flow channel of the conventional die is approx. 48 % higher than in
the die land of the SLM die. The smoother profile surfaces in case of the SLM die are entirely due to this difference
in the surface finishing of the dies. In order to evaluate the suitability of the profiles extruded with the SLM die for
industrial applications, the roughness of a commercial profile was determined as a reference (Figure 3). The
comparison of the commercial profile and the profiles from the SLM die shows that the roughness values of the
profiles are nearly identical. This confirms the assumption that the surface quality of extruded plastics profiles is
mainly influenced by the surface finish of the die land and less by the rest of the flow channel. In this case, profiles
with sufficient surface quality for industrial applications can be produced with a die manufactured by SLM by
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simply polishing the die land of the extrusion die. However, in case of plastics other than PP the rough flow channel
of the SLM die could lead to depositions in the flow channel. This aspect will be investigated in future works.
Pressure [bar]
55
44
33
22
11
FIGURE 4. (a) SLM-die without topology optimisation and (b) simulated pressure drop
The bolt forces equal the pretension forces of the used ISO metric bolts taken from [9]. In order to determine the
internal pressure in the flow channel, a flow simulation with the commercial Finite-Element software Polyflow of
the Ansys Germany GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany, is used. The simulation is conducted for a throughput of 10 kg/h
of the material Moplen HP400H at a temperature of 210 °C. The shear thinning behaviour of the plastics is modelled
with the Carreau model, whereby the corresponding Carreau parameters were determined by high-pressure capillary
rheometery (A = 10’934 Pas, B = 0.43, C = 0.69 at 200 °C). The simulation results show that the maximum pressure
in the flow channel is 55 bar (Figure 4). For a safe design, this pressure is increased in the topology optimisation by
a safety factor of 1.5 for the running-in process. Furthermore, it is assumed that this pressure is present along the
entire flow channel, as the largest pressure drop is at the die outlet.
Now that the loads on the die are determined, the next step is the actual topology optimisation. The optimisation
is conducted with the commercial Finite-Element software Abaqus of the Dassault Systémes Deutschland GmbH,
Düsseldorf, Germany. In the first optimization attempt no manufacturing and handling restrictions are considered in
order to allow the maximum possible die volume reduction. This leads to the new die topology in Figure 5.
240
180
120
60
Gaps in the
0 connecting flange
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Here, the high potential of SLM for functional integration can be used in order to integrate contour adapted
tempering channels into the die during its manufacture without further processing steps. In case of the die for the L-
shape profile a single spiral shaped tempering channel could be placed around the melt flow channel (Figure 6). In
this way a homogeneous tempering of the flow channel wall can be achieved as shown by a thermal simulation with
Polyflow on the right side of Figure 6. In an upcoming next step, the topology optimisation has to be repeated under
consideration of both the designed tempering channel and geometrical restrictions with regards to an ergonomic
handling of the die during its assembly, operation and disassembly.
Temperature [°C]
210.000
209.998
209.996
209.994
209.992
209.990
FIGURE 6. (a)Spiral shaped tempering channel and (b) simulated temperature distribution at the flow channel wall
CONCLUSION
A major challenge in the SLM manufacturing of profile extrusion dies is to ensure a sufficient surface quality of
the extruded plastics profiles. Here, a concept for the surface finishing of the flow channel is required, which can be
applied to arbitrarily shaped geometries. The presented investigations show that it is possible to achieve a sufficient
SURILOHVXUIDFHTXDOLW\5D§PZith a SLM die by only polishing its die land.
Another important aspect in the AM of the die is the optimisation of its topology. The topology optimisation,
however, makes it necessary to also adapt the die tempering. A possible solution is the integration of a fluid
tempering into the die. The corresponding tempering channels can be incorporated into the die during its SLM
manufacture without further processing steps.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The depicted research has been funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as part of the program
Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries”. We would like to extend our
thanks to the DFG. Furthermore, we would like to thank the Basell Polyolefine GmbH, Frankfurt am Main,
Germany, for the provided test materials and the Döllken Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH, Gladbeck, Germany, for
the reworking of the SLM die.
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