Comparison of performance of the hybrid and classic mould for injection moulding

Application of prototypes becomes more and more important in product development process. The reason lies in development of number of automatic processes of Rapid Prototyping (RP) which enables direct prototype production based on CAD model of product within few hours or days. One of the basic disadvantages of RP processes is still limited number of applicable material for prototype production. On the other hand, if there exists appropriate material for prototype production, physics of prototype production is different than of for e.g. injection moulding. This leads to key differences in properties of prototypes and future products produced by injection moulding. Such state causes application of RP processes as processes for production of elements or whole moulds - Rapid Tooling processes (RT). Different properties of materials for RT mould inserts than classic mould materials could be main disadvantage of such processes. Therefore it is necessary to analyze differences in moulding properties caused by application of RT mould inserts. In this study a prototype (hybrid) mould and a classic mould are produced. Injection moulding was performed with both moulds and properties of moulding were compared.