The ever growing demand for reducing costs and decreasing the time to market in today’s plastics industry makes rapid tooling and rapid prototyping a highly researched area. 3D printed injection mould inserts make it possible to produce prototype parts in small series fast and cost-effectively. The mechanical strength and therefore the life expectancy of 3D printed polymeric injection mould inserts are low compared to their traditional steel counterparts. In order to increase the reliability and life expectancy of polymeric mould inserts, in-situ state monitoring during injection moulding is essential. In this paper, we analyse the effect of thermal and mechanical loads on the resulting strains of the mould inserts. Three series of rectangular plate products were injection moulded with a different type of insert in each series. The pressure inside the cavity and the strain of the 3D printed inserts were measured during injection moulding. We correlated maximal cavity pressures and changes in strain with each other in order to set up the deformation characteristic of the inserts. The results indicate a satisfactory correlation between the maximal cavity pressures and the strain change of the inserts. The second important result was that strain gauges can be applied to in-situ monitor the state of the inserts during injection moulding.

在当今的塑料行业中，对降低成本和缩短产品上市时间的需求不断增长，因此快速的工具和快速的原型设计成为了一个受到高度研究的领域。3D打印的注塑模具嵌件使快速，经济地生产小批量的原型零件成为可能。与传统的钢制同类产品相比，3D打印的聚合物注射成型模具插件的机械强度以及因此的预期寿命低。为了提高聚合物模具嵌件的可靠性和预期寿命，在注塑过程中进行原位状态监控至关重要。在本文中，我们分析了热负荷和机械负荷对模具镶件所产生的应变的影响。将三个系列的矩形板产品注塑成型，每个系列中使用不同类型的嵌件。在注塑过程中测量型腔内部的压力和3D打印插件的应变。我们将最大型腔压力和应变变化相互关联，以建立嵌件的变形特性。结果表明，最大空腔压力与刀片的应变变化之间具有令人满意的相关性。第二个重要结果是，应变仪可以应用于注塑过程中原位监测嵌件的状态。结果表明，最大空腔压力与刀片的应变变化之间具有令人满意的相关性。第二个重要结果是，应变仪可以应用于注塑过程中原位监测嵌件的状态。结果表明，最大空腔压力与刀片的应变变化之间具有令人满意的相关性。第二个重要结果是，应变仪可以应用于注塑过程中原位监测嵌件的状态。