Precision Mold Industry Solutions

High-Precision 3D Scanning & Surface Analysis

Challenge

Mold surfaces are often complex, featuring freeform cavities with abundant detailed features such as edges and fillets. The precision requirements are very high, often within ±5 microns, making conventional measurement methods prone to missing critical details. Additionally, quantifying mold wear and the changes in surface geometry before and after repair is challenging, typically relying on technician experience, which makes quality consistency difficult to guarantee. Furthermore, the trial molding cycle is lengthy and costly: after mold assembly, repeated machine trials are necessary to verify the mold, and any detected issues require time-consuming adjustments. This significantly increases both the cost and duration of new product development.

Solution

The measurement system is equipped with a high-precision bridge-type coordinate measuring machine (CMM), optionally fitted with a non-contact laser scanning probe, enabling efficient and dense point cloud acquisition of mold surfaces. The core software, NET·DMIS, facilitates rapid and accurate three-dimensional color map comparisons between the scanned data and the original CAD model, providing intuitive visualization of deviation distributions. Professional services are offered through a dedicated mold inspection package, which includes standardized procedures for datum establishment, feature measurement, surface evaluation, and wear analysis.

Result/Outcome

By integrating optical scanning, the overall inspection efficiency is improved by more than 40%, while maintaining micron-level accuracy for critical dimensions. The three-dimensional full-surface color deviation maps directly guide mold repairs, reducing the average number of adjustment cycles by 60%. Moreover, through regular full-surface inspections, a mold wear database is established, enabling life prediction and proactive maintenance.

40%

Inspection Efficiency Up

30%

Longer Mold Life

60%

Fewer Mold Adjustments

28 Days

Minimum Debugging Cycle

Industry Pain Points

Complex Geometry, Tight Tolerances
Mold cavities feature complex free-form surfaces and intricate details (edges, fillets). Tolerances often within ±5μm. Conventional measurement easily misses fine features.

Unquantified Wear & Rework
Mold wear during production and post-rework surface changes are difficult to quantify. Reliance on technician experience compromises quality consistency.

Costly & Lengthy Trial Runs
Assembled molds require repeated on-site trials. Long adjustment cycles when issues arise directly increase new product development costs and time.

Customer Requirements

High-Precision 3D Contour Capture
Precisely captures complex free-form surface contours with high-accuracy measurement.

Quantifiable Wear Monitoring
Enables quantitative monitoring and early warning of mold wear to guide predictive maintenance.

Virtual Assembly Validation
Reduces or replaces physical trial runs by validating assembly in a virtual environment using precision measurement data.

Limitations of Existing Measurement Solutions

Low CMM Efficiency
Traditional CMM inspection is slow and cannot quickly capture complete surface data.

Optical Scanner Limitations
Conventional optical scanners lack precision or fail to capture deep holes and steep sidewalls fully.

Delayed Data Feedback
Cumbersome analysis process between measurement data and CAD model leads to delayed feedback.

AEH Solution

Measurement System
High-precision bridge CMM, optionally equipped with a non-contact laser scanning probe, enables efficient, high-density point cloud acquisition of mold surfaces.

Core Software
NET·DMIS measurement software performs rapid, precise 3D color map analysis between scan data and the original CAD model, intuitively displaying deviation distribution.

Professional Services
Dedicated mold inspection solution packages include a full standardized workflow: datum establishment, feature measurement, surface evaluation, and wear analysis.