PROBLEM
Intesys is an innovative designer and manufacturer, and a large-scale custom injection molder. Manufacturing engineer Kenny Aldrich develops production processes and designs tooling to ensure manufacturability and reduce tooling costs. One cell phone housing was very abrasive and hard on mold surfaces, wearing out texture details after only 200,000 to 300,000 shots. (The goal is 1,000,000 shots.)
Solution
Intesys tested several coatings without much success. One even made sticking worse. Aldrich sent a mold to Phygen for FortiPhy™ XVD surface treatment, which preserved the desired texture but eliminated sticking. Aldrich put treated molds into production and was impressed with the results. “Phygen solved the wear problem, without the release problems we had from other coatings.”
It really is possible
One mold went more than 415,000 shots; another produced more than 1,100,000 parts that met surface texture requirements. In addition to reducing wear, FortiPhy XVD prevented adhesion of “plate out” and other buildup typically caused by resin additives and byproducts. This kept the mold looking new throughout the production run, with no sign of corrosion or discoloration.
unit increase
“Testing proved it; FortiPhy really is different. We plan to use FortiPhy for future injection mold coating, wherever wear problems have to be solved.”