Laser Additive Manufacturing of Gas Permeable Structures

Laser additive manufacturing offers a variety of new design possibilities. In mold making laser additive manufactured inserts with conformal cooling channels are already state of the art. Pneumatic ejectors for injection molds are a new application for laser additive manufacturing. The pneumatic ejectors require a durable gas permeable material. This material is produced by placing the scan vectors for the laser additive manufacturing process in a defined pattern. Trials with different plastics proofed the function and reliability of the pneumatic ejector concept in the injection molding cycle.