Application of laminate and nanolaminate materials to tooling and molding processes
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide molds made by additive manufacturing coupled with electrodeposition. Such methods comprise subjected a workpiece to one or more deposition process(es), such as electrodeposition, that provide a coating that possesses desirable chemical, physical, and/or mechanical properties. In some embodiments, the methods further comprise forming at least one workpiece for the mold by, for example, an additive manufacturing process such as three-dimensional printing (3D printing). Additionally, the present disclosure provides methods for the use of a mold for molding polymerizable, settable, thermoplastic, or thermoset materials.
1. A method for preparing a mold, the method comprising:
forming a shaped polymeric workpiece including a polymeric workpiece and one or more thieves, one or more shields, or both, by an additive manufacturing process, the one or more thieves, the one or more shields, or both, being arranged in a manner that produces a substantially uniform current distribution over the shaped polymeric workpiece during electrodeposition, the shaped polymeric workpiece comprising one or more ports configured to allow for circulation of liquid or gas through a portion of the mold and a first surface including a first feature and a second feature that have a surface aspect ratio ranging from 1 to 10, the surface aspect ratio being defined as:
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contacting the shaped polymeric workpiece with a bath including at least one electrodepositable metal; and
applying a current to the shaped polymeric workpiece to electrodeposit a nanolaminated conductive coating on each surface of the shaped polymeric workpiece, the nanolaminated conductive coating comprising a plurality of alternating layers comprising first layers and second layers, the first layers comprising a first metal alloy comprising nickel and cobalt, the second layers comprising a second metal alloy comprising nickel and cobalt, the current being redistributed by the one or more thieves, the one or more shields, or both, thereby resulting in a substantially uniform current distribution over the first surface of the shaped polymeric workpiece so that the nanolaminated conductive coating covering all of the first surface has a substantially uniform thickness across the first surface including the first feature and the second feature.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the shaped polymeric workpiece further comprises shaping the polymeric workpiece by one or more of cutting, machining, milling, abrasive blasting, grinding, sanding, and polishing, or a combination thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive manufacturing process comprises three-dimensional printing (3D printing), selective laser sintering (SLS) or sintering laser melting (SLM), fused deposition modeling (FDM), stereolithography (SLA), continuous liquid interface printing (CLIP), or a combination thereof.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the current comprises applying potentiometric (potentiostatic), amperometric (galvanostatic), pulse current, pulse reverse current, modulated current, modulated frequency, or continuous transitioned current electroplating.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of alternating layers further comprises third layers, wherein the first layers, the second layers, and the third layers are arranged in a repeating pattern.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of alternating layers further comprises fourth layers, wherein the first layers, the second layers, the third layers, and the fourth layers are arranged in a repeating pattern.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metal alloy further comprises Ag, Al, Au, Be, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, In, Mg, Mn, Mo, Nb, Nd, Pd, Pt, Re, Rh, Sb, Sn, Mn, Pb, Ta, Ti, W, V, Zn, Zr, or a combination thereof.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanolaminated conductive coating comprises at least 20 layers.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shaped polymeric workpiece further comprises one or more tubes for increasing electrolyte flow over one or more portions of the shaped polymeric workpiece.
10. A mold, comprising:
a shaped workpiece comprising an assembly of a substrate of a polymeric material and one or more thieves, one or more shields, or both, on the substrate, the one or more thieves, the one or more shields, or both, being arranged in a manner according to a Computer Assisted Design-optimized geometry that results in a substantially uniform current distribution over the shaped workpiece during electrodeposition, wherein the shaped workpiece comprises one or more ports configured to allow for circulation of liquid or gas through a portion of the mold; and
a nanolaminated conductive coating on each surface of the shaped workpiece, the nanolaminated conductive coating comprising a plurality of alternating layers comprising first layers and second layers, the first layers comprising a first metal alloy comprising nickel and cobalt, the second layers comprising a second metal alloy comprising nickel and cobalt, the nanolaminated conductive coating covering all of a first surface and having a substantially uniform thickness across the first surface, wherein the first surface comprises a first feature and a second feature that have a surface aspect ratio ranging from 1 to 10, the surface aspect ratio being defined as:
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11. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the polymeric material comprises one or more nonconductive particles, nonconductive filler, nonconductive tow, nonconductive woven fabrics, nonconductive non-woven fabric, nonconductive foam sheets, or a combination thereof.
12. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the polymeric material has a melting, softening, or decomposition point greater than 150° C.
13. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the polymeric material further comprises a fiber reinforcement material.
14. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the first and second layers differ in grain size, defect density, grain orientation, presence of intermetallic compositions, presence of amorphous metallic glass compositions, or a combination thereof.
15. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the first metal alloy or the second metal alloy is a fine-grained or ultrafine-grained metal alloy having an average grain size ranging from about 1 nm to about 5,000 nm, based on a measurement of grain size in micrographs.
16. A method of molding an article, comprising:
introducing a settable material, a polymerizable material, a thermoplastic material, or a thermoset material into a mold according to claim 10 , the mold having at least one section; and
allowing the settable, polymerizable, thermoplastic, or thermoset material to at least partially cure or cool to form an article that can be separated from the mold.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein introducing the thermoplastic or thermoset material comprises casting, injection molding, rotational molding, blow molding, or extrusion molding.
18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising cutting or trimming flash or a sprue from the article, or blast finishing.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the thermoplastic material has a melting point less than the melting point or Vicat softening point of the polymeric material from which the shaped workpiece is formed including any fillers or fibrous material that are present in the polymeric material; or
the mold is operated at, or during molding operations continuously cooled to, a temperature less than the melting point or Vicat softening point of the polymeric material including any fillers or fibrous material in the polymeric material.
20. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of alternating layers further comprises third layers, wherein the first layers, the second layers, and the third layers are arranged in a repeating pattern.
21. The mold of claim 20 , wherein the plurality of alternating layers further comprises fourth layers, wherein the first layers, the second layers, the third layers, and the fourth layers are arranged in a repeating pattern.
22. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the first metal alloy further comprises Ag, Al, Au, Be, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, In, Mg, Mn, Mo, Nb, Nd, Pd, Pt, Re, Rh, Sb, Sn, Mn, Pb, Ta, Ti, W, V, Zn, Zr, or a combination thereof.
23. The mold of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ports are one or more channels that extend from one surface of the mold to another surface of the mold or one or more channels in a single surface of the mold.