Rapid and efficient cooling in injection molding leads to quality products and increased
productivity. Conformal cooling, utilizing additive manufacturing technology, is considered the
most efficient and effective cooling channel design. However, its utilization is limited due to
various factors such as complexity, cost, and lack of knowledge. While selective laser melting is
commonly used to produce cavity inserts with conformal cooling, an alternative, cost-effective
method is stereolithography. A study was conducted to investigate a hybrid design using metal
cavity inserts and stereolithography cooling channels for deflection and heat transfer analysis. A
cup-like geometry was chosen due to its heat dissipation challenges during the cooling process.
Autodesk Moldflow was employed for flow analysis to determine the injection molding
conditions, considering different cup thicknesses and material properties (PP and PC) with
varying melt flow indexes (5, 10, and 15 g/min). Finite element analysis using Solidworks
Simulation was conducted for stress analysis on selected core thicknesses (5mm, 7.5mm, and
10mm) and compared to fatigue strength. Results showed that a 5mm core thickness failed, while
the 7.5mm core thickness made of P20 tool steel was able to accommodate injection pressures
ranging from 0 to 27 MPa, averaging 461 mm³/sec. The 10mm core thickness of P20 tool steel
accommodated pressures from 0 to 45MPa, averaging 421 mm³/sec. These results were obtained
for selected PP and PC materials at melt temperatures of 230℃and 300℃, respectively,
considering cup thicknesses of 1.5mm, 2mm, and 2.5mm. A heat transfer experiment was
conducted, varying the flow rate (laminar, transitional, and turbulent) and temperature (60℃,
70℃, and 80℃) while considering two levels of diameter and pitch for the cooling channels and
core thickness. The findings revealed that higher flow rates, smaller cooling diameters, and
smaller pitch values resulted in higher thermal efficiency. The highest heat removal of 1.59 KJ
was achieved with a 7.5mm core thickness, 8mm cooling diameter, and 12mm pitch. The
analysis confirmed the suitability of stereolithography (SLA) for conformal cooling in injection
molding, highlighting the cost savings associated with adopting a hybrid design