Laser beam melting for added value in tooling applications

In the recent past, additive manufacturing (AM) has been extended to more and more fields of application and is now being used in toolmaking and, in individual cases, in the series production of components. The main driving sectors are automotive production, aerospace industry and medical technology. In particular, the additive Laser Beam Melting (LBM) makes it possible - by processing conventional metallic materials such as tool steel - to manufacture innovative tools and molds. The almost limitless freedom of design of LBM enables innovative elements and complex functional structures and thus has the potential to change toolmaking. Here a distinction can be drawn between geometric and integrative functionalization. Geometric functionalization for example, includes functional cavities and channels and also cellular structures, which are mainly used in tools as cooling channels. The group of integrative functionalization primarily includes the integration of sensors as well as actuators. Plastic injection molding, light metal die casting but also metal forming such as stamping and press hardening (hot sheet metal forming) can benefit greatly from additive manufactured tooling. The presentation provides an overview of the state of the art with application examples such as the thermal management of forming tools and shows the development path for the near future.