MANUFACTURE OF ALLUMINUM MOLDS WITH IMPROVED THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COEFFICIENTS FOR THE ROTOMOLDING INDUSTRY.

摘要

The present invention refers to the chemical modification of the aluminum alloys used for manufacturing plastic molds for the rotomolding industry intended to improve the thermal conductivity coefficient thereof. The most used alloys were modified, which are silicon-based (Al-Si) and copper-based (Al-Cu) alloys, finding optimum values of the elements that increase or decrease the thermal conductivity of the alloy. The main modified elements are: Al-Si-Cu-Ni. Amongst the main advantages of increasing the thermal conductivity coefficient of the aluminum alloys is the saving of power required for heating the mold (in an oven and/or flame), which reduces the process time and allows the solidification of the polymer to be highly controlled.