Sports equipment rotational molding mold: How does heat treatment improve mold durability and precision?

The heat treatment process is to change the internal structure of the mold material through heating, heat preservation and cooling processes, so as to achieve the purpose of improving performance. In the manufacturing process of sports equipment rotational molding molds, the heat treatment process mainly includes two key steps: quenching and tempering.

Quenching is the process of heating the mold above the critical point and then cooling it rapidly. This process can significantly improve the hardness of the mold, enabling it to withstand greater pressure and friction. Hardness is the ability of the mold material to resist local plastic deformation, indentation or scratches, and is an important indicator for evaluating the wear resistance of the mold. The surface hardness of the quenched mold is significantly improved, which can more effectively resist the wear during the rotational molding process, thereby extending the service life.

However, the quenching process may also cause residual stress and brittleness inside the mold, affecting the toughness and fatigue resistance of the mold. Therefore, tempering treatment is usually required after quenching. Tempering is the process of heating the quenched mold to a certain temperature, keeping it warm for a period of time and then cooling it. This process can eliminate quenching stress, improve the toughness of the mold, and make it less likely to break or deform. Toughness is the ability of mold materials to absorb energy without brittle fracture when subjected to force, and is an important indicator for evaluating the impact resistance and fatigue resistance of molds.

After heat treatment, the hardness and toughness of sports equipment roto-molding molds have been significantly improved. The increase in hardness enables the mold to withstand greater pressure and friction, reduce wear during roto-molding, and extend its service life. The increase in toughness makes it less likely for the mold to break or deform when subjected to force, and maintain a stable shape and dimensional accuracy.

This dual improvement in hardness and toughness lays a solid foundation for the durability of the mold. During long-term, high-intensity roto-molding processes, the mold can maintain stable performance and is not prone to wear, deformation or damage. This not only improves production efficiency and reduces production costs, but also ensures the quality and safety of the final product.

In addition to the improvement in hardness and toughness, the heat treatment process can also ensure that the sports equipment roto-molding mold maintains high precision and finish for a long time during use. High precision is one of the important requirements in the mold manufacturing process, which directly determines the dimensional accuracy and shape accuracy of the final product. The finish is an important indicator for evaluating the surface quality of the mold, which affects the appearance quality of the product and the demolding effect during the rotational molding process.

After the heat treatment, the internal structure of the mold is optimized, so that the mold can maintain a stable shape and dimensional accuracy when subjected to force. Heat treatment can also improve the finish of the mold surface, reduce friction and wear during the rotational molding process, thereby improving the appearance quality and demolding effect of the product. This high precision and long-term maintenance of finish not only improves the competitiveness of the product, but also provides consumers with better quality and safer sports equipment.

In practical applications, many sports equipment manufacturers have adopted advanced heat treatment processes to improve the performance of rotational molding molds. For example, a well-known sports equipment manufacturer used a quenching + tempering heat treatment process when manufacturing a basketball stand base mold. After treatment, the hardness of the mold increased by nearly 30%, and the toughness was significantly improved. During the long rotational molding process, the mold maintained stable performance and high precision, ensuring the quality and safety of the basketball stand base.

In addition, some manufacturers have adopted technologies such as surface strengthening treatment to further improve the durability and precision of the mold. The application of these technologies not only improves the service life and production efficiency of molds, but also provides consumers with better quality and more reliable sports equipment.