Sacrificial additively manufactured molds for use in injection molding processes

A method for producing a molded article comprising the steps of:

• a. printing a sacrificial additively manufactured mold in an additive manufacturing apparatus, said mold having a cavity enclosed by an outer shell comprising a dissolvable radiation-cured material which material (i) in its uncured form is a selectively-curable resin or mixture of selectively-curable resins, and (ii) when cured can withstand plastic melt temperatures in the range of 70-450 degrees C. and injection pressures in the range of 0.2-400 MPa when formed as said outer shell,
• b. post-processing the additively manufactured mold obtained in step a,
• c. filling the additively manufactured mold obtained in step b with thermoplastic building material using an injection molding process, wherein during said filling, a mold tool configured to receive and hold a build plate of the additive manufacturing apparatus with the sacrificial additively manufactured mold attached thereto is used,
• d. processing the building material of step c in order to produce a molded article inside the additively manufactured mold,
• e. dissolving the additively manufactured mold in order to release the molded article obtained in step d, and
• f. rinsing the molded article,
• wherein the sacrificial additively manufactured mold is printed by a method involving photopolymerization.