Whether you use it for design verification or tool making, you can
acheive both time and cost savings when you apply rapid prototyping to
sand casting
Coventry based tool and pattern maker, Advance tooling wasn't convinced
of the benefits that rapid prototyping could bring to its sand casting
operations until it got together with 3D Systems on a particular project
it was already handling for an automotive industry subcontrator. In this
project, a sterotlithography (SL) pattern was used in the sand. Casting
process to produce a single cast component as part of a purchase
justification process for sterolithography apparatus (SLA) in sand
casting applications for prototype and small volume production.
The master pattern for the component, a bracket for an automotive air
conditioning system, was produced on an SLA 3500 at 3D's technology
center in Hemel Hempstead, using CAD data supplied by the subcontractor.
The two halves of the master pattern were built on the SLA using the Ciba
Tool SL 5520 resin and then despatched to Advance for sand casting. to
acheive a good surface finish, a fine-grained air set sand with resin
additive was applied to the two halves of the pattern, which were then
joined to create the casting cavity. Following a short period to allow
the sand to harden, the tooling was transferred to the foundry where the
bracket was successfully cast in alumium.
Apart from proving the validity of the process to Advance Tooling, it
also illustarted how to use of SL models as a specific tooling route can
bridge the gap between CAD engineer and pattern maker, saving both time
and costs.
Back to Design Office Technology June 2000
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