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From: "Easton, Craig George - EASCG001"
<EASCG001@students.unisa.edu.au>
To: "'rp-ml@ltk.hut.fi'" <rp-ml@ltk.hut.fi>
Subject: Rapid Tooling
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 11:37:03 +0930
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DTM offers two materials (Copper Polyamide and RapidSteel 2.0) for use
in the SLS Sinterstation for creating injection molding tooling.
Information about these materials is available on the DTM Web site. I
recently finished writing a paper on the use of Copper Polyamide mold
inserts for plastic injection molding. This paper was added to our web
site this morning in pdf format
(http://www.dtm-corp.com/Technology/material.htm). A similar paper for
the RapidSteel 2.0 material is in progress. Below is a brief
description for both materials.
Copper Polyamide. In mid-1998, DTM introduced another metal/plastic
material that can be used with the SLS process to create tooling for
short runs of production equivalent plastic parts in materials such as
polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), glass filled
polypropylene, ABS, PC/ABS, and other common plastics.
This material is Copper Polyamide (PA), a heat resistant, thermally
conductive composite of copper and plastic. Runs of 100 to 400 plastic
parts made with Copper PA molds are ideal for use in the product
development stage where several hundred parts in the final material are
needed for life testing or other design evaluation processes.
The Copper PA material processes in the Sinterstation System in much
the same way as the DuraForm PA material. Mold inserts are built
directly from the geometry described in the STL file. What's more,
features like runners, gates, conformal cooling lines, and ejector pin
guides can be included in the STL file and built directly into the
mold. Turnaround times for the production of a mold insert in the SLS
system are as short as a day.
Parts and molds made of the Copper PA composite are machinable and
easily finished with wet sanding. Heat resistance and thermal
conductivity are better than most plastic tooling materials. It is
also possible to mold parts with cycle times that approach production
rates.
--------------
RapidSteel. DTM introduced its first metal material, RapidSteel 1.0,
in 1996. It was used for the creation of steel/copper mold inserts
[1]. Mold inserts made of RapidSteel 1.0 are used to mold large
quantities of plastic parts and to prototype quantities of pressure die
cast parts. In 1998, DTM introduced RapidSteel 2.0, the next
generation of this metal material. RapidSteel 2.0 offers improvements
in processing time, finishing time, and accuracy compared to the
original RapidSteel material.
The mold insert produced in the Sinterstation is called the "green"
insert. The stainless steel powder is held together by a binder that is
activated during laser sintering. The unbound powder is carefully
removed from the "green" insert and the insert is prepared for the
first furnace cycle. During the first furnace cycle, the binder is
removed and the steel powder sinters to form small necks (or bridges)
between particles. The resulting part, which is 60% dense, is called a
"brown" insert and is much more durable that the "green" insert. Some
finishing work can be done on the "brown" insert, which is
advantageous, because the material is easier to work with prior to
bronze infiltration.
The "brown" part is placed in a crucible and a measured amount of
bronze is placed next to the part. The crucible is placed in the oven
for the second furnace cycle. The bronze melts and wicks into the
brown part by capillary forces forming the infiltrated part. The
resulting mold inserts are fully dense and can be used to mold over
100,000 plastic parts with most plastics.
As new and better materials become available, market acceptance of
rapid tooling continues to grow. What's more, designers realize the
benefits of molding prototype parts with the actual production
material. They are also seeing lowered costs, and reduced development
cycles.
----------------
The advantages of building mold inserts directly in the SLS process
include complete ownership of the process, ability to add conformal
cooling lines, and rapid creation of the mold inserts. The
Sinterstation can also process plastic materials for the creation of
functional prototypes. This allows you to test the geometry of the
molded part prior to the completion of the tooling.
Christian Nelson
DTM Corporation
______________________________ Reply Separator ____________________________
_____
Subject: Rapid Tooling
Author: "Easton, Craig George - EASCG001" <EASCG001@students.unisa.edu.au>
at
DTM
Date: 10/6/98 2:07 AM
Help!?!?!?
I am a final year student with the University of South Australia doing
a project on Rapid Tooling for Injection Molding in conjunction with
Gerard Industries, one of the largest molding firms in Australia.
My problem is that it is relatively simple to obtain very general
information regarding things such as Keltool and ACES etc., but
getting
anything substantial (other than a lovely glossy brochure) is proving
impossible.
My project is due in a little over a month and I need information
quickly. I
have not left this to the last minute, but I just stumbled
onto this mailing list today (6th of October) by accident.
My questions is can anyone provide me with any significant information
or
a place to get information on the following:
-Keltool
-ACES
-Polysteel
-RapidSteel
or any other method worth mentioning.
I have been trialling spray-metal tooling on my own, but have had
little
success to date.
Please feel free to email me at eascg001@students.unisa.edu.au.
Thankyou in advance
Craig Easton
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