Rapid prototyping and rapid tooling methods for metal forming.
In: Rudy i Metale Nieżelazne
Online
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Zugriff:
Layered manufacturing techniques (LMT), which build up parts from layers rather than machining them from one-piece stock, have widespread applicability to the metal forming community and are playing an increasingly important role in manufacturing as a whole. While initially stimulated by the emergence of Rapid Prototyping processes during the past decade, layer-based principles may be applied with great benefit for fabricating tooling required for higher volume processes. They have particular time and cost benefits in the tooling development process and offer an opportunity to perform limited production runs which would be economically prohibitive using tooling produced using conventional methods. This paper describes the new Freeform Powder Molding (FPM) process and research using LMT's both for sheet metal forming and extrusion die development. FPM is a new manufacturing process which allows for the production of prototypes and small lot size production orders of powder metallurgy parts without costly hard tooling. FPM is one of the new manufacturing technologies known as rapid prototyping that facilitates efficient conversion of computer models into solid components. However, FPM also permits fabrication of these components with spatially tailored composition. Metal forming die design and development often requires significant craftsman skill and iterative improvement to arrive at a production-ready die geometry at low cost. Constructing the dies used during this iterative process from layers, rather than one solid block of material, offers unique opportunities to improve die development efficiency when coupled with concepts drawn from the rapid prototyping field. This paper presents a proof-of-concept illustrating the potential utility of layer-based dies for the die design and fabrication process in the sheet metal forming and extrusion. Part quality and fidelity manufactured with the layered dies is shown to be very similar to that of traditional CNC-machined steel dies. The major benefits include greater flexibility in the design process, a more efficient, automated fabrication technique, and a means for performing localized die modifications and repairs.
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Rapid prototyping and rapid tooling methods for metal forming.
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Misiołek, W. Z. ; Walczyk, D. F. ; Rock, S. J. |
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Zeitschrift: | Rudy i Metale Nieżelazne |
Medientyp: | serialPeriodical |
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