RAPID TOOLING

As RP becomes more mature, material properties, accuracy, cost and leadtime have improved to permit it to be employed for the production of tools.
Some traditional tool-making methods based on the replication of models
have been adapted and new techniques allowing tools to be fabricated
directly by RP have been developed.
This section reviews indirect and direct methods for RT that are, or shortly
will be, available for production runs of up to several thousand parts.
Rapid Tooling refers to mould cavities that are either directly or indirectly
fabricated using Rapid Prototyping techniques.

Indirect Methods for Rapid Tooling

In recent years RP Technology have emerged to reduce the delays inherent
in the reiterations and fine tuning necessary to create a high quality product.
RP technologies offer the capabilities of rapid production of 3D solid objects
directly from CAD.
Instead of several weeks, a prototype can be completed in a few days or
even a few hours.
Unfortunately with RP techniques, there is only a limited range of materials
from which prototypes can be made.
Consequently although visualization and dimensional verification are
possible, functional testing of prototypes often is not possible due to
different mechanical and thermal properties of prototype compared to
production part.

All this leads to the next step which is for RP industry to target tooling as a
natural way to capitalize on 3D CAD modeling and RP technology.
With increase in accuracy of RP techniques, numerous processes have been
developed for producing tooling from RP masters
The most widely used indirect RT methods are to use RP masters to make
silicon Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) moulds for plastic parts and as
sacrificial models or investment casting of metal parts.
These process which are suitable for batches of 1 to 20 parts are usually
known as Soft Tooling Techniques.
It can be used to intake multiple wax or plastic parts using conventional
injection moulding techniques.
It produces short term production patterns. Injected wax patterns can be
used to produce castings.
Soft tools can usually be fabricated for ten times less cost than a machine
tool.

 In spite of the widening of the range of materials allowed by soft tooling,

the choice is still limited and not all the needs can be satisfied.
Therefore other indirect methods for tool fabrication have been developed.
These new methods allow prototypes to be built using the same material
and manufacturing process as the production part.
These indirect methods are a good alternative to traditional mould making
techniques.
These less expensive methods with shorter lead times allow tool validation
to be conducted before changes become very costly.
The aim of these RT methods is to fill the gap between RP and hard tooling
by enabling the production of tools capable of short prototype runs.

Indirect methods for rapid tool production

Indirect RT methods are alternatives to traditional mould-making techniques.
These less expensive methods with shorter lead-times allow tool validation to
be conducted before changes become very costly.
The aim of these RT methods is to fill the gap between RP and hard tooling by
enabling the production of tools capable of short prototype runs.
The broad range of indirect RT solutions makes it difficult to determine the
most appropriate method for a particular project.
Companies need to know all of the available processes and have a clear
understanding of their strengths and weaknesses together with the relative
merits of the various materials they employ.

Direct methods for rapid tool production

Indirect tooling methods are intended as prototyping or pre-production
tooling processes and not production methods.
Tools produced by these methods are exhibited differences compared to
production tools.
Differences are evident in larger draft angels, simpler part shapes and lower
mechanical and thermal specifications.
The differences affect the production cycle time, the part mechanical
properties and the tool life.
However, the aim of indirect tooling methods is not replace production
tooling but to make only up to a few hundred parts and therefore these tools
do not require the strength for a long life.
For the same reason they do not need to be as efficient as production tools
and it is justifiable to adopt a longer cycle time per part to compensate for
poor thermal conductivity.

Indirect methods for tool production as described in the previous

section necessitate a minimum of one intermediate replication
process. This might result in a loss of accuracy and could increase
the time for building the tool.
To overcome some of the drawbacks of indirect methods, some RP
apparatus manufacturers have proposed new rapid tooling
methods that allow injection moulding and die-casting inserts to
be built directly from three-dimensional CAD models.
Direct RT methods enable the production of inserts capable of
surviving from a few dozen to tens of thousands of cycles and
represent
good
alternatives
to
traditional
mould-making
techniques.
The durability or life expectancy of the inserts produced by these
methods varies significantly, depending on the material and the
RT method employed.
This makes the application area of direct RT processes also very
wide, covering prototype, pre-production and production tooling.
According to their application, direct RT processes can be divided

 The first group includes less expensive methods with shorter

lead-times that are appropriate for tool validation before
changes become costly.
Direct RT methods that satisfy these requirements are called
methods for Firm tooling (also known as bridge tooling *)
RT processes for firm tooling fill the gap between soft and
hard tooling, producing tools capable of short prototype runs
of approximately fifty to a hundred parts using the same
material and manufacturing process as for final production
parts.
The second group includes RT methods that allow inserts for
pre-production and production tools to be built. RP apparatus
manufacturers market these methods as hard tooling
solutions *.
Currently available solutions for hard tooling are based on
the fabrication of sintered metal (steel, iron and copper)
powder inserts infiltrated with copper or bronze (DTM Rapid
ToolTM process, EOSINT metal from EOS, three-dimensional
printing of metal parts from Soligen).

Hard Tooling
Patterns are fabricated by machining either tool steel or aluminum into the
negative shape of the desired component.
Steel tools are very expensive yet typically last indefinitely building millions of
parts in a mass production environment.
Aluminum tools are less expensive than steel and are used for lower
production quantities.

Methods developed in second group are:

Direct ACESTM Injection Moulds (AIMTM),
Direct Rapid Tool TM Process ( Raspid Steel)
Laminated Object manufactured (LOM) Tools,
Cooper Polyamide (PA),
SandFormTM,
EOS Direct ToolTM Process,
Direct Metal Tooling Using 3DPTM,
Topographic Shape Formation (TSF).

METAL DEPOSITION TOOLS

Metal Spraying involves the melting of a raw material in wire or powder form,
before propelling the atomised material towards the workpiece at high velocity
to create a metal coating.
The Rapid Prototype model is an ideal starting point to produce spray metal
tooling.
Metal spraying is used for the production of soft tooling, especially flexible
moulds.
It involves spraying a thin shell of about 2 mm in thickness over a pattern and
backing this with epoxy resin to give it rigidity.
The longevity of the tool is process dependent. Low pressure operations such
as casting, blow molding or rim will yield more parts than the higher pressure.
The process for application of Spray Metal is relatively simple and consists of
the following stages:
1.Melting the metal at the gun;
2.Spraying the liquid metal onto the prepared substrate by means of
compressed air;
3.Molten particles are projected onto the cleaned substrate. Alternative
application methods.

1. Metal Spray gun

2. Air nozzle
3. Feed wires
4. Electric arc
5. Molten metal spray
6. Metal coating

Spray Metal Tooling

Metal spraying is used for the production of soft tooling. It involves spraying
a thin shell of about 0.080 inch (2 mm) in thickness over a pattern and
backing this with epoxy resin to give it rigidity.
Several metal spraying techniques are available. With most RP techniques,
the models produced have a low glass transition temperature (i.e., the
temperature where the material starts to change to a soft amorphous
structure).
Therefore, it is important to keep the pattern temperature as low as possible
when spraying. If the temperature of the model increases sufficiently it will
start to relax and distort, which results in an inaccurate tool.
The most popular techniques for use with RP models are spraying low
melting point alloys (lead- /tin-based) with a gun similar to a paint sprayer
and metal deposition with an arc system.
The arc system feeds two wires into a gun and an electric arc is struck
between them. This causes the wire material to melt and then a compressed
gas atomizes and sprays it onto the pattern.

 The higher the melting point of the wire material, the more difficult it is to
keep the pattern cool.
Therefore, it is common to spray zinc or aluminum based alloys directly
onto RP models.
It also is possible to spray higher melting point materials onto RP models,
but it is necessary to be a little devious.
One technique is to apply a metallic coating by using electroless plating or
physical vapor deposition.
Once there is a metallic coating on the model, heat will be transmitted
more readily across its surface.
Rapid Tooling (RT) is general terminology for using a technological process
to rapidly produce mold inserts for injection molding of plastics and
casting of metals.
Rapid Tooling is a means of transferring non-functional models constructed
from the range of Rapid Prototyping techniques into a functional
prototype part.
This is normally carried out using a casting process, such as investment
casting.

15

It would typically use expendable rapid prototype models, particularly those

made by the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Laminated Object Manufacturing
(LOM) or Stereolithography (SLA), QuickCast processes.
Rapid Tooling can utilize rapid models in two ways;
(1)As a master for the production of casting moulds
(2)As a sacrificial pattern for one casting.
At this stage of the manufacturing process the rapid model becomes less
significant than the next step, the development of tooling.
Tools need to be manufactured to specification and must be durable enough
to last a certain time period.
Metal Spray tooling can be used for parts that are to be constructed using
plastic production processes.
Most rapid tooling is created in two until four weeks rather than four or more
weeks, and is best-suited to limited run quantities of 1 to 100 000.
The process involves using the RP model with a good surface finish that
incorporates a draft angle and has an allowance for shrinkage of the
moulding material.

The pattern is embedded along it parting line into plasticine with in a chase.
The sprue, gates and ejector pins are added and after the exposed half of the
mould is coated with a release agent, a thin shell of 2-3 mm thick of a low
temperature molten metal is deposited over it.
If they are subjected to high temperature, RP models can soften and distort and
so not all metal deposition techniques can be employed.
Spray metal Deposition Techniques:
Most common metal deposition technique Two types
Gas metal Spraying: Involves a low melting point alloy that passes though the
nozzle similar to paint sprayer. A metal wire, usually lead/tin is melted by a
conical jet of burning gas atomized and propelled onto the substrate.
Arc metal Spraying: Also called TAFA process involves a gun in which an
electric arc between two wires causes them to melt. The molten material
[Al or Zn] are then atomized by a compressed gas that sprays it.

Once a metallic shell is created, water cooling lines can be added and the
shell is back filled with epoxy resin or ceramic to improve the strength of
the mould.
These materials are selected because their coefficient of thermal expansion
is close to that of the Nickel or Zinc the shells are made from.
Al powder is usually mixed with epoxy resin or the ceramic to increase their
thermal conductivity.
After back filling material is cured, it is machined flat. The second half of the
tool is built following the same procedure.
Main disadvantage not suitable where the part possesses features as
projections which partially block the metal spray configuration or where
recesses my be too deep to spray into completely.

Another problem associated with metal spraying is that it produces shells

with high internal stresses. It is possible to counteract these by
simultaneously shot-peening the sprayed shell. Steel shot fired at the shell
during spraying induces compressive stresses that counteract the tensile
stresses.
Process is restricted to models with large and gently curved surfaces.
Produces economic tooling shells with a good reproduction and dimensional
qualities but low mechanical strength and high porosity.
A way to improve the thermal conductivity is to deposit a layer of material
with a higher melting point but better thermal properties over the shell.
The tools are inexpensive, fast to produce accurate and capable of handling
abrasive materials spray metal tools can be sued to mould upto 2000 parts in
the exact production material.
Metal deposition is one of the more mature and effective tooling techniques.
Tools made this way allow production quantities of several thousand parts.

 Metal spraying is typically used on models that have large gently curved
surfaces and is indeed most suited to this type of geometry.
It is very difficult to spray into narrow slots or small diameter holes. When
these types of features are included on the model, it is common to make
brass inserts, locate them in the model and spray around them.
When the model is removed from the shell, the inserts are permanently fixed
into the shell. These inserts also are stronger than the shell material, which
is weak and breaks easily if formed as a tall, thin feature

Applications:
Spray metal tools have been used in many applications including:
Sheet Metal Forming,
Injection Molding,
Compression Molding,
Blow Molding And
Pre-preg Sheet Lay Up.
Various plastics have been molded including;
polypropylene,
ABS,
polystyrene and difficult process materials such as reinforced nylon and
polycarbonate
Other Deposition Techniques: Nickel Electro forming, Nickel vapour
Deposition.

Silicon Rubber Tooling

It is a soft tooling technique. It is a indirect rapid tooling method.

Another root for soft tooling is to use RP model as a pattern for silicon
rubber mould which can then in turn be injected several times. Room
Temperature Vulcanization Silicones are preferable as they do not require
special curing equipment.
This rubber moulding technique is a flexible mould that can be peeled
away from more implicate patterns as suppose to former mould materials.
First an RP process is used to fabricate the pattern.
Next the pattern is fixed into a holding cell or box and coated with a
special release agent (a wax based cerosal or a petroleum jelly mixture) to
prevent it from sticking to the silicon.
The silicon rubber typically in a two part mix is then blended, vacuumed to
remove air packets and poured into the box around the pattern until the
pattern is completely encapsulated.
After the rubber is fully cured which usually takes 12 to 24 hours the box is
removed and the mould is cut into two (not necessarily in halves) along a
pre determined parting line.

 At this point, the original pattern is pulled from the silicon mould which can
be placed back together and repeatedly filled with hot wax or plastic to
fabricate multiple patterns.
These tools are generally not injected due to the soft nature of the material.
Therefore the final part materials must be poured into the mould each
cycle.

25

Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) .

This process is an easy, relatively inexpensive and fast way to fabricate
prototype or pre-production tools. RTV tools are also known as silicone
rubber moulds. The most widely used form of RTV moulding is vacuum
casting.
The vacuum casting process includes the following main steps, as shown in
Fig. 18 [53]:
(a) Producing a pattern (any RP method can be employed);
(b) Adding venting and gating to the pattern;
(c) Setting-up the pattern on the parting line and then suspending it in a mould
casting frame;
(d) Pouring a deaerated silicone rubber into the casting frame around the
pattern;
(e) Curing the mould inside a heating chamber;
(f) Removing the pattern from the silicone mould by cutting along the parting
line and then closing and sealing the mould;
(g) Pouring a urethane resin into the mould inside a vacuum chamber;
(h) Curing the part in a heating chamber for 24 hours and then removing it
from the mould;
(i) Cutting off the gate and risers from the casting to make an exact copy of
the pattern.
This process is best suited for projects where form, fit or functional testing
can be done with a material that mimics the characteristics of the production

Vacuum casting process. (Courtesy of MCP)

Epoxy Tooling
This process is used for manufacturing prototype parts or limited runs of
production parts. Epoxy tools are used as [53] moulds for prototype plastic
injection, moulds for castings, compression moulds and reaction injection
moulds.
The fabrication of the mould begins with the construction of a simple frame
around the parting line of the RP model.
Sprue gates and runners can be added or cut later on, once the mould is
finished. The exposed surface of the model is coated with a release agent and
epoxy is poured over the model.
Aluminium powder is usually added to the epoxy resin and copper hose
cooling lines can also be placed at this stage to increase the thermal
conductivity of the mould.
Once the epoxy has cured, the assembly is inverted and the parting line
block is removed, leaving the pattern embedded in the side of the tool just
cast.
Another frame is constructed and epoxy poured to form the other side of the
tool.
When the second side of the tool is cured, the two halves of the tool are
separated and the pattern is removed [54].

Epoxy mould

3D KeltoolTM Process.
This process is based on a metal sintering process introduced in 1976. The 3D
KeltoolTM process converts RP master patterns into production tool inserts
with very good definition and surface finish. It includes the following steps
[58]:
(a)Fabricating master patterns of the core and cavity;
(b)Producing RTV silicone rubber moulds from the patterns;
(c) Filling the silicone rubber moulds with a mixture of powdered steel,
tungsten carbide and polymer binder with particle sizes of around 5 mm to
produce green parts (powdered metal held together by the polymer binder)
duplicating the masters;
(d) Firing the green parts in a furnace to remove the plastic binder and
sintering the metal particles together;
(e) Infiltrating the sintered parts (70 per cent dense inserts) with copper in a
second furnace cycle to fill the 30 per cent void space;
(f) Finishing the core and cavity.
The material properties allow inserts produced using this process to
withstand more than 1 000 000 moulding cycles.

Direct Methods for Rapid Tool Production

Direct ACESTM Injection Moulds ( AIMTM)
With this method, SL is used to produce epoxy inserts for injection mould tools
for thermoplastic parts (Fig. 20) [2, 15, 59].
Because the temperature resistance of the curable epoxy resins available at
present is only up to 200 0C (Cibatool1 SL5530HT) and thermoplastics are
injected at temperatures as high as 300 0C (572 8F), specific rules apply to the
design and production of this type of injection moulding inserts [60].
Runners, fan gates and ejector pin clearance holes are added to the CAD
model and the inserts are shelled to a recommended thickness of 1.27mm (0.05
inch).
The inserts are then built using the accurate clear epoxy solid (ACES) style
[50] on an SL machine.
The supports are subsequently removed and the inserts are polished in the
direction of the draw to facilitate part release.
To remove the maximum amount of heat from the tool and reduce the injection
moulding cycle time, copper water cooling lines are added and the back of the
inserts is filled with a mixture made up 30 per cent by volume of aluminium
granulate and 70 per cent of epoxy resin.

 The cooling of the mould is completed by blowing air on the mould faces as
they separate after the injection moulding operation.
To increase both the resistance to erosion and the thermal conductivity of
Direct AIMTM tools, the deposition of a 25 mm layer of copper on the mould
surface has been investigated [58].

Direct AIMTM injection mould

EOS DirectToolTM process [66].

This process uses proprietary metal powders that are selectively sintered in a
specially developed machine.
The sintered parts are porous and usually must undergo infiltration with an
epoxy resin in order to increase their strength [66].
After infiltration, further polishing of the part surfaces is possible to achieve
the quality required for injection moulding inserts.
The Direct- ToolTM process is mainly utilized for rapidly producing complex
inserts, the surfaces of which cannot be machined directly.
The process is a viable alternative for prototype and pre-production tooling
applications, requiring the manufacture of up to a few thousand parts in
common engineering plastics.

Direct metal tooling using 3DP

This RT process uses 3DP to build tooling inserts in a range of materials
including stainless steel, tungsten and tungsten carbide.
The process allows the fabrication of parts with overhangs, undercuts and
internal volumes as long as there is an escape route for the unused loose
powder.
The production of metal parts includes the following steps:
(a)Building the parts by combining powder and binder employing the 3DP
process;
(b) Sintering the printed parts in a furnace to increase their strength;
(c) Infiltration of the sintered parts with a low melting point alloy to produce
fully dense parts.
The 3DP process can be easily adapted for production of parts in a variety of
material systems, e.g. metallic/ceramic compositions with novel material
properties [24, 67].

Copper Polymides [64].

This is a metalplastic composite designed for short-run tooling applications
involving several hundred parts (100400 parts) from common plastics.
At the CAD stage, the inserts are shelled and cooling lines, ejector pin guides,
gates and runners are included in the design to be built directly during the SLS
process.
No furnace cycle is required and unfinished tool inserts can be produced in a
day.
Only subsequent finishing is necessary before integration of the inserts in the
tool base.
This includes sealing of the insert surfaces with epoxy, finishing them with
sandpaper
and finally backing up the shell inserts with a metal alloy.
The cycle times of moulds employing copper PA inserts are similar to those for
metal tooling.
Development efforts have been directed towards insert design optimization [2],
increasing heat transfer rates by producing inserts with conformal cooling
channels [65] and refining insert finishing techniques [2].