A New Rapid Tooling Process

Abstract

Due to the globalization of the world economy and the consequent increase in competition, it is more important than ever for manufacturers to shorten their product development and manufacturing cycles. The current competitive market not only requires faster product development and reduced production time, but also demands higher quality, greater efficiencies, lower cost, and the ability to meet environmental and recycling objectives. Tooling is a very important phase in the development and manufacturing of new products and is usually one of the most time-consuming and costly phases. Therefore, shortening the tooling lead-time plays a key role in the reduction of the overall product development and manufacturing time. Great effort has been made to develop new rapid tooling (RT) technologies that combine the recently emerged rapid prototyping (RP) processes with one or more subsequent processes. RP normally refers to fabricating prototypes directly from computer aided design (CAD) data using a layered, additive method. Almost all products developed in the manufacturing industry arise from the creation of a threedimensional computer model using a CAD system. Converting the CAD model into a prototype by using a RP process can be easily realized (Jacobs, 1992). A RP system can quickly generate physical objects and prototypes using liquid, powder, or sheet materials. RP parts allow designers to verify their product design at an early stage and to use three-dimensional representations of the design for sales, marketing and production. Along with the evolution and improvements of various RP technologies, great research and development efforts have been made in recent years to develop RT technologies based on RP processes (Pham, 1998, Willis, 1997, Hejmadi and McAlea, 1996, Nelson, 1999, and Phelan, 1997). Whether the application is prototype, bridge, short-run, or production tooling, RT represents an opportunity to reduce both production time and cost. Therefore, researchers continue to