Rapid Tooling

Guided By Presented By
Dr. K.G.Dave Parikh Ravi Rajesh Kumar
Assistant Professor Enroll. No140280708008
Dept. of Mech. Eng., 4th Sem. ME CAD/CAM
LDCE, Ahmedabad Dept. of Mech. Eng.,
LDCE, Ahmedabad
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Introduction of Rapid prototyping
Rapid tooling
Differences Between Rapid Tooling And The Conventional
Method
Rapid Tooling Methods
1.direct method
2.indirect method
Soft tooling
Hard tooling
Rapid Tooling Techniques
1.Silicon rubber tooling
2.Epoxy tooling
3.Spray metal tooling
4. Rapid Solidification Process 2
5. Cast Kirksite Process
Rapid prototyping
 Rapid Prototyping (RP) techniques are methods that allow
designers to produce physical prototypes quickly.

 It consists of various manufacturing processes by which a

solid physical model of part is made directly from 3D CAD
model data without any special tooling.

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Why is Prototyping Important?

Product designers want to have a physical model of a new part

or product design rather than just a computer model or line
drawing
Creating a prototype is an integral step in design
A virtual prototype (a CAD model of the part) may not be
sufficient for the designer to visualize the part adequately
Using RP to make the prototype, the designer can see and feel
the part and assess its merits and shortcomings

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 Why Rapid tooling?
• 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.

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Rapid tooling

Rapid Tooling refers to mould cavities that are either directly or

indirectly fabricated using Rapid Prototyping techniques.
These are primarily used to create multiple prototypes. Rapid
prototyping techniques are not economical when more than one
prototype needs to built for the same component.

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Differences Between Rapid Tooling And The
Conventional Method
Rapid Tooling
Conventional Method

• The time that is used when • The time that is used when
making implements using making implements using
this RT is very little. this conventional method
• The amount of money that is very large.
is used in the manufacture • The amount of money that
of tools using RT is also is used in the manufacture
very little. of tools using conventional
• Tools that are made using method is also very huge.
the RT method have a • Tools that are made using
considerably longer the conventional method
duration. have a considerably
shorter life span. 7
Rapid Tooling Methods

 Two approaches for tool-making:

1. Indirect RTM method
2. Direct RTM method

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Indirect RTM method
 Pattern is created by RP and the pattern is used to fabricate
the tool
 Examples:-
 Patterns for sand casting and investment casting

Direct RTM method

 RP is used to make the tool it self

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Soft Tooling:-
 Silicone molds and the urethane process are used when a lower
volume of parts is needed (1-100).  This is because the tooling
and piece price is more economical for lower quantities.  On
average, silicone tools usually cost in the hundreds to
thousands of dollars, pending on the part geometry.
 Silicone molds can be used for prototype, bridge and
production of low volumes from one part to hundreds of parts.
Most silicone molds are good for about 25 shots per cavity.
 Silicone molds are typically injected with material that is
manually gravity fed through a tube.  Pending on the type of
material, it can take anywhere between 1-24 hours to cure. 
Once the parts within the mold cure, the molds are manually
opened, and any necessary finishing is done by hand.
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Soft Tooling:-

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Hard Tooling:

Steel/aluminum tools are used for the injection

molding process for prototype or bridge, but these
tools are mostly used for high volume production
(100’s-100,000’s).
Steel/aluminum tools typically range in price from
thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.  And pending
on the material and part geometry, the tool life can
range from thousands to millions of parts.
Steel/aluminum tools are injected with material from
an injection mold machine.  The machine injects mold
into the mold with less man-power when compared to
silicone molds.  The curing of material will take
between a few seconds to a few minutes, thus yielding
more parts much quicker than silicone tools. 12
Hard Tooling:

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Comparison of Soft & Hard Tooling:-

Soft Tooling Hard Tooling

Low Cost Tooling  Higher Cost Tooling
Higher Piece Part Cost Lower Piece Part Cost
Faster Lead Time And NO Design Flexibility
Response Repeatability
More Flexibility To Change Longer Lead Time Due To
Design Tooling Lead Time
Increased Product Variance Process For High Volumes

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Rapid Tooling Techniques

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Silicon Rubber Tooling:
 One of the most popular tooling applications for RP is the
production of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone
rubber tooling
 The purpose of RTV tools is to create urethane or epoxy
prototypes, often under vacuum (hence the term vacuum
casting)
The process of making a rubber mould consists of:
 Making a master pattern, usually on an RP machine.
 Finishing the pattern to the desired appearance.
 Casting RTV silicone rubber around the pattern to form the
mould, and then injecting the mould with two-part thermoset
materials to create moulded plastic parts. 16
Silicon Rubber Tooling

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Silicon Rubber Tooling

 Silicone rubber tooling

provides fast, inexpensive
moulds, excellent part
cosmetics, and the option
of using multiple materials
 The process is suitable for
small or medium-sized
parts
 Another benefit of silicone
rubber tooling is the
negative draft (undercuts)
that can be achieved due to
the flexibility of the mould
material
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Epoxy tooling:
 Its also known as ‘Composite Tooling’
 Like silicone rubber tooling, epoxy-based composite tooling
requires a master pattern.
 This pattern is created by RP process.
 The pattern is finished and then embedded in a parting line
block to create the parting line of the mould.
 Metal inserts are placed in areas where the epoxy is unlikely to
withstand the pressures of the injection-moulding process.
 Epoxy is then cast against the pattern and parting line block
combination to create the first side of the tool.
 Once the epoxy has cured, the assembly is inverted, and the
parting line is removed, leaving the pattern embedded in the
first side of the tool. 19
 The second side of the tool is then cast against the first.
Epoxy tooling:

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Spray metal tooling:

It is very similar to aluminium filled epoxy

In this process, against the RP pattern low temperature
metal alloys is sprayed
A thin metal coating is then arc-sprayed on the
resultant mould surface
It gives higher strength and maximum tool life
This process is suitable for larger parts

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Spray metal tooling:

RP Model
Metal spraying

Finished Model 22
RSP Tooling
• RSP stands for Rapid Solidification Process
• We create a plastic model using SLA
• And then we make moulds with either by epoxy tooling or
spray metal onto it
• But most of the cases, ceramics are used
• What’s significant in that is that we atomize the metal down to
as small as 5 microns.
• When the metal hits the ceramic, because of the small size of
the droplets, they freeze very quickly, thus the rapid
solidification.
• This process results in extremely fine grain structure and the
alloys generally stay in solution and there is very little internal
stress 23
RSP Tooling

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Cast Kirksite

• Kirksite is a zinc-aluminum alloy with excellent wear

resistance. (94 % Zn, 6% Al) with a melting point of 3855C)
• The process for making cast kirksite tooling begins much like
the process for epoxy-based composite tooling, except that two
additional reversals are required to permit the creation of
tooling in a more durable material

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Cast Kirksite Process:
First, a shrink-compensated master pattern of the part is
produced, typically using an RP process.
A rubber or urethane material is then cast against the part
master to create patterns for the core and cavity set, which will
be cast in kirksite.
Plaster is then cast against the core and cavity patterns to
create moulds into which the kirksite is cast.
Once the kirksite is cast into the plaster moulds, the plaster is
broken away, and the kirksite core and cavity are fit into a
mould base

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Cast Kirksite Process:

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3D Keltool

• 3D Keltool is a powder metal process used to make injection-

mould inserts and other durable tooling from master patterns
• It is very similar spray metal tooling
• Keltool was originally developed by 3M in 1976 and was sold
and further developed by Keltool Inc. In 1996, 3D Systems
purchased the technology from Keltool Inc. and renamed it 3D
Keltool

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Process chain of 3D Keltool:
Master pattern

Silicone casting

Casting with a tool steel/Tungsten carbide/epoxy mixture

Burn-out of binder, sintering and infiltration with copper in

an oven
Tool insert ready for production 29
3D Keltool

• This process requires a master pattern, typically an SLA

model, that can be used to develop a silicone mould that
will then be used to produce the Keltool mould.
• The Keltool mould is then processed with a copper
infiltration and sintered to increase its strength and cure
the mould.
• The finished Keltool part has the hardness of a A6 Tool
Steel and can be machined like a traditional hard tool.

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 Thank 31

you…………