COMBINING ADDITIVE FABRICATION AND CONVENTIONAL MACHINING TECHNOLOGIES TO DEVELOP A HYBRID TOOLING APPROACH

摘要

The paper will report on progress made in Hybrid Moulds for injection-moulding, as a specific focus area in mould-making. Hybrid Moulds refers to a hybrid between Additive Manufacturing (AM) and conventional methods, which amongst others, use Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) techniques combined with conventional CNC machining (High Speed) techniques. Intricate mould details, normally quite time-consuming to manufacture through EDM processes, can now be manufactured (with DMLS) as inserts, while the less complex parts are machined in Aluminium using 3 and 5 Axis High Speed CNC machining. By using a 3-axis CNC wire cutter, pockets are created where the more complex DMLS inserts can befitted. Research is being conducted to identify the most economical and appropriate manufacturing solution for injection moulding tooling production.