Rapid Tooling by Powder Spray of Stainless Steel and WC-Co Alloy

摘要

Thermal spraying has been already used to manufacture metallic molds of any sizes from large to small. However, it has the disadvantage that only metals with low melting points such as zinc alloy can be sprayed to the sprayed patterns such as R/P models and natural material patterns due to heat-resistance of the sprayed patterns and shrinkage of spray metals. In this study, attempts were made to improve the heat-resistance by the use of composite materials made of metal and ceramic powders for the sprayed pattern materials, and the results show that stainless steel and WC-Co alloy injection molding tool can successfully be produced. As durability and accuracy of the thermal sprayed tools has been sharply improved, this tool can be used for mass production.