A Patternless Method for a Rapid Casting of Singular Parts

摘要

Rapid prototyping techniques are increasing their importance due to the necessity of reduce times to obtain the first functional component and offer customers a way to analyze the shape, resistance and functionality. The methodology presented in this paper is focused on a patternless method for a rapid casting of singular parts. Specifically, this technique is based on milling sand blocks directly to obtain the mould cavities avoiding the use of a pattern and hence reducing the lead time. This lead time is critical when dealing with unique parts, prototypes, art pieces and other applications where only one component is necessary. Thus, a full review of patternless techniques and industrial users are presented in this work, focusing the attention to the direct milling ones. The key of the procedure is to achieve enough tool life when milling with conventional tools, avoiding the risk of sand destruction or surface damage during the process. For this purpose, in this paper a special study of tool wear is presented. In addition, other problems and difficulties are taken into account, such as, machine protection, sand quality or the optimum milling strategies. Results presented and some examples included showed that this technique can be feasible.