Experiences using rapid prototyping techniques to manufacture sheet metal forming tools

摘要

The automotive industry uses Rapid Prototyping Techniques (RPT) like Stereolithography or Selective Laser Sintering to produce plastic parts for prototypes faster and cheaper compared to the techniques used up to now. As a consequence of this process there is a need to have sheet metal parts also available in earlier product phases. This paper deals with Rapid Prototyping (RP) process chains to manufacture sheet metal forming tools. It presents a systematic of the approaches, describes them and presents the results of case studies for selected process chains.