Dilip Sahebrao Ingole, Abhay Madhusudan Kuthe, Shashank B. Thakare and Amol S. Talankar
The purpose of this paper is to apply rapid prototyping (RP) philosophy as a technology transfer in industries to take its time and cost‐effective advantages for development of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply rapid prototyping (RP) philosophy as a technology transfer in industries to take its time and cost‐effective advantages for development of rapid tooling (RT).
Design/methodology/approach
Experimentations are performed for development of RT for sand casting, investment casting and plastic moulding applications.
Findings
This paper reports the procedures developed for manufacture of production tooling using RP. A cost/benefit model is developed to justify implementation of RP as a technology transfer in industries.
Research limitations/implications
The examples are limited to parts build by fused deposition modelling RP process. However, the concepts experimented may be applied for other RP processes.
Practical implications
RP has proved to be a cost‐effective and time‐efficient approach for development of RT, thereby ensuring possibility for technology transfer in casting as well as plastic industries.
Originality/value
This is the pioneer attempt towards quantifying RP benefits, in view of technology transfer. This paper presents original case studies and findings on the basis of experimentations performed in foundries.
Details
Keywords
Dilip Ingole, Abhaykumar Kuthe, Tushar Deshmukh and Satish Bansod
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the classification and coding system developed for the rapid prototyping (RP) industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the classification and coding system developed for the rapid prototyping (RP) industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The similarities among RP part geometries and processes are identified and related for the development of rapid prototyping coding system (RPCS).
Findings
RPCS forms a base for developing “prototyping philosophy” to take advantage of parts similarities in determination of optimal build orientation and optimization of part building cost.
Research limitations/implications
Most of the examples are limited to parts built by fused deposition modelling process. But, the concept is applicable to any existing RP process.
Practical implications
RPCS implementation is suitable in industries where variety of RP parts are in use.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt towards development of a formal coding system for the RP industry.
Details
Keywords
Kamaljit Singh Boparai, Rupinder Singh and Harwinder Singh
The purpose of this study is to highlight the direct fabrication of rapid tooling (RT) with desired mechanical, tribological and thermal properties using fused deposition…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to highlight the direct fabrication of rapid tooling (RT) with desired mechanical, tribological and thermal properties using fused deposition modelling (FDM) process. Further, the review paper demonstrated development procedure of alternative feedstock filament of low-cost composite material for FDM to extend the range of RT applications.
Design/methodology/approach
The alternative materials for FDM and their processing requirements for fabrication in filament form as reported by various researchers have been summarized. The literature demonstrates the role of various post-processing techniques on surface finish of FDM prints. Further, low-cost materials for feedstock filament have been investigated experimentally to check their adaptability/suitability for commercial FDM setup. The approach was to realize the requirements of FDM (melt flow rate, flexibility, stiffness, glass transition temperature and mechanical strength), necessary for the successful run of an alternative filament. The effect of constituents (additives, plasticizers, surfactants and fillers) in polymeric matrix on mechanical, tribological and thermal properties has been investigated.
Findings
It is possible to develop composite material feedstock as filament for commercial FDM setup without changing its hardware and software. Surface finish of the parts can further be improved by applying various post-processing techniques. Most of the composite parts have high mechanical strength, hardness, thermal stability, wear resistant and better bond formation than standard material parts.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may be focused on improving the surface quality of parts fabricated with composite feedstock, solving issues related to the uniform distribution of filled materials during the fabrication of feedstock filament which in turns further increases mechanical strength, high dimensional stability of composite filament and transferring the technology from laboratory scale to various industrial applications.
Practical implications
Potential applications of direct fabrication with RT includes rapid manufacturing (RM) of metal-filled parts and ceramic-filled parts (which have complex shape and cannot be rapidly made by any other manufacturing techniques) in the field of biomedical and dentistry.
Originality/value
This new manufacturing methodology is based on the proper selection and processing of various materials and additives to form high-performance, low-cost composite material feedstock filament (which fulfil the necessary requirements of FDM process). Finally, newly developed feedstock filament material has both quantitative and qualitative advantage in RT and RM applications as compared to standard material filament.