• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.165-169
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• 2003

Current volume reduction methods for wasted expandable polystyrene (EPS) foam are summarized and compared each other. Wasted EPS foam has not been recycled effectively because of its large volume to weight ratio. This has prevented from its proper recycling because of high cost of transportation to recycling plant. Successful recycling of wasted EPS foam results directly from successful, i.e. economically and environmentally, volume reduction of wasted EPS foam. This paper deals with various methods for volume reduction methods of wasted EPS foam. Five typical methods of volume reduction are introduced and they are compared each other in terms of expected PS properties after volume reduction, cost effectiveness of each process, possible effects on environment caused by the volume reduction process, and possible recycled products. The methods include thermal, solvent, far infrared and mechanical compaction. Comparison in this paper is made mostly in qualitative manner. The focus in this study is concentrated on summarizing and comparing existing methods of volume reduction for wasted EPS foam.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.759-762
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• 2000

Rapid Prototyping (RP) techniques have their unique characteristics according to the working principles: stair-stepped surface of parts due to layer-by-layer stacking, low build speed caused by line-by-line solidification to build one layer, and additional post processing to improve surface roughness, so it is required very high cost to introduce and to maintain RP apparatus. The objective of this study is to develop and design a new RP process, Variable Lamination Manufacturing using expandable polystyrene foam sheet as part material (VLM-S), which can make up for the disadvantage of existing techniques, and to develop an apparatus to implement the process. In order to examine the possibility of practical utilization of the proposed VLM-S process for prototyping of a general three-dimensional shape, an auto-shift lever knob and a pyramid shape were fabricated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.910-913
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• 2001

Rapid Prototyping(RP) techniques have unique characteristics according to their working principle: the stair-stepped surface of a part due to layer-by-layer stacking, low building speed, and additional post-processing to improve surface roughness. A new RP process, Variable Lamination Manufacturing by using expandable polystyrene foam(VLM-S), has been developed to overcome the unfavorable characteristics. The objective of this study is to investigate the thermal characteristics and skeleton size effects as the hotwire cuts EPS foam sheet in order to improve dimensional accuracy of the parts, which is produced by VLM-S. Empirical and analytical approaches are performed to find the relationship between cutting speed and heat input, and the relationship between maximum available cutting speed and heat input. In addition, empirical approaches are carried out to find the relationship between cutting error and skeleton size, and cutting deviation and skeleton size. Based on these results, the optimal hotwire cutting condition and available minimum skeleton size are derived. The outcomes of this study are reflecting in the enhancement of VLM-S input data generation S/W.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.763-766
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• 2000

Rapid Prototyping(RP) techniques have their unique characteristics according to the working principles: stair-stepped surface of parts due to layer-by-layer stackin, low build speed caused by line-by-line solidification to build one layer, and additional post processing to improve surface roughness, so it is required very high cost to introduce and to maintain RP apparatus. The objective of this study is to develop software for automatic generation of unit shape part (USP) for a new RP process, Variable Lamination Manufacturing using linear hotwire cutting technique and expandable polystyrene foam sheet as part material (VLM-S). In order to examine the applicability of the developed software to VLM-S, USP's of general three-dimensional shapes, such as an auto-shift lever knob and a pyramid shape were generated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.185-194
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• 2000

Rapid Prototyping(RP) techniques have their unique characteristics according to the working principles: stair-stepped surface of parts due to layer-by-layer stacking, low build speed caused by line-by-line solidification to build one layer, and additional post processing to improve surface roughness, so it is required very high cost to introduce and to maintain of RP apparatus. The objective of this study is to develop a new RP process, Variable Lamination Manufacturing using linear hotwire cutting technique and expandable polystyrene foam sheet as part material(VLM-S), and to investigate characteristics of part material, cutting characteristics by using linear hotwire cutting system and bonding. Experiments were carried out to investigate mechanical properties of part material such as anisotropy and directional tensile strength. In order to obtain optimal dimensional accuracy, surface roughness, and reduced cutting time, addition experiments were performed to find the relationship between cutting speed and cutting offset of hotwire, and heat generation of hotwire per unit length. So, adhesion strength tests according to ASTM test procedure showed that delamination did not occur at bonded area. Based on the data, a clover-shape was fabricated using unit shape part(USP) it is generated hotwire cutting. The results of present study have been reflected on the enhancement of the VLM-S process and apparatus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1414-1417
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• 2004

A thick-layered RP process, transfer-type variable lamination manufacturing using expandable polystyrene foam (VLMST) has been developed to have the advantageous characteristics such as high building speed, low cost for introduction and maintenance of VLM-ST apparatus, and little staircase surface irregularities of parts. However, VLM-ST has difficulty fabricating an axisymmetric shape and a large-sized freeform shape because of the limited sloping angles and small build size. The objective of this paper is to develop a multi-functional hotwire cutting system using EPS-foam (MHC). MHC employs a four-axis synchronized hotwire cutter with the structure of two XY movable heads and a turntable. In order to examine the applicability of the developed MHC apparatus, an axisymmetric shape, a polyhedral shape and a large-sized freeform shape were fabricated on the apparatus.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.149-158
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• 2004

In most RP processes, the inherent stair-stepped surfaces and shrinkage-induced warping of the parts require post processing such as surface finishing. To minimize such defects, VLH-ST, a newly developed RP process, employs a 3.9-mm thick expandable polystyrene (EPS) foam sheet and a hot wire to contour it to have slant linear-interpolated sides. The use of relatively thick sheets for layers, however, limits the process capability of constructing fine details, especially smaller than the layer thickness. This study is focused on the development of a post processing method fo fine details of VLM-ST parts. The post-processing tool was designed to meet all the requirements for the desirable post processing. It adopted a hot wire as a means of melting the EPS foam sheet. Various basic experiments on the post processing were carried out to obtain the optimal process conditions. The dominant process parameters such as the radiated heat input, the tool speed, and the gap between the tool tip and the foam sheet (tool height) were considered in the experiments. The effectiveness of the developed post-processing method fo forming or engraving fine details on the VLM-ST parts has been thus demonstrated. The experiments on engraving several sets of letters, such as CANESM, 인간, and 한국과학기술원, on the EPS foam sheet were carried out. In addition, a flowery shape was engraved on a three-dimensionally curved surface of a pottery-shape VLM-ST part.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.274-278
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• 2002

Surface finishing is still indispensable for most rapid prototyping (RP) processes because of the inherent stair-stepped surface and shrinkage of the parts. These problems can be minimized in the $VLM-_ST$ Process, because it uses expandable polystyrene foam sheets, each of which has a thickness of3.9 mm and a linear-interpolated side slope. The use of thick layers, however, limits the process capability of constructing fine details. This study focuses on the design of post-processing tool for fine details of $VLM-_ST$ parts and investigation of thermal characteristics during EPS foam cutting using the post-processing tool. To calculate the heat flux from the tool into the foam sheet, the tool was modeled as a heat source of radiation for finite element analysis. Results of the analysis agreed well with those of the experiment.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.323-331
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• 2002

The combination of rapid prototyping(RP) and rapid tooling(RT) has a potential for rapid manufacturing of three-dimensional parts. In the present study, a new RP system transfer type Variable Lamination Manufacturing using Expandable Polystyrene Foam (VLM-ST), is proposed to fabricate net shapes of three-dimensional prototypes. Various three-dimensional parts, such as a knob shape and a human head shape, are manufactured by the VLM-ST apparatus. In addition, a new rapid tooling technology, which utilizes a room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) molding technique and a triple reverse process technique, is proposed to manufacture net shapes of three-dimensional plastic parts using the prototypes of VLM-ST. A plastic part of the knob shape is produced by the proposed RT technology. The combination of the proposed RP and RT enables the manufacture of a plastic knob within two days.