• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.525-533
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• 2003

The dimensional accuracy and global roughness between successive layers of VLM-s, which is a new rapid prototyping process using hotwire cutter and EPS foam, depend significantly on the operating parameters of hotwire cutter. In the present study, the effect of cutting angle on the kerf width and edge shape in hotwire cutting of EPS foam for the case of single-sloped cutting with one cutting angle was investigated. Through single-sloped cutting tests, the modified relationship between kerf width and effective heat input, considering the effect of the cutting angle, and the relationship between the melted area and the cutting angle were obtained. In order to investigate the effect of cutting angles on the thermal field in EPS foam, transient heat transfer analyses using single-sloped volumetric heat flux model and locally-conformed mesh were performed. Through the comparison between experimental and numerical results, it was shown that the proposed analysis model is needed to estimate the three-dimensional temperature distribution of the EPS foam for the case of single-sloped hotwire cutting.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.947-951
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• 2002

During the hotwire cutting of EPS foam sheet, the dimensional accuracy and part quality of the cut par are highly dependent upon the thermal field in the EPS. The thermal field is determined by operating parameters such as heat input, cutting speed and cutting angle. The objective of this study is to investigate into the influence of cutting angle on the kerfwidth and part quality of the cut part in hotwire cutting of EPS foam using the experiments and the numerical analysis in the case of a single sloped cutting. In order to estimate an accurate temperature field, the transient thermal analysis using a moving coordinate system and the sloped heat flux model is carried out. From the results of the experiments and the analysis, it has been found that the effect of cutting angle on the kerfwidth and the melted area at the edge are 0.1 mm and 0.11 m$m^2$ respectively. The results of the experiments show that the surface roughness is not appreciably influenced by the cutting angle.