• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.64-70
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• 2007

Of all the rapid tooling (RT) methods currently available, thick-layer laminated tooling is the most suitable for large-scale, low-cost dies and molds. Currently, the determination of a lamina's contour or profile and the associated slicing algorithms are based on existing rapid prototyping (RP) data manipulation technology. This paper presents a new adaptive slicing algorithm developed exclusively for profiled edge laminae (PEL) tooling PEL tooling is a thick-layer RT technique that involves the assembly of an array of laminae, whose top edges are simultaneously profiled and beveled using a line-of-sight cutting method based on a CAD model of the intended tool surface. The cutting profiles are based on the intersection curve obtained directly from the CAD model to ensure geometrical accuracy. The slicing algorithm determines the lamina thicknesses that minimize the dimensional error using a new tool shape error index. At the same time, the algorithm considers the available lamination thicknesses and desired lamina interface locations. We demonstrate the new slicing algorithm by developing a simple industrial PEL tool based on a CAD part shape.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.661-669
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• 2002

Rapid tooling technique enables us to make dies and molds that produce prototype parts with the correct material at a substantially reduced cost and time. In this study, experiments on selective laser sintering of tungsten carbide-cobalt mixture were carried out to find optimal sintering conditions that will be applied to rapid metal tooling. The experiments were carried out within an air, an argon and a nitrogen atmosphere. Coupons of single layer were sintered at various laser powers, scanning speeds and scan spacings. Very severe oxidation took place within an air atmosphere. The oxidation is reduced significantly within an argon and a nitrogen atmosphere. The thickness of the sintered coupons is increased as the energy density, the laser energy Per unit scanned area, is increased. Several multi-layer sintering experiments were also carried out.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.190-194
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• 2001

The integration of rapid prototyping and tooling has the potential for the rapid net shape manufacturing of three-dimensional parts with geometrical complexity. In this study, a new rapid prototyping process, transfer type of Variable Lamination Manufacturing (VLM-ST), was proposed to manufacture net shape of 3-D prototypes. In order to examine the efficiency and applicability of the proposed process, various 3-D parts, such as a world-cup logo, and extruded cross and a knob shape, were fabricated on the apparatus. In addition, the new rapid tooling process, which is a triple reverse process, was proposed to manufacture of 3-D functional part using VLM-ST prototypes and the plastic part of the knob shape was produced by the new rapid tooling process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.21-22
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• 2006

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.52-57
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• 1999

Funtional metal prototypes are often required in numerous industrial applications. These components are typically needed in the early stage of a project to determine form, fit and function. Recent R/P(Rapid Prototyping) part are made of soft materials such as plastics, wax, paper, these master models cannot be employed durable test in real harsh working environment. Parts by direct metal rapid tooling method, such as laser sintering, by now are hard to get net shape, pores of the green parts of powder casting method must be infiltrated to get proper strength as tool, and new type of 3D direct tooling system combining fabrication welding arc and cutting process is reported by song etc. But a system which can build directly 3D parts of high performance functional material as metal part would need long period of system development, massive investment and other serious obstacles, such as patent. In this paper, through the rapid tooling process as silicon rubber molding using R/P master model, and fabricate wax pattern in that silicon rubber mold using vacuum casting method, then we tranlsated the wax patterns to numerous metal prototypes by new investment casting process combined conventional investment casting with rapid pototyping & rapid tooling process. with this wax-injection-mold-free investment casting, we developed new investment casting process of fabricating numerous functional metal prototypes from one master model, combined 3-D CAD, R/P and conventional investment casting and tried to expect net shape measuring total dimension shrinkage from R/P part to metal part.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.191-194
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• 1995

The business of manufacturing is increasingly becomeing time-compresssing, precise and long-life oiented, owing to various needs form the consumers and harsh global competition. with the emergence of the layer laminate maunfacturing methods, it is possible to prototypes directly from 3D CAD and additive process, the production time and cost have shortened dramatically. However there are some problems like surface-step, dimensional deviation and warp. A newly developed powder casting is suitable for rapid-manufacturing metallic tools. Powder casting can serve as a promising repid tooling method because of high density charateristics and low dimensional shrinkage below 0.1% during sintering and infiltration. By this process, we have realized significant time savings bypassing the wait for prototype tooling and cost savings eliminating the expense of conventional prototype tooling process.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.1 s.173
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• pp.1-6
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• 2000

As dies and molds have become more and more complicated in the recent years, the demand for lower cost and shorter production time is also growing stronger. Rapid prototyping and Tooling technologies are expected to be used for more rapid and lower cost tool fabrication. However the rapid tooling methods have not yet reached the level of application to the manufacturing of metallic dies and molds which require high dimensional accuracy. As the rapid tooling technology, there are the slurry casting, the powder casting, the direct laser sintering, and so on. Generally, in the slurry casting, the alumina powder and the water soluble phenol were mainly used. However, the mechanical properties of the phenol were not good enough to apply to molds directly. In this study, pure epoxy and two types of aluminium powder reinforced resin are applied to the slurry casting. The mechanical and thermal properties are better than phenol because the epoxy is the thermosetting resin. And mechanical characteristics such as shrinkage rate, hardness, surface roughness are measured for the sake of comparison. Metal powder reinforced resin molds are better than the resin tool form the viewpoint of shrinkage rate and hardness. Finally, it has been shown that the application possibility of this process is high, because the manufacturing time and cost savings are significant.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.14-23
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• 2009

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.15 no.6 s.87
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• pp.436-440
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• 2006

A rapid tooling (RT) method fur the resin transfer molding (RTM) have been investigated. We fabricated a curved I-beam to verify the method. After creating a three-dimensional CAD model of the beam we fabricated a prototype of the model using a rapid prototyping (RP) machine. A soft mold was made using the prototype by the conventional silicone mold technique. The procedure and method of mold fabrication is described. The mold was cut into several parts to allow easier placement of the fiber preform. We conducted the resin transfer molding process and manufactured a composite beam with the mold. The preform was built by stacking up eight layers of delicately cut carbon fabrics. The fabrics were properly stitched to maintain the shape while placement. The manufactured composites beam was inspected and found well-impregnated. The fiber volume ratio of the fabricated beam was 16.85%.