1996 / Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings
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1 A Time, Cost and Accuracy Comparison of Soft Tooling for Investment Casting Produced using Sterolithography Techniques

Author J. Male, H. Tsang, G. Bennett

Source Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings, 1996, pp 1-8

Abstract Investment casting is increasingly widely used in the production of metal prototypes in conjunction with rapid prototyping (RP) technologies. Some types of RP models can be used directly as sacrificial patterns in the casting process, but this can prove costly and time consuming where a number of castings are required. Soft tooling such as resin tooling and silicon rubber tooling are used to produce a number of wax patterns for subsequent casting, using an RP model as the master. SLA faced tools are starting to be used and in some circumstances they can offer time savings over other soft tooling methods. This paper aims to compare the costs and times taken to produce wax patterns for use in investment casting using the different soft tooling techniques and QuickCast(TM) build style for use as a casting pattern. The accuracy and surface finish of the wax and metal parts produced by these techniques will also be looked at.(Auth abstract) [References: 8]

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