1997 / Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings
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Author Emanuel Sachs, Samuel Allen, Honglin Guo, Javier Banos, Michael Cima, James Serdy, and David Brancazio, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Source Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings, 1997, p 115-124
Abstract Three Dimensional Printing is being applied to the direct fabrication of tooling using metal powders. This paper presents progress updates in four areas: i) thermal management using conformal cooling and related work on enhanced heat transfer using surface textures, ii) data on dimensional control, iii) improvements in surface finish, and iv) harder tooling. Conformal cooling has demonstrated significantly improved performance in a production part geometry with simultaneous gains in production rate and part quality obtained as measured against conventional tooling. Surface textures printed on cooling channels have demonstrated 8X enhancement of heat transfer over smooth channels. A set of 18 tooling inserts was fabricated using hardenable stainless steel powder with a resultant tooling hardness of 25-30 Rockwell C. Harder alloy systems are being designed with the aid of computational thermodynamic tools which allow accurate prediction of the interaction of powder and binder. Significant improvements in surface finish were obtained using improved printing technology. Dimensional control of tools conformed well to the expected result of being dominated by control of shrinkage and being predictable to within + -0.25%. (Auth abstract) [No References]
Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings can be obtained from: The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
or contact:
The University of Texas at Austin
Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication / Texas Materials Institute
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
c/o The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium
MC C2200
Austin, TX 78712-1063 USA
512-471-3026; 512-471-7681 FX; Email: sffsymp@uts.cc.utexas.edu