Objective
In the process chain of the manufacturing of plastic products current technologies enable the direct production of a physical prototype from the 3D CAD design file; a time and cost effective route. As compared to conventional model making 30% cost reduction and 35% shorter lead time can be realised. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is the only technique that makes prototyped parts from the material which will be applied in the final product. Our customers arc confrontated with the current ABS material limits: ABS parts can be used up to 80°C, whereas there are many applications e.g. coffee machines electrical switches) for which higher temperature resistance up to about 130°C is needed. This machine is not available, so the aim of this project is to develop and build a machine which can produce parts from all engineering plastics having improved temperature resistance, higher mechanical strength (high modulus and impact resistance) and chemical resistance. The RTD goals to be reached by this research project are: - To select materials and modify them for FDM - To build a machine for high temperature FDM (ovens. etc). - To demonstrate the production of "high temperature" prototypes by the FDM process and implementation at SME's (application temperatures will raise from 80°C to about 130°C). - To demonstrate the direct manufacturing of products by the "high temperature" FDM (HT-FDM) technique implemented in SMEs small series manufacturing environment - To assess the advantages of. HT-FDM as compared to the conventional model making. Estimating the 35% down time to market profit of this project is about 5-10 MECU per year for whole Europe.
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
EAW - Exploratory awardsCoordinator
4837 HG Breda
Netherlands