Objective
The project has complied with the original objectives and the deliverables as described before have been supplied. The two final mould inserts that were to be manufactured have been tested successfully. The main technical obstacle lay in the handling of the aluminium composite by means of the lost wax processes, as there was practically no experience known in the world with this material.
Sound components have been produced at the end of the project and the outstanding wear properties of the selected material have been confirmed. The results of the project have opened new perspectives for this family of materials that could now accede to new important markets.
The main outcomes of the project can be summarised as follows:
1) Manufacturing of two prototype mould inserts (For polymer injection and SMC) using rapid prototyping models and the lost wax processes;
2) Manufacturing and preparation of Castform models suitable for investment casting applications;
3) Economical and technical evaluation report of the new technology including a summary of the knowledge acquired during the project.
One of the main industrial problems is the high cost and time required for the development of a new product, being the production of the moulds for the prototypes one of the most lengthily and costly step in the development stage. In the case of the plastic and polymeric composites industry, the molds are usually machined from steel, or eventually from aluminium when a small number of prototypes is sufficient. Modifications are very limited, expensive, and especially time consuming, exceeding periods of six months very often. The aim of the present project is the development of a new manufacturing method for the production of molds for prototypes and small series of components, in a short time and at a reasonable cost. It is proposed that instead of machining from a steel ingot, the molds for prototype production would be produced using a high wear resistant material (like an aluminium-SiC composite) by an investment casting technique. This will require the development of a process following this sequence: i) Production of a thermoplastic model of the mold by a rapid prototyping technique; ii) Production of the ceramic die onto the thermoplastic model; iii) Burning of the thermoplastic; iv) Casting the aluminium composite into the ceramic die, thus obtaining the mold.
The goals to be achieved are: 1 ) The reduction of the time for the production of the molds; 2) Increasing the life of the molds for prototypes. To achieve these goals, it is required i) To optimise the process parameters for investment casting of aluminium matrix composites; ii) To produce thermoplastic models of the mold (by a rapid prototyping technique) with an acceptable compromise between the large size, the precision and the surface finishing; and iii) A total production process (starting with the definition of the component and finishing with the production of the mold) shorter than one month. This is a relatively new process with many innovative aspects, and requires an important R&D work. Specifically, the investment casting of aluminium matrix composites poses various uncertainties in terms of cast ability into complex precise shapes, and in terms of settling of the particles in certain areas. The production of a large model, with high precision and good surface finishing, requires the optimisation of both the rapid prototyping and the investment casting techniques. Finally, the performance of the molds has to be evaluated.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringsubtractive manufacturing
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrypost-transition metals
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Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CRS - Cooperative research contractsCoordinator
48510 Valle de Trapaga
Spain