Casting Design and Simulation

10
Response Competitiveness:
Rapid Tooling & Casting

Need for rapid casting development

Tooling routes for casting
Rapid prototyping (1-step)
Rapid tooling (multi-step)

2008 Prof. B. Ravi, Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

Need for Rapid Casting Development

First Sample Casting
For approval before regular production
Main order often goes to the fastest supplier
Quality issues between sample (ok) and regular castings (problem)
Who pays for tooling costs if main order is not placed?
Prototype
P
t t
Castings
C ti
For new product development and testing purpose; time is critical!
OEMs: Automobile
Automobile, Machine tool
tool, Machinery
Machinery, Electrical equipment
equipment
Indian suppliers (foundries) take 3-6 months for prototype castings
Foreign vendors (ex. ACTech) expensive: typically $20K per casting.
Replacement Parts
For obsolete but working products, where inventory is infeasible
Users from defence, vintage automobiles, large machine tools
Starting point: broken/worn-out part; drawings may be unavailable
Conventional route: high cost and delay.

Conventional Casting Development

Average
g lead time for casting
gp
production (
(12 weeks)
)
1

S
Sample
l

Tool Manufacture
and Inspection
Tool
Quote
1

Design

Approval
T i l
Trial
Production

By adopting rapid tooling and virtual simulation,

Casting development time can be reduced by over 50%

Tooling for Casting

(Intermediate Tooling)
Die Casting

Final Tooling
MOLD

PATTERN

MOLD

CORE BOX

CORE

PATTERN

MOLD

Sand Casting

Investment
C ti
Casting

DIE

Permanent

Consumable

Conventional Tooling Production

Tool Material:
Metal: cast iron, steel, aluminum.
Non-metal: wood, plastic.

Metal corebox and core

Conventional Tooling Production

Tool Manufacture:
Simple: Manual machining (lathe, milling, grinding)
Complex: CNC machining: multi-axis milling, EDM, HSM.
Significant time for process planning and machining.
machining

Tooling Materials
Materials

Soft p
plaster
Hard wood
Plastic plaster
Epoxy resin
Polyurethane resin
Aluminium alloy
Copper alloys
y cast iron
Grey
Low alloy steel

Life (usage)*
100 - 500
500 - 1,000
1,000 - 5,000
5,000 - 50,000
20,000 - 60,000
20 000 - 60,000
20,000
60 000
40,000 - 60,000
200,000
,
- 300,000
,
300,000 - 500,000
* For sand casting process

Production core box

Epoxy resin
core box for trials

Rapid Manufacture
Characteristics:
Minimum number of steps
Minimum process time for each step
Minimum supervision requirement
Minimum iterations/trials for quality
Foundation technologies:

Courtesy: Kirloslar
Copeland, Karad

Di
Directt Manufacture
M
f t
CAD to part, for intricate shapes (single or multiple).
Technologies: - Rapid prototyping/ soft tooling/ hard tooling
+ Investment casting
Vi
Virtual
t lT
Trials
i l
Predicting and preventing casting defects by simulation

Rapid Tooling for Casting

Required for sample castings and replacement parts.
Challenge: tooling development for intricate shapes.
single

PART CAD
MODEL

RP
PATTERN

few

SAND
MOULD

RUBBER
MOULD

few

WAX
PATTERN

METAL
MOULD

many

METAL
POURING

Rapid Tooling

Too
ol Life (numb
ber of parts)
)

Rapid Tooling: Tooling fabricated using Rapid Prototyping

systems,
t
di
directly
tl or indirectly.
i di
tl

1000

100

10

Hard

Bridge
Using secondary processes
s ch as in
such
investment
estment casting
casting,
using RP model as master.

Soft

Direct
1

Indirect
2

Number of steps

Rapid Prototyping: Principle

Also called Layered Manufacturing
or Free Form Fabrication

3D modeling

Virtual slicing

Layer by layer
fabrication

Rapid Prototyping Systems

Li id b
Liquid-based
d

S lid b
Solid-based
d

Sh t b
Sheet-based
d

Stereolithography
g p y
(STL)

Selective Laser
Sintering (SLS)

Laminated Object
j
Manufacturing (LOM)

Fused Deposition
M d li
Modeling
(FDM)

Laser Engineered
N t Sh
Net
Shaping
i
(LENS)

Shape
p Maker

Shape Deposition
Modeling (SDM)

3-Dimensional
Printing (3DP)

Rapid Prototyping: Complexity

Overhanging features (undercuts)
can be produced in RP without any special tooling
but require a support structure during fabrication.
Material
q
, solid,, powder
p
same: liquid,
different: solid
Support Removal
machining
breaking off
dissolving / melting
powder - shake off
loose p

support structure

Rapid Prototyping: Accuracy

Accuracy depends on:
Errors in the model
tessellation (chord error)
missing elements (edges, facets)
Model slicing (number)
Slice thickness (staircase effect)
Adaptive slicing
Rastering scheme
Cross hatch / contour parallel
Coarse / fine
Hybrid schemes

Rapid Tooling Sand Casting

CAD Model of Pattern

RP Model of Pattern

Metal Cast Part

Courtesy: Thermojet

Rapid Tooling Investment Casting

PU RP Pattern
Courtesy: EOS

Shell-making

Pouring of Al

Cast Part

Rapid Tooling Metal Molds

CAD Model of Core Box / Inserts

RP

Courtesy: Thermojet

Investment Casting

Secondary Processes: Vacuum Casting

RP master part (or mould)
can be
b converted
t d to
t mould
ld (or
( part)
t)
by secondary processes:
Mass casting
(Epoxy/PU)
Vacuum casting
(RTV/Silicon Rubber)
Metal spraying
(Keltool, low m.p. metals)
Investment
I
t
t casting.
ti

Vacuum casting machine

Benchmarking of Routes
Large number of direct and indirect routes for rapid tooling
Each
E h route differs
diff
iin terms off fidelity,
fid li
finish,
fi i h time
i
and
d cost
Systematic approach required to select the appropriate route.

SLA Q
QC

FDM

Thermojet
j

LOM

Courtesy: Naval Dockyard, Mumbai

Rubber mold

Benchmarking of Routes
RP-based Tooling Routes:
-B
Benchmarking
h
ki
20 RT routes:
t
1/2/3 step,
t
for
f sand
d casting/IC/PIM.
ti /IC/PIM
- RT route capability database: accuracy, finish, time, cost.
- Route selection methodology.

SLA:PP(UV):S
Stereo Lithography
SLA 5000 (3D Systems Inc.)
Build volume: 508x508x584 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.10 mm
Material
Part
Liquid Photo-Polymers
(UV curable Resins)
Support part material itself
Characteristics
Tolerance
Roughness
Time
Cost

+/ 0.36 mm
+/6 m
4 hrs
Rs. 8548

SLA:PP(UV):H
Stereo Lithography
SLA 5000 (3D Systems Inc.)
Build volume: 508x508x584 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.10 mm
Material
Part
Liquid Photo-Polymers
(UV curable Resins)
Support part material itself
Characteristics
Tolerance
Roughness
Time
Cost

+/ 0.36 mm
+/6 m
2.5 hrs
Rs. 6628

FDM:ABS/PC/PPS:S/H
Fused Deposition Modelling
FDM Maxum (Stratasys, Inc.)
Build volume: 600x500x600 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.254 mm
Material
Part

ABS, Polycarbonate,
Polyphenylsulfone
Support Water soluble
Characteristics:
Tolerance
+/- 0.127 mm
+/
Roughness
20 m
Time
7 hrs
Cost
Rs. 7230

LOM:LP:S
Laminated Object Manufacturing
LOM 2030 H (Cubic Technologies)
Build volume: 813x559x508 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.20 mm
Material
Part

Special laminated paper,

Sheet of Nylon, Polyester
Support Part material itself
Characteristics
Tolerance
Roughness
Time
Cost

+/ 0.89 mm
+/5 m
6 hrs
Rs. 4503

OBJ:PP:S
ObJet (PolyJet Modeling)
Eden 500V (Objet geometries ltd.)
Build volume: 500x400x200 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.016 mm
p
Resolution 600 Dpi
Material
Part
Photo polymer resins
Support Gel like proprietary material
Characteristics
Tolerance
Roughness
Time
Cost

+/ 0.46 mm
+/15 m
7.16 hrs
Rs. 5700

TJP:WAX:S
ThermoJet Printer
ThermoJet (3D Systems Inc.)
Build volume: 250x190x200 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.042 mm
p
Resolution 300 x 400 x 600 Dpi
Material
Part
Wax, Thermoplastic material
Support Part material itself
Characteristics
Tolerance
Roughness
Time
Cost

+/ 0.36 mm
+/3 m
6 hrs
Rs. 3897

SD:PVC:S
SoliDimension 3D Printer
SD 300 (Solidimension Ltd.)
Build volume: 230x185x150 mm
Layer Thickness: 0.165 mm
Material
Part
Engineered Plastic
(Polyvinylchloride)
Support part material itself
Characteristics
Tolerance
Roughness
Time
Cost

+/ 0.25 mm
+/4 m
7.4 hrs
Rs. 1654

SLA:PP(UV):S/H-VC:RTV:S-MC:EP:S
1. Stereo Lithography
2. Vacuum casting with Silicone
3. Mass casting with Epoxy
Characteristics:
/ 0.23 mm
Tolerance
+/Roughness
same as RP Part
Time
30 hrs (typical)
Cost
Rs. 2100

Rapid Manufacture- Metal moulds

Direct Metal Laser Sintering
Distortion 0.2-0.5 mm
Roughness 1.6-2.1 m
Accuracy 0.3-0.6
0 3 0 6 m

Spray
p y Metal Tooling
g
Mold failed at 65KN clamping force.
Metal shell peeled off after 150 shots.
Core features pulled off after 70 shots
shots.
Courtesy: CMERI, Durgapur

Case Study: Separator body

Courtesy: CQAE, Pune

Separator body of hydraulic filter assembly of armoured vehicle

Original part broken, drawings not available, replacement needed.

Case Study: Art object

Case Study: Pendant jewellery

22 Feb 2006, 2 p.m.: Start of modelling on FreeForm system
23 Feb 2006, 3 p.m.: STL file transferred to Viper RP system
24 Feb 2006, 4 p.m.: RP model used for investment casting.

Gold jewellery pieces

used
d in
i South
S th India
I di
circa 1st century AD
[Courtesy:
Fine Jewellery,
Mumbai]

Case Study: Hip prosthesis

Resection of pelvic bone tumour to
be planned and practiced in advance,
communicated to prosthesis producer,
and fit checked on a physical model.
model

Saddle

Total lead time available: 3 weeks.

Tumour
Hip prosthesis
[Courtesy: Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai

Example- Hip prosthesis

Pelvic bone part
fabricated on
Objet RP system,
system
fit-checked with
matching saddle
of prosthesis.
prosthesis

Resection line

Tumour boundary

Surgery performed on schedule,

successful (first time in India).

[Courtesy: Sushrut Surgicals, Mumbai]

SUMMARY
Tooling lead time is a bottleneck in product development
Conventional route: machining: takes several weeks.
Rapid tooling can reduce lead time by 50% or more.
Types: direct (from RP), or indirect (RP+secondary process)
Issues: tool life (soft, bridge, hard), complexity, accuracy.
Techno-economic benchmarking to select the best route.
Future developments: better materials, speed, accuracy.