Advanced Rapid Tooling Techniques | OEM & ODM Services

The need for efficiency and agility in the ever-changing manufacturing landscape has led to the development of innovative processes. One of which is the concept of &#;rapid tooling.&#; Rapid tooling is essential in shortening the product development cycle, allowing manufacturers to quickly take their designs from idea to reality.

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Rapid tooling is also known as prototype mold, prototype tooling, and soft tooling. It allows you to obtain parts easily. It stands out for its short molding cycle, low molding cost, simple process, and ease of promotion. Furthermore, rapid tooling can meet specific functional requirements while providing good overall economic benefits.

Read on to learn about the fundamentals of rapid tooling, ranging from its definition to its various applications and benefits.

What Is Rapid Tooling?

The rapid tooling process involves swiftly creating molds and tooling for manufacturing purposes. This is a vital aspect of the rapid manufacturing approach, facilitating quicker and more efficient production of functional parts and prototypes. Rapid tooling is an essential link between rapid prototyping and traditional tooling methods. It offers a cost-effective and time-saving solution.

The main goal of rapid tooling is to accelerate the tooling production process. Thereby allowing manufacturers to transition rapidly from the design phase to actual manufacturing. Through advanced technologies like additive manufacturing and CNC machining, rapid tooling makes it possible to produce molds and tools with improved precision and reduced lead time. Below, we will compare rapid tooling to other manufacturing processes in terms of cost, lead time, speed, material, and applications.

Rapid Tooling vs Rapid Prototyping

Rapid tooling and rapid prototyping play essential functions in the dynamic manufacturing landscape. Each contributes uniquely to the product development journey. Rapid Tooling is concerned with quickly creating production tools to ensure efficient mass production, whereas Rapid Prototyping excels at rapidly creating physical models for design validation.

Here is a table showing the contrast between rapid tooling and rapid prototyping.

Rapid Tooling vs Conventional Tooling

In the world of manufacturing, the decision between CNC rapid tooling and conventional tooling is important. This is because it can have a significant impact on production efficiency and costs. Rapid production tooling excels in strength and speed, catering to industries with changing demands, whereas Conventional Tooling is the stalwart, providing stability and precision for long-term, high-volume production.

Here is a table showing the contrast between rapid tooling and conventional tooling:

Rapid Tooling vs Die Casting Molding

Starting the manufacturing journey requires an important choice between rapid tooling and die-casting molding. They both embody distinct approaches to production. Rapid tooling, emphasizing speed and flexibility, contrasts with die-casting molding, known for its efficiency in crafting intricate parts at scale.

Here is a table showing the contrast between rapid tooling and die-casting molding:

Rapid Tooling vs Injection Molding

Each method has distinct advantages. Rapid tooling, known for its speed and adaptability, contrasts with injection molding, a method known for its efficiency in producing large volumes of intricately shaped plastic parts.

Here is a table showing the contrast between rapid tooling and injection molding:

2 Ways to Make Rapid Tooling

There are two common ways to make molds using rapid tooling. They are direct and indirect rapid tooling. This section will explain the two methods and how they can they used in making molds.

Direct Rapid Tooling

The direct method of rapid tooling involves the creation of both the cavity mold inserts and the actual core. One significant advantage of this approach lies in its capacity to generate tools with geometries that would be challenging to achieve through other means. An example is the conformal cooling technique, where heat dissipation from the mold is uniform, reducing cooling times by approximately 66%. This is achieved by aligning the internal cooling channels with the contours present in the mold cavities.

Pros of Direct Rapid Tooling?

• Reduced lead times and quicker manufacturing (tools or molds can be made in days or weeks).
• Occasionally needs fewer resources.
• Only few steps are involved.

Cons of Direct Rapid Tooling?

• Prototypes created this way are typically less robust and long-lasting than those made via indirect rapid tooling.
• The entire process must be repeated if the CNC rapid prototyping tool or mold breaks or you want to try a different material.
• It might not be suitable for materials or designs that require intricate details to be made using a durable mold or tool.

Indirect Rapid Tooling

Indirect rapid tooling uses additive manufacturing master patterns to make a mold or die. Although many technologies are available, &#;soft tooling&#; techniques are the most widely used. Soft tooling method uses silicone molds for plastic parts and sacrificial models for metal investment casting.

Testing and experimentation are the goals of indirect rapid tooling. For example, indirect rapid tooling is a great solution when you wish to test various materials and already have a detailed design. This is so that molds and multiple test tools can be made from the same master pattern with ease.

Pros of Indirect Rapid Tooling

• Throughout the prototyping process, the master pattern is solid, resilient, and rarely broken.
• Unless your design changes, you probably only need one master pattern.
• They have less variation since every rapid tool and mold is derived from the same master pattern.

Cons of Indirect Rapid Tooling?

• The production time is longer than that of direct rapid tooling.
• It requires a middleman, which could increase expenses.
• For the creation of a strong and long-lasting master pattern, better materials might be required.

Here is a table showing the different steps you can use direct and indirect rapid tooling to make molds:

What Material Can Be Used for Rapid Tooling?

The materials used for rapid tooling can be classified as soft tooling materials and hard tooling materials.

Soft Tooling

Soft tooling is a versatile manufacturing approach that relies on flexible and resilient materials to create molds to produce various parts. Soft tools, as opposed to their rigid counterparts in hard tooling, are made from materials such as urethane and silicone rubber. They offer unique characteristics that make them particularly well-suited for specific applications.

• Urethane

Urethane is a versatile material used in soft tooling. It is known for its unique combination of flexibility and durability. Because of its exceptional flexibility, it is an excellent choice for applications requiring easy demolding, particularly when dealing with intricate and complex part geometries. Urethane is well-known for its ability to maintain durability despite its flexibility, ensuring soft tooling longevity.

• Silicone Rubber

Another essential material in soft tooling is silicone rubber, known for its exceptional flexibility and heat resistance. Silicone rubber&#;s exceptional flexibility makes it an excellent choice for demolding complex shapes and parts with intricate undercuts. This property, combined with its ability to withstand high temperatures, makes silicone rubber ideal for molding applications requiring elevated curing or processing temperatures.

Hard Tooling

• Aluminum

Aluminum is a lightweight metal known for its good thermal conductivity. It is particularly suitable for applications with moderate production volumes. Its lightweight nature contributes to ease of handling, while its thermal conductivity aids in efficient cooling during the molding process.

• Steel

Steel, renowned for its high strength and durability, is preferred for projects with high production volumes. Its robust properties make it ideal for creating molds that must withstand extensive and prolonged use demands.

• Stainless Steel

Stainless steel brings corrosion resistance to the table, making it an excellent choice for applications where exposure to moisture or corrosive environments is a concern. It combines durability with rust resistance, enhancing its longevity and suitability for various molding projects.

• Titanium

Titanium, known for its strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance, is an advanced choice for hard tooling. It is particularly suitable for projects where a balance between strength and weight is critical

• Plaster

Plaster, while less common than metals, offers a cost-effective alternative in certain hard tooling scenarios. Plaster is a cost-effective material but is generally less durable compared to metals. Its affordability makes it an attractive choice for projects with budget constraints, especially when tool longevity is not critical.

Plaster is well-suited for low-volume production and prototyping. Its ease of use and mold-making capabilities make it a practical option for projects with more minor production requirements.

Applications of Rapid Tooling

Here are the various applications of rapid tooling:

CNC Machining

Rapid tooling in CNC machining involves the swift creation of tooling, such as molds or dies, to be used in the machining process. It allows for the quick production of prototypes and custom parts. Rapidly fabricating the necessary tools ensures a shorter lead time, enabling manufacturers to iterate designs rapidly.

For more Rapid Tooling For Injection Moldinginformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

CNC machines then use these tools to precisely cut and shape materials, allowing for the efficient production of intricate components. The adaptability of Rapid tooling in CNC machining proves beneficial for low-volume production runs where speed and customization are essential.

Die Casting

In die casting, Rapid tooling plays a pivotal role in creating molds used to produce complex and detailed parts. Rapidly fabricating these molds allows for accelerated production cycles, reducing the time required for tooling setup.

This speed is particularly crucial in the automotive and consumer electronics industries, where quick turnaround times are imperative. The rapid tooling process ensures that the molds are ready swiftly, facilitating the efficient casting of components with precision and detail.

Sheet Metal Fabrication

Rapid tooling involves the prompt creation of tools, such as dies or punches, to shape and form metal sheets. This process is crucial for prototyping and custom enclosures. Rapid Tooling in sheet metal fabrication enables the fast production of protective casings for electronic devices and machinery.

Additionally, in the automotive industry, rapid tooling facilitates the swift creation of tools for forming vehicle panels and body components. The speed of tooling setup is essential in meeting production demands and achieving timely project milestones.

Considerations to Make Prototyping Molds

When venturing into prototyping molds, several vital considerations come into play to ensure effective and efficient mold design and production. These considerations include:

• Material Selection

The choice of material for the mold is crucial. It should align with the specific requirements of the rapid prototype and the manufacturing process. Factors such as material properties, durability, and ease of machining must be considered.

• Mold Design Precision

Accurate size and smooth surface of the mold are paramount. The mold&#;s structure should be meticulously designed to meet the prototype&#;s specifications. Additionally, the design must facilitate high production efficiency and easy automation.

• Production Efficiency and Cost

A balance between production efficiency and cost is essential. The mold design should optimize manufacturing processes, ensuring long life, low cost, and adherence to economic considerations.

• Adaptability to Manufacturing Needs

The mold structure and parameters should align with the manufacturing process requirements. Rigidity, guidance, unloading mechanisms, and positioning methods must be carefully considered to enhance adaptability.

• Wear Parts and Replacement

Wear parts in the mold should be designed for easy replacement. This consideration is crucial for maintaining the mold&#;s longevity and minimizing downtime during production.

Conclusion

Rapid tooling is a common method that manufacturers like to use. This technique allows manufacturers to speed up product development, save time and money compared to traditional tooling methods, and quickly test and validate product designs. Time to market is shortened, product quality and design are enhanced, and customer satisfaction rises. Rapid tooling allows manufacturers to iterate and alter the product design more quickly and efficiently.

At Zintilon, we offer our clients more than just assistance with custom design preparation for the rapid tooling process, which includes CAD software-generated 3D models. In addition, we provide tooling recommendations based on various specific project-specific factors, such as the customer&#;s soft or hard tooling preferences, budget, schedule, design complexity, materials, and tolerances. Contact us right now if you need quick tooling services!

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Posted on: Sep 26, , | By Candy, WayKen Marketing Manager

For a long time, manufacturers have always associated rapid tooling with mass production, steel machined durable press-forms, and considerable capital investments. And they ignore the fact that plastic injection molding is the ideal method for the production of a wide range of complex plastic components, and can benefit OEMs across many different industries. However, with the development of prototyping technologies, rapid injection molding has rightfully claimed its place among the foremost prototyping techniques.

What is Rapid Injection Molding?

Rapid injection molding process is technologically speaking the same as conventional injection molding. The main differences are in how the tooling is manufactured.

First, RIM uses different materials for its dies. In conventional processes, the aim is to make molds as durable as possible so they are manufactured from hardened steel that is a real hassle to the machine. Rapid injection molding is used for a smaller amount of runs so it can use softer materials. A widespread option is aircraft-grade aluminum alloys. They have a strength that is similar to steel but it is much easier to machine and polish them. That cuts the tooling time up to 30% in machining and up to 2-5 times in polishing.

Second, rapid injection molding dies can be redesigned easier. Molds for mass production injection molding are solid because fewer joints mean higher precision and longer life. Prototyping processes can sacrifice a little bit of precision to get better flexibility and that is why the cavity is manufactured as a separate part from the base of the dies. That way, if you need to make an adjustment, you can just remove the cavity and leave the rest untouched.

Third, rapid injection molding uses less automation than conventional rapid injection molding and that means it requires less time to design, manufacture, and fine-tune the tooling.

Conventional rapid injection molding processes use a lot of automotive ejectors, loads, and other auxiliary mechanisms to further increase their performance. However, prototyping is not about cutting time for each part produced, it is about cutting preparation time. So, if we replace automotive mechanisms with manually mounted ones, a lot of time can be saved when manufacturing the injection system.

All of the mentioned points result in the prototyping time being cut drastically. What it means for the client is that he can get his parts in 2-5 weeks with rapid injection molding instead of 2-5 months with conventional injection molding.

The Advantages of Rapid Injection Molding Offers for Prototype Manufacturing

Surely, even despite the modifications that have enabled RIM to be used for prototyping, making a mold is still a long and complex process. For example, 3D printing the part takes 2-5 days, not weeks. So why bother with Rapid Injection Molding?

Rapid injection molding processes offer a number of benefits not found in other prototyping techniques

1.Strength

With the design for manufacturability, which ensures optimum ejection angles and uniform wall thickness, the liquefied resin is injected into the cavity under high pressure. It ensures that the part has no pores and the quality of the final material is the best possible. Such things can&#;t be said about 3D-printing that uses powder or thin threads and sinters them together. As a result, the final material may have pores or unsintered regions.

2.Surface Finish

The surface finish of the molded part depends on the quality of the mold. The cavity is usually manufactured by CNC milling and then some finishing operations. The most widespread among them is polishing. In addition, EDM cutting is used to sharpen the inner corners of the cavity. The resulting surface finish can be as small as Ra 0.8 mcm.

3.Outstanding Precision

Injection Molding offers great precision compared to other prototyping techniques. For example, 3D printing will yield an IT9 at best while rapid injection molding is limited only by the mold precision, which can be as high as IT7.

4.Almost zero Material Waste

A lot of prototyping techniques don&#;t take materials into account at all. And that is okay when you are manufacturing single-digit batches. However, some products require extensive testing in live conditions. For example, medical prototypes, their last testing stage involves giving out the product to the consumers for everyday life tests. That means you&#;ll need hundreds or even thousands of samples and losing 50% of the blank material or more will cost you a considerable sum. Now, RIM injects only the required amount of plastic into the cavity, bringing the waste to a minimum.

5. The Mold Can Be Used for a Considerably Large Batch

Most prototyping processes excel at creating a small number of parts. For example, silicone casting is viable for up to 15 parts or so. After that, the casting form deteriorates too much and you need to manufacture another form. Rapid Injection molds are not as durable as conventional ones but they can still withstand many more runs than most prototyping processes. The best of them can create up to 100,000 parts before becoming too worn.

6.Universality

3D printing with a different plastic will require a considerable rehashing of the whole system. You&#;ll need to change the cartridge with the blank material and change a lot of settings to be able to print the same part from another plastic. In the worst case, you&#;ll need completely different equipment. When we talk about injection molding, that isn&#;t necessary. The mold is made of high-grade aluminum whose properties are much higher than that of any plastic. That is why you can basically use any material with the mold you&#;ve manufactured.

7.Efficiency

Prototyping techniques are not very effective if we compare them with mass production. A single part will be machined for a much longer time than the same part when it is mass-produced merely because of the fact that the blank is closer to the final part and there is less to the machine. In addition, the machining processes for mass production are optimized to minimize blank setup and trajectory. High processing time is okay when you make a small number of parts but the larger the batch, the more important it is to minimize the time required to produce a single part. RIM technologies have the shortest processing time among all the other prototyping techniques, so the larger your batch is, the more viable this technology becomes.