IDELT, Rapid Prototyping Engineering experts, collaborates with customers on product design optimisation, whether on helping focusing on his needs or on designing his product in order to optimise it’s manufacturability during a future production process.
Through Reverse Engineering a physic part is converted to a 3D file, from where copies of the model can be produced, identical or with the needed modifications.
This first Concept Prototype is built and can be used to verify it’s design, although material is not definitive.
Estereolithography technique is based on the hardening of a liquid polymer when struck by a laser beam. Every Rapid Prototyping technique starts from a STL file obtained from a solid model design (CAD 3D).
Estereolithography, due to it’s high dimensional accuracy and excellent surface finish is specially indicated for complex parts where aesthetic and precision are requested.
Selective Laser Sintering is an additive rapid manufacturing technique that uses a high power laser to fuse small particles of powder into a mass representing a desired 3-dimensional object. The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3-D digital description of the part. After each cross-section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one layer thickness, a new layer of material is applied on top, and the process is repeated until the part is completed.
This technology produces high flexible parts that allow assembling and clipping.
CNC Machining of different hardness resins.
Although delivery time is longer than Stereolithography or Selective Laser Sintering, this option can be suitable for several copies on a tougher material.
These parts are pre-series produced in materials that are similar to the definitive ones and achieve many of the required features. Their main properties are that several functional tests can be performed, such as clips, waterthight, assembling, mechanical and thermal load. They are able to be machined, too.
These parts are mainly used on trade shows, market sampling and parts verification
Plastic Prototypes are casted under vaccum on a silicon mould that has been also vaccum casted around a carefully surface finished stereolithography master. From each silicon mould, this technique allows to obtain up to 25 copies casted on a wide range of polyurethanes similar to PP, ABS, PC, PA, rubber, etc, that allow several functional tests.
Several techniques can be used to produce Metal Prototypes depending on the part complexity and/or the number of copies requested. Original models can be made of wax, through a vaccum casting process, CNC machined in resin, or stereolithography. Depending on the technique used to produce the metal part, each model will be used:
- Investment casting, also named lost wax method. The wax model is covered with ceramic material, after the wax is melted the remaining cavity allows metal to be casted.
- Sand casting technique produces a metal part from a stereolithography or CNC machined resin model.
- Die casting prototype toolings are used for functional parts when the same mechanical properties as the final parts is requied.
The prototypes can be post-machined if needed in order to achieve higher accuracy.
Short Batches:
A pre-production of final material parts, produced under the same circumstances as a definitive part, is obtained using Rapid Tooling techniques.
When product life does not justify a high investment on a tool that is able to produce larger number of parts than needed, these technologies are used to decrease the cost of the tool by reducing it’s lasting life.
Balance: Tool Cost – Tool Life
Metalic
- Investment casting (lost wax).
- Sand casting.
- Die casting.
- Speed Machining.
Depending on part’s specifications, final material, and number of parts to be supplied, IDELT will advise over the optimal technique to be used in each case.
Plastic
Our (Rapid Mould Development) technology allows us the supplying of injected plastic parts in final material in a very short delivery time at low costs.
There are different mould stages, each one depending on the parts geometry, moulding resin and required number of parts.
