1441

Development, evaluation, and selection

of rapid tooling process chains for sand
casting of functional prototypes
D Dimitrov1*, W van Wijck1, N de Beer1, and J Dietrich2
1
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa
2
Department of Manufacturing Engineering, University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, Germany
The manuscript was received on 6 September 2006 and was accepted after revision for publication on 16 May 2007.
DOI: 10.1243/09544054JEM728

Abstract: This paper discusses the results obtained from studies on different rapid tooling
process chains for improved design and manufacture of foundry equipment for sand casting of prototypes in final material for functional and pre-production tests of vehicles, using
the three-dimensional printing process as core technology. Subsequently, while considering aspects such as time, cost, quality (accuracy and surface roughness), and tool life, a
framework for evaluation and selection of the most suitable process chain in accordance to
specific requirements is presented. Apart from only using these process chains for prototype
manufacturing, initial results from a study to apply one of these process chains in automated
sand casting full production is also presented. This research builds on an in-depth characterization of the accuracy and repeatability of a three-dimensional printing process.
Keywords:

rapid tooling (RT), three-dimensional printing, casting

INTRODUCTION

The research in rapid tooling (RT) seems to be driven

by a demand for flexible manufacturing systems and
smaller production runs [1]. A large portion of this
research focuses on the utilization of selective laser
sintering (SLS) as a key rapid prototyping (RP) process in the development of the tooling, with direct
sintering of metals playing an ever more significant
role [24]. In these examples the researchers aim at
producing parts in end-use materials and batch sizes
in the order of several thousand. However, there is
often a need to manufacture a limited amount of
parts (typically less than 100) for design validation,
proof of concept, pre-production tests (i.e. of vehicles), or for design check and approval of production
tooling. The most essential advantage hereby is the
integration of production planning and testing within
the product development phase.
*Corresponding author: Department of Industrial Engineering,
University of Stellenbosch, c/o Banhoek and Joubert Street,
Stellenbosch 7600, Western Cape Province 7600, South Africa.
email: dimitrov@sun.ac.za
JEM728
IMechE 2007

In recent years three-dimensional printing came to

the foreground as a very competitive process in terms
of cost and speed, and sales of these machines have
increased significantly compared to other RP equipment [5]. These devices were developed, and are still
seen, mostly as concept modellers. However, with
the relatively large number of available materials
with improved properties as well as the wide variety
of infiltrating agents and post-treatment procedures,
the scope for this technology is expanding quickly
far beyond the original idea of generating design
iterations. Some of the earlier manufacturing applications such as investment casting became trivial,
some others such as sand casting opened new potential [6, 7]. Depending on the needs, this technology
allows one to build a mould in sand straight from
the computer-aided design (CAD) file or to fabricate
cores and cavities in different materials. The next
challenge is to develop optimized process chains to
minimize lead times and production costs, while still
ensuring a high quality of castings, with respect to
different production scenarios related to:
(a) the size of production runs;
(b) part size;
Proc. IMechE Vol. 221 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture