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Researchers Use Robotic Arm 3D Printing Process for Mold Fabrication https://ift.tt/2BXE3f2 Many objects that we call 3D printed, from crayons and chess pieces to turbines and dental aligners, and were actually created using 3D printed molds, rather than being fully printed themselves. A trio of researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design recently published a paper, titled “Design and Robotic Fabrication of 3D Printed Moulds for Composites,” about their work in fabricating molds using a robotic additive manufacturing process, as well as “introducing the integration of AM and AFP process.”
The team explained that molds are made out of composites in the form of blocks, and manufactured using lamination, casting, or 3D printing in the required shape of the object they’ll later be used to mold. For the purposes of the study, the researchers worked specifically with mold fabrication for prepreg composite structures and the use of automated fiber placement (AFP) for the “prepreg layup.”
There are many advantages to fabricating molds with 3D printing, including the ability to achieve and easily share complex designs, less material waste, lower costs, automated manufacturing, and increased production speed. Here, the team focused on a robotic extrusion method of 3D printing.
As shown in the image to the left, this researchers was structured into four components: composite part design – which covers structural analysis and fiber distribution – tool path planning, work cell setup, and application and prototyping.
Robot-based 3D composites were used in order to increase both the flexibility and potential of manufacturing, and the “AM robust work cell system” helped to produce geometric-specific molds that support AFP. The resulting mold is representative of “the negative form of the target geometry.”
Once the researchers produced the mold, the robotic arm moved to the AFP side for the prepreg placement process.
Co-authors of the paper are Rajkumar Velu, Nahaad Vaheed, and Felix Raspall. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 7, 2018 at 11:45AM
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