Maximal reduction of steps for iron casting one-of-a-kind parts

The direct milling of sand blocks could be a feasible technique when rapid casting is necessary. Avoiding the use of a wood pattern, this technology aims at one-of-a-kind pieces or art pieces, where only one prototype or component is required, but lead times are required to be much reduced. This technology becomes a pattern-less one, reducing production stages, times and costs. The key of the procedure is to achieve enough tool life when milling with carbide tools, avoiding the risk of sand destruction or surface damage during the free-form milling process. For this purpose, in this paper a special study of tool wear is presented. Moreover, other problems and difficulties are taker. into account, such as, machine Protection, sand quality or the optimum milling strategies. Two examples of unique parts are also presented in this work. Following the proposed methodology, the reduction of time and cost for the rapid reproduction of one-of-a-kind pieces or for very short batches is economically and technologically feasible. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.