TO COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY IN INDUSTRY TODAY, COMPANIES MUST BRING NEW PRODUCTS TO MARKET FASTER AND MORE COST EFFECTIVELY THAN EVER BEFORE. SUPPORTING THIS NEED ARE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING STEREOLITHOGRAPHY (SLA), SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING (SLS) AND COMPUTER NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED (CNC) MACHINING. AFTER A MASTER IS FORMED BY ONE OF THESE DESKTOP MANUFACTURING PROCESSES, IT MUST BE REPRODUCED TO PROVIDE MULTIPLE PROTOTYPE PARTS FOR TESTING. MANY COMPANIES RELY ON POLYURETHANES TO FABRICATE DURABLE PROTOTYPES THAT SIMULATE THERMOPLASTIC PRODUCTION PARTS. THE POLYURETHANE PROTOTYPES CAN BE CAST QUICKLY AND ECONOMICALLY IN SILICONE RUBBER MOLDS. AND, POLYURETHANE SYSTEMS ARE FORMULATED WITH A VARIETY OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE TECHNIQUES TO CAST HIGH-QUALITY, MULTIPLE POLYURETHANE PROTOTYPES IN SILICONE RUBBER MOLDS FROM SLA, SLS, AND CNC MASTERS.
| Number of Pages : | 22 |
| Published : | 06/01/1993 |
