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Development of a cost-effective technique for batch production of precision wax patterns using 3D optical inspection and rapid tooling technologies

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Abstract

Rapid investment casting based on additive manufacturing has been widely used because of rapid production of patterns without any tooling requirements. However, the precision wax patterns fabricated by commercial additive manufacturing machine directly is costly. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate a cost-efficient approach for low-volume production of wax patterns by integration of rapid tooling technology, low-pressure wax injection molding, and 3D optical inspection technologies. A dimensional compensation method was used to compensate dimensional changes in the manufacturing process of precision wax pattern. Finally, a case study was examined to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. It was found that the radial and axial shrinkage of the entire manufacturing process are approximately 1.75% and 3.34%, respectively. A simple empirical formula that the dimensions of radial and axial in the design layout are compensated by approximately 0.75 mm and 1 mm when the wax pattern dimension is within 10 mm to 45 mm was proposed. The total production cost of fabricating twenty wax patterns by the proposed method in this study can be saved by about 86% compared to that of fabricating twenty wax patterns by commercial additive manufacturing machine directly. The remarkable findings in this study are very practical and provide the greatest application potential for the fabrication of precision wax pattern economically and efficiently in the investment casting industry.

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Funding

This study received financial support by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under contract nos. MOST 109-2637-E-131-004 and MOST 107-2221-E-131-018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chil-Chyuan Kuo, Yun-Ray Tasi, Ming-Yang Chen & Zheng-Yu Yan

  2. Research Center for Intelligent Medical Devices, Ming Chi University of Technology, No. 84, Gungjuan Road, New Taipei City, 243, Taiwan

    Chil-Chyuan Kuo

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  1. Chil-Chyuan Kuo
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Chil-Chyuan Kuo: Wrote the paper/Conceived and designed the analysis/Performed the analysis/Conceptualization. Yun- Ray Tasi, Ming-Yang Chen,Zheng-Yu Yan: Collected the data/Contributed data or analysis tools.

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Correspondence to Chil-Chyuan Kuo.

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Kuo, CC., Tasi, YR., Chen, MY. et al. Development of a cost-effective technique for batch production of precision wax patterns using 3D optical inspection and rapid tooling technologies. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 117, 3211–3227 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07763-3

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