A review of research into the effects of rapid tooling on part properties

Rapid prototyping technologies have introduced a new generation of rapid tooling processes. Many of these rapid tools have been used for injection moulding where the thermal properties of the tool material are critical to the quality of parts produced. Rapid tools are often made from materials with substantially different thermal properties than conventional metal tools. Engineers wishing to make use of these technologies to produce technical prototypes must be aware of the effect this will have on final part properties. Some previous research has been undertaken in this area. Reviews the work done in the field of rapid tooling used for injection moulding. The review shows that, whereas a range of techniques and final part materials has been studied, the results obtained are incomplete and often unexplained. The authors draw conclusions as to why this is so and go on to identify areas for further work that will be pursued.