Scholarlink

<p>Vacuum casting (VC) is widely adopted for the rapid fabrication of functional prototypes and small-batch end-use products, combining silicone rubber molds (SRM) with two-component polyurethane. This process is valued for its low energy consumption and reduced environmental impact. However, the thermal expansion of the molding material after polyurethane vacuum casting often limits dimensional accuracy, hindering the production of precision parts. To address this challenge, a reinforced SRM combined with computer-aided verification technology is proposed to enhance the dimensional precision of polyurethane vacuum casting. Experimental results demonstrate that reinforcement with glass pellets significantly improves the accuracy of cast parts. The dimensional error reduction is correlated with the glass pellet volume fraction, yielding an average improvement rate of 1.06% for test parts and 1.13% for verification parts. This approach enables the fabrication of small-batch polyurethane components with improved precision, offering strong potential for research and development applications where tailored geometries and accuracy are critical. The findings of this work provide considerable promise for developing robust prototypes in the rapid tooling industry. The proposed method contributes to sustainable development goals 9 and 12 by reducing material waste and energy consumption during the fabrication process.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Enhancing dimensional accuracy of polyurethane vacuum casting via reinforced silicone molds and Computer-Aided verification

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月23日

查看全文
  • Chil-Chyuan Kuo,
  • Heng-Qian He,
  • Zhu-An Chen,
  • Shang-Ru Jiang,
  • Li-Qi Huang,
  • Armaan Farooqui,
  • Song-Hua Huang

摘要

Vacuum casting (VC) is widely adopted for the rapid fabrication of functional prototypes and small-batch end-use products, combining silicone rubber molds (SRM) with two-component polyurethane. This process is valued for its low energy consumption and reduced environmental impact. However, the thermal expansion of the molding material after polyurethane vacuum casting often limits dimensional accuracy, hindering the production of precision parts. To address this challenge, a reinforced SRM combined with computer-aided verification technology is proposed to enhance the dimensional precision of polyurethane vacuum casting. Experimental results demonstrate that reinforcement with glass pellets significantly improves the accuracy of cast parts. The dimensional error reduction is correlated with the glass pellet volume fraction, yielding an average improvement rate of 1.06% for test parts and 1.13% for verification parts. This approach enables the fabrication of small-batch polyurethane components with improved precision, offering strong potential for research and development applications where tailored geometries and accuracy are critical. The findings of this work provide considerable promise for developing robust prototypes in the rapid tooling industry. The proposed method contributes to sustainable development goals 9 and 12 by reducing material waste and energy consumption during the fabrication process.