Study On The Technology Of Rapid Tooling Through The Combination Of Electroforming With Arc Spraying

A technology of rapid tooling based on rapid prototype through the combination ofelectroforming with arc spraying can ensure the precision of mould primely, shorten themold-making period and reduce cost. It came into being a way of rapid tooling. Rapid prototypes are mostly nonmetallic prototypes, but electroforming requires thatprototypes must be conductivity. So nonmetallic prototypes must be metallization. Throughexperiments of metallization of LOM paper prototype by brush-applied coating, arc sprayingand electroless plating, the characteristics of them were gotten in this paper. Though electroformed molds are very precise, electroforming time is long. And the qualityof electrochemical deposit layer is influenced by many factors. In this paper, the experiment oftechnics factorsof electroformed copper was carried out. The main factor and the optimumparameters to archive the best properties of the electroformed layerof cooper were obtained. Based on electroforming layer, wire-arc spraying was used to thicken the metal shell andturn out molds rapidly. The arc-sprayed layerofhigh melting point metals on the slick surface ofdeposit layer may be deformed and break off. So it usually needs to roughen the surface toimprove the bonding strength. But the coarseness was not used in this paper. The technique ofarc spraying zinc in advance and then arc spraying copper was put forward to solve the problemof bonding strength. In this paper, the experiment of technology factorsof arc spraying zinc and arc sprayingcopper was carried through. The main factor and the reasonable parameters to gain the bestqualityof arc-sprayed layer of zinc and copper were acquired. In order to validate conclusions of experiments above, the injection mold of the foglightcover of truck EQ140-2 and the foam mold of oil pump body for lost foam were fabricated byelectroforming and wire-arc spraying. Using these molds, plastic parts and foam patterns wereproduced. The result indicated that the technology of rapid tooling through the combination ofelectroforming with arc spraying is more economical and timesaving than the traditionalmachining and electroforming.