Key Benefits of Casting for Rapid Prototypes

It is a great technique used when designing and producing prototypes. It can also supplement processes like 3D printing and CNC machining or it can be used as a separate process. It has many applications in prototyping.

We offer the best printing services and in Australia and we offer many other services that you can adopt for your company to streamline your production processes and lessen the financial cost and production processes while enhancing the quality of the final product. 

Now, let’s see how this process can help in producing prototypes.

What is It?

First of all, let’s understand how it works in the first place. There are several simple steps

Master Modeling

An initial high-quality master model is produced using processes such as stereolithography (SLA) or selective laser sintering (SLS). Then the finalised master model is cast in a vat of liquid silicone. Once the silicone mould is cured, it’s injected with a choice polymer-based resin and then left to cure again. All this is done in a vacuum to ensure no air bubbles are formed, or if they are, they’re sucked out by the vacuum quickly. Once cured, the resin mould is now ready to replicate that particular part with high accuracy.

So, why should it be considered in the first place?

Quality

The first and foremost reason is quality. These silicone resin moulds are capable of capturing and recreating every detail of the master model and then replicating the part to production-level quality. When supplemented with additive manufacturing or CNC master models, it is able to produce virtually indistinguishable parts.

Material Choice

It brings a level of versatility to it with the wide range of material choices that you can use. While the mould itself is the main choice, the final casting polymer can be from a broad range. Plastics, Elastomers, transparent materials and more. There are also castable and curable high-quality resins that are similar to thermoplastics like Polyurethanes that can be used for the final cast. 

Testing

The degree of accuracy with which the final product is produced creates parts and prototypes that are either indistinguishable from the final product or are highly similar, this can allow engineers and researchers to test this product as if it was the real thing. Quality assurance can then be done to a high accuracy allowing for the final results of the testing phase to be efficient and with an incredibly low margin for error. 

Thus, the rapidity and efficiency of the process allow for quicker and easier production of materials and to capture their aesthetic qualities as sharply as possible.

Time

As mentioned in the last paragraph, it can be efficient that is because conventional moulding processes are more complicated due to them requiring tooling. This can be fine for mass production. But for prototyping, the process of silicone moulding while being supplemented by high-quality master models made through CNC or additive manufacturing can drastically reduce the time it takes to produce a prototype.

And the quicker a prototype is produced, the faster it is analysed and tested, the faster it can be approved and sent to mass production, and deadlines are even reached quicker. This makes it a much more time-efficient option than conventional prototype-producing processes.

Cost

The cost of producing prototypes this way is even lower due to the fact that the materials used in it such as resin and polymers are relatively cheaper than the conventional tooling that is made of metal. The silicone moulds are lower costing than steel or aluminium moulding and the labour load is also less complex, reducing labour costs. 

Conclusion

Therefore, this technique as a whole is far more beneficial than traditional prototype-production processes. It is far more convenient, time-saving and cost-reducing. And it does all this while maintaining, and in some cases, enhancing the quality of the prototypes. More and more companies are therefore adopting this process in their prototype production. 

And if you are a business looking into the advantages and the qualities that it offers over conventional methods, then hopefully this blog was enlightening. If you are looking to adopt this technology for your own prototype production, then we are the right place to be. We offer this and other processes such as printing, machining, SLS and SLA printing and much more.