A Method of Fabricating Evaporative Models by Selective Laser Melting

In this paper, we propose a new method of fabricating evaporative patterns for vacuum molding and precision casting. Powders of exothermic reactive materials and salt are mixed uniformly and thinly spread. An infrared laser beam scans over the layer of these material powders. Chemical reaction occur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRēzā kenkyū Vol. 29; no. 8; pp. 522 - 526
Main Authors KAMITANI, Takayuki, YAMADA, Osamu, MARUTANI, Yoji
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Suita The Laser Society of Japan 2001
Laser Society of Japan
Subjects
Evaporative pattern
Precision casting
Rapid prototyping
Selective laser melting
Vacuum molding
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Summary:In this paper, we propose a new method of fabricating evaporative patterns for vacuum molding and precision casting. Powders of exothermic reactive materials and salt are mixed uniformly and thinly spread. An infrared laser beam scans over the layer of these material powders. Chemical reaction occurs in the irradiated area, and the salt powders are melted by chemical reaction heat and laser energy. After the irradiation, the materials solidify and connect to the lower solidified layer. By repeating the powder spreading and the laser scanning, a 3-D model is fabricated. Since the main component of the model is salt, the model is easily removed from the mold by washing with water. In order to prove this theory, simple layered models were made andtheir shapes were transferred to silicone rubber and plaster. Copies of the master models were made by vacuum molding and plaster molding.
ISSN:0387-0200
1349-6603
DOI:10.2184/lsj.29.522