Rupinder Singh

Rapid casting solutions: a review

Purpose – This paper seeks to review the industrial applications of state‐of‐the‐art additive manufacturing (AM) techniques in metal casting technology. An extensive survey of concepts, techniques, approaches and suitability of various commercialised rapid casting (RC) solutions with traditional casting methods is presented.Design/methodology/approach – The tooling required for producing metal casting such as fabrication of patterns, cores and moulds with RC directly by using different approaches are presented and evaluated. Relevant case studies and examples explaining the suitability and problems of using RC solutions by various manufacturers and researchers are also presented.Findings – Latest research to optimize the current RC solutions, and new inventions in processing techniques and materials in RC performed by researchers worldwide are also discussed. The discussion regarding the benefits of RC solutions to foundrymen, and challenges to produce accurate and cost‐effective RC amongst AM manufacture...

Three Dimensional Printing for Casting Applications: A State of Art Review and Future Perspectives

Rapid prototyping (RP) is being widely used in diverse areas, from the building of aesthetic and functional prototypes to the production of tools and moulds for prototypes. Many RP techniques like stereo lithography, laminated object manufacturing, three dimensional printing etc. are commercially available. The implication of these technologies revealed that the time and cost of developing new foundry tools could be greatly reduced. The purpose of the present research paper is to review three dimensional printing for generation of prototype for casting applications.

Some investigations for small‐sized product fabrication with FDM for plastic components

Purpose – Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing technology commonly used for modelling, prototyping, and batch production applications. The purpose of this paper is to investigate properties of plastic replicas, fabricated as small‐sized product moulds with FDM.Design/methodology/approach – From the identification of component, prototypes of ABS plastic material were prepared for commercial end‐user applications, such as vacuum moulding, vacuum casting, investment casting, etc.Findings – The study highlighted the best settings of orientation and support material quantity for the selected component on FDM machine, from the dimensional accuracy and economic points of view.Originality/value – Final replicas prepared are acceptable as per DIN 16901 and ISO (UNI EN 20286‐I‐1995) standard for industrial applications. The results are also supported by SEM analysis.

Application of fusion deposition modelling for rapid investment casting – a review

The rapid prototyping technologies are being used in the various fields of engineering. The ability of producing very small and intricate details makes the rapid prototyping technologies suitable for making patterns for investment casting. Moreover, by using rapid prototyping technologies the patterns can be produced without the necessity of costly hard tooling. The rapid prototyping technologies are considered very useful when only limited numbers of pieces are promptly required as in making prototypes, design iterations and design optimisations. The fusion deposition modelling (FDM) is a rapid prototyping technology that can use a number of materials which can be effectively used for making patterns for investment casting. Different non-wax materials are available which can be used for making patterns and can be burnt easily during autoclaving/firing. This paper reviews the suitability of FDM for making patterns for investment casting. The direct and indirect methods of producing casting patterns along with different approaches have been discussed. Different available FDM materials and their properties have been presented. The pattern accuracy depends upon a number of FDM process parameters. Various process parameters have been identified to obtain the desirable dimensional accuracy and surface finish of the casting patterns.

Process capability analysis of fused deposition modelling for plastic components

Purpose – The purpose of the present study is process capability analysis of fused deposition modelling (FDM) process as rapid pattern making (RDPM) solutions for plastic components. Design/methodology/approach – Starting from the identification of component, prototypes with ABS plastic material were produced and dimensional measurements were made with coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Some important mechanical properties were also compared to verify the suitability of the components. Findings – The study highlighted the best settings of orientation, support material quantity for the selected component as a case study on FDM machine from dimensional accuracy and economic point of view as RDPM solution for plastic components. Practical implications – This process ensures rapid production of statistically controlled pre-series technological prototypes and proof of concept at less production cost and time. Final components produced are acceptable as per ISO standard UNI EN 20286-I and DIN16901. Originality...

Development of rapid tooling using fused deposition modeling: a review

Purpose The purpose of this study is to highlight the direct fabrication of rapid tooling (RT) with desired mechanical, tribological and thermal properties using fused deposition modelling (FDM) process. Further, the review paper demonstrated development procedure of alternative feedstock filament of low-cost composite material for FDM to extend the range of RT applications. Design/methodology/approach The alternative materials for FDM and their processing requirements for fabrication in filament form as reported by various researchers have been summarized. The literature demonstrates the role of various post-processing techniques on surface finish of FDM prints. Further, low-cost materials for feedstock filament have been investigated experimentally to check their adaptability/suitability for commercial FDM setup. The approach was to realize the requirements of FDM (melt flow rate, flexibility, stiffness, glass transition temperature and mechanical strength), necessary for the successful run of an alternative filament. The effect of constituents (additives, plasticizers, surfactants and fillers) in polymeric matrix on mechanical, tribological and thermal properties has been investigated. Findings It is possible to develop composite material feedstock as filament for commercial FDM setup without changing its hardware and software. Surface finish of the parts can further be improved by applying various post-processing techniques. Most of the composite parts have high mechanical strength, hardness, thermal stability, wear resistant and better bond formation than standard material parts. Research limitations/implications Future research may be focused on improving the surface quality of parts fabricated with composite feedstock, solving issues related to the uniform distribution of filled materials during the fabrication of feedstock filament which in turns further increases mechanical strength, high dimensional stability of composite filament and transferring the technology from laboratory scale to various industrial applications. Practical implications Potential applications of direct fabrication with RT includes rapid manufacturing (RM) of metal-filled parts and ceramic-filled parts (which have complex shape and cannot be rapidly made by any other manufacturing techniques) in the field of biomedical and dentistry. Originality/value This new manufacturing methodology is based on the proper selection and processing of various materials and additives to form high-performance, low-cost composite material feedstock filament (which fulfil the necessary requirements of FDM process). Finally, newly developed feedstock filament material has both quantitative and qualitative advantage in RT and RM applications as compared to standard material filament.

Flank Wear and Machining Performance of Cryogenically Treated Tungsten Carbide Inserts

Cryogenic treatment has been accredited as a means of enhancing the cutting life of tungsten carbide turning inserts. Most of the research conducted till date has been limited to evaluate the percentage improvement in tool life of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts but no sincere efforts have been made to excavate the mechanism responsible for this improvement. In order to understand the mechanism accountable for enhanced tool life of tungsten carbide inserts, a comparative investigation of the wear behavior and machining performance of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts in orthogonal turning has been carried out in this study. The commercially available uncoated square shaped tungsten carbide inserts (P25) were procured and subjected to cryogenic treatment at two levels −110°C (shallow treatment) and −196°C (deep treatment) of temperature independently. The criterion selected for determining the turning performance was based on the maximum flank wear (0.6 mm) as recommended in ISO 3685-1993 and surface roughness (R a ) of the workpiece. The results showed that cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts performed significantly better as compared with untreated ones. Also, a substantial increase in tool life was recorded in deep cryogenically treated (DCT) inserts as compared to shallow cryogenically treated inserts (SCT).

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system modeling of cryogenically treated AISI M2 HSS turning tool for estimation of flank wear

This study deals with modeling the flank wear of cryogenically treated AISI M2 high speed steel (HSS) tool by means of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approach. Cryogenic treatment has recently been found to be an innovative technique to improve wear resistance of AISI M2 HSS tools but precise modelling approach which also incorporates the cryogenic soaking temperature to simulate the tool flank wear is still not reported in any open literature. In order to obtain data for developing the ANFIS model, turning of hot rolled annealed steel stock (C-45) by cryogenically treated tools treated at various cryogenic soaking temperatures was performed in steady state conditions while varying the cutting speed and cutting time. The model combined modeling function of fuzzy inference with the learning ability of artificial neural network; and a set of rules has been generated directly from experimental data. It was determined that the predictions usually agreed well with the experimental data with correlation coefficients of 0.994 and mean errors of 2.47%. The proposed model can also be used for estimating tool flank wear on-line but the accuracy of the model depends upon the proper training and selection of data points.

Investigations for statistically controlled investment casting solution of FDM-based ABS replicas

Purpose – The purpose of the present study is to investigate statistically controlled investment casting (IC) solution of fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based ABS replicas. Design/methodology/approach – The work started with the identification of the benchmark/component. Prototypes (to be used as pattern) were built on FDM with ABS plastic material, followed by IC. The measurements on final casting prepared were made on the co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) from which international tolerance (IT) grades were calculated to establish the dimensional accuracy of the components. Findings – This study further highlighted the cast component properties (like hardness and surface finish) for suitability of this process. Final castings produced are acceptable as per international standard organization (ISO) standard UNI EN 20286-I (1995). Originality/value – This process ensures development of statistically controlled IC solution as technological prototypes and proof of concept at less production cost and time.

Investigations for statistically controlled rapid casting solution of low brass alloys using three dimensional printing

The purpose of the present investigations is to study the feasibility of decreasing the shell wall thickness of mould cavity for economical and statistically controlled rapid casting solution of low brass alloy using three dimension printing technology. Starting from the identification of component/benchmark, technological prototypes were produced at different shell wall thickness of mould cavity. Measurements on a coordinate measuring machine helped in calculating the dimensional tolerances of the castings produced. Some important mechanical properties were also compared to verify the suitability of the castings. The study suggested that for the shell thickness, having value less than the recommended one is more suitable from dimensional accuracy and economic point of view. The result indicates that for the selected component/benchmark, at best set shell wall thickness (2 mm) of mould cavity, hardness of the casting improves from recommended 12 mm. Also production cost and production time has been reduced by 40.05% and 32.84% respectively in comparison to 12 mm recommended shell thickness. Further, strong possibilities are observed for the process under statistical control for 2 mm shell thickness the in case of low brass alloy castings.