Laminated object manufacturing for rapid tooling and patternmaking in foundry industry

The laminated object manufacturing (LOM) process is an effective rapid prototyping technology with a variety of application possibilities. Applying LOM in rapid tooling and patternmaking is especially advantageous because of the LOM objects' robustness, their wood-like properties and their comparably low material costs. Possible fields of application are shown in the following. Explicit application examples in sand casting, investment casting and ceramics processing show how a reduction of necessary process steps and cycle times can be achieved by the application of LOM models. To gain this the control of the LOM objects' accuracy and stability during different secondary processes is of decisive importance. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.