Manufacturing Structures in a Limited Production Environment

This project is to determine the feasibility, cost, and benefits of scaling up the RSP Tooling process to make tools that are 10 feet square, accurate enough to be used for composite tooling, and can be produced in significantly less time and for less money. The RSP Technology is an additive, indirect, spray form system. It starts with a CAD model of the tool. A rapid prototype process is used to make a replica of the tool surface. A ceramic mold is taken from this model. The desired metal is then melted and sprayed onto the ceramic continually building up until the desired tool thickness is achieved. The unique feature of the technology is the atomization of the metal which allows for excellent replication of the ceramic and extremely dense metal structure. The new design will use multiple moving nozzles, vertically spraying onto a moving ceramic that is kept at temperature outside of the spray area using infrared heaters. The melt system will be a continuous melter capable of melting 800 pounds per hour. The ceramic will be made of small sections fit together to maintain required accracy.