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Vacuum casting(Silicone mold)

What’s vacuum casting?

Vacuum casting refers to using the original template to make a silicone mold in a vacuum state, and pouring it with PU material in a vacuum state, so as to clone a replica that is the same as the original template

Prototype model introduction

Usually, the products that have just been developed or designed need to be prototyped. Prototype is the first step to verify the feasibility of the product. It is the most direct and effective way to find out the defects, deficiencies and drawbacks of the designed products, so as to make targeted measures for product defects. Improve until the appearance, structure and function requirements of mass production are met. At this point, it is usually necessary to carry out trial production in small batches to find out the deficiencies in the batch and improve them. The designed products are generally not perfect or even unusable. Once the direct production is defective, it will be completely scrapped, which will greatly waste manpower, material resources and time; while the prototype is generally a small number of samples, the production cycle is short, and the loss of manpower and material resources is small. Quickly find out the deficiencies of product design and improve it, providing sufficient basis for product finalization and mass production.

Prototype processing technology comparison

CNC machining:

1. Advantages: High precision, generally can reach 0.05mm~0.1mm, and the processing size range is large. Some CNC machining centers can process prototypes more than two meters long; the material selection is various, and the surface treatment effect is good. The material is closer to the properties of the raw material

2. Disadvantages: Charges are based on working hours. For small and complex prototypes, it is not cost-effective to use CNC machining.

3d printing:

1. Advantages: high precision, fast printing speed, and printing prototypes with complex details have advantages.

2. Disadvantages: Fees are charged by weight, and the cost of printing larger prototypes is high; the processing size is limited; the printing materials are relatively small, mainly photosensitive resin and ABS.

Vacuum casting:

1. Advantages: low cost,no need to make steel mold, short production cycle, and advantages in small batch (50-500) production.

2. Disadvantages: Affected by the thermal expansion and contraction of silicone liquid, the accuracy is relatively low, usually around 0.2mm; a set of silicone molds can only replicate 20 prototypes, and the price is high when the number is more than 500.

Available material:PU material(similar ABS/PC/PP/PA/PMMA/POM/PPS),rubber,silicone,

NBR(Buna-N rubber)