Additive Manufacturing of Plastics: An Efficient Approach for Composite Tooling

Additive manufacturing (AM) is increasingly used in different applications ranging from prototyping to the production of functional parts. One particular case is represented by the production of tooling for composites. The choice of AM techniques can be oriented both to the production of durable and removable tooling depending on composite part geometry. The development of sacrificial removable tooling for hollow composite air ducts is the main focus of this paper. The use of AM techniques is compared to the standard production approach using autoclave molding with a stainless steel mold as production technique. The different processing approaches are compared in terms of cost, production parameters, and of the final properties of the composites obtained. The use of soluble tooling shows clearly some benefits in terms of cost savings (i.e., 30%) and production time (i.e., 25%). However, the tooling removal technique outlines some drawbacks in terms of the final glass transition temperatures of the composite materials that was reduced to about 16 degrees C after 6 h treatment.