Hard metal tooling via SFF of ceramics and powder metallurgy

In the past five years, Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Technologies have been explored for fabrication of functional ceramic components. This presentation describes the use of SFF ceramic components as pre-forms in a Powder Metallurgical process to form net shape metal tooling for manufacturing processes, such as injection molding, die casting; etc. The approach involves metal powder consolidation around a SFF ceramic pre-form. Two different SFF approaches, Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), were used to fabricate ceramic pre-forms. The SFF ceramic pre-forms and the consolidated metal tooling were evaluated for density, dimensional accuracy, and surface finish. Results will be presented on the consolidation of tool steel using both the SFF ceramic pre-forms.