Development of rapid manufacturing process by high-speed machining with automatic fixturing

Rapid prototyping and manufacturing (RPM) technology has recently been used in many industries in order to shorten lead time and cost. During the last decade various kinds of RPM technologies were developed and commercialized. The high-speed machining process is one of the most effective RPM methods. Even though it offers some practical advantages (e.g., precision and versatility) over other RPM technologies, it still has several aspects that need to be improved. In particular, the method of workpiece fixturing is strongly required to be bettered because it greatly depends on the geometrical complexity of products. This paper describes a new RPM technology called high-speed rapid prototyping (HisRP). Basically HisRP is a high-speed machining process combined with a new automatic fixturing in which low melting point metal alloys are used to easily fix a complex workpiece. In addition, an automatic set-up device attachable to the table of the machine has been developed to ensure the quality of products during a series of machining operations. The designed automatic set-up device is expected to be beneficial for the four-step machining of a workpiece. It was mounted and fixed on the working table to guarantee the position accuracy. The proposed HisRP process has shown to be a useful method of manufacturing complex metal products with reduced lead time and cost.