In today’s world, vacuum casting is a widely utilized quick prototyping method for a wide range of applications, including pre-series prototyping, pre-series testing and validation, and small series quantities for new items entering the market early. The casting process is carried out under vacuum, which guarantees that any air bubbles in the resin are removed, resulting in dense, high-accuracy pieces that are produced. As soon as the resin has been set, the mold can be removed and reused to create further identical pieces of original products.
Reason to choose Casting Vacuum:
- One of the reasons for choosing this is the quality. Even though vacuum casting is largely a prototyping technique, and it is capable of duplicating components that are of production quality Vacuum Cast parts that are comparable to, if not identical to, injection-molded parts. Make certain that the master mode has a good surface finish as well as high-resolution characteristics to ensure the greatest quality.
- When you require a wide range of materials for rapid prototyping, vacuum casting is an excellent alternative. It’s not necessary to choose a specific material for the master model, but you can use a variety of polymer resins for the final casting, including rigid plastics, flexible elastomers, and translucent materials.
- The ability to make prototypes that are almost identical to final goods is made possible by the fact that vacuum casting can produce pieces with a high degree of accuracy and from a wide range of materials. If the component is part of a larger assembly, vacuum cast prototypes can be used for functional testing and validation as well as fit testing and to see if their product can be used in a specific application before moving on to the final manufacturing stage.
- Vacuum casting can save your time when prototyping plastics. Product development can be sped up by using vacuum cast parts, which can save significant time. For prototypes or small batches of pre-series products, casting is a cost-effective option. Because silicone molds are affordable, the procedure itself is low-cost. It will also involve low labor costs.
The disadvantage of Vacuum Casting
1 While the disadvantage associate with using soft silicon, the mold wears out quickly and typically lasts between 30 and 50 components. The amount of tool wear is directly related to the surface’s texture, features, and scale.
- Shrinkage can cause uneven, excessively thin, and excessively thick parts to diverge from normal tolerances, just as it can in injection molding.
- Post-processing is what determines the surface finish; however, it can only be applied to the outside of the design if certain internal features can’t be reached.
- Text and graphics with straight edges can have rounded corners and edges. Connectors and cores will be required for some functionality.
Conclusion:
Vacuum casting provides numerous advantages for rapid prototyping, but the technique is most useful when a large number of high-quality prototypes are needed. Pieces that are completely opaque, translucent, or transparent can also be made using various materials.