Traditional processes for machining mould cavities are lengthy and costly. Electro-discharge machining (EDM) is the most commonlyused technique to obtain complex mould cavities. However, some electrodes are difficult to fabricate because of the complexity. Applyingrapid prototyping (RP) technology to fabricate an abrading tool which is used to abrade graphite EDM electrodes, the cost and cycle-time cangreatly be reduced. The paper describes the work being conducted in this area by the authors. This technique will find widespread applicationsin rapid steel mould manufacturing.

To reduce the time and cost of moulds fabrication, a novel integrated developing and manufacturing system of rapid tooling (RT) based on rapid prototyping (RP) is proposed. The architecture of system which consists of four building blocks: digital prototype, virtualprototype (VP), physicalprototype and RT system, is presented. A digitalprototype can be established by 3D CAD software packages or reveres engineering technique. A VP is employed to guide in optimization of the mould design and manufacturing process planning. A physical prototype, which is built using RP technology, generally serves as a pattern for producing RT. By integrating these building blocks closely, the system can aid effectively in mould design, analysis, prototyping, simulating, and manufacturing process development. Three typical cases are discussed in detail to illustrate the application of the system. It has been shown from a number of case studies that the system has a high potential to reduce further the cycle and cost of die development while minimizing error introduction. As a result, the integrated system provides a feasible and useful tool for companies to speed up their product development.

针对熔模铸造和快速原型制造本身对壳体原型件的需求，提出一种快速原型的抽壳简化方法，即利用零件的STL（STereolithography）模型及其分层信息，将零件原型的抽壳近似为沿分层方向的水平面偏置和层轮廓偏置，使得原型件的抽壳处理不受其形状复杂程度的影响，从而避开直接对sTL模型抽壳所遇到的障碍，极大地简化了零件原型的抽壳处理，提高了抽壳效率。工程实例表明该方法的正确性和实用性，缩短了零件原型制作时间，降低了成本。