A Robotic Machining & Forming System for Rapid Spray Metal Tooling

This paper presents a 7-axis industrial robot machining and forming system,based on which a new technique named robotic rapid metal tooling is developed.With this technique,the high precision and separable ceramic prototype can be directly fabricated by robotic milling,and the prototype can resist high temperature.After the wear resistant alloy with high melting point is sprayed on the prototype,the spray formed layer is backupped,the prototype is separated from the spray layer,the post processing is completed,and a high precision perdurable metal tool is finally produced.Comparing with the existing rapid spray tooling technology,the proposed technique not only shortens the technical flow and reduces the process time,but also improves the mould dimension precision.