Accelerated production of prototype tools through CADENAS shape search & AddiFab 3D printing technology

In the injection molding industry, the process of developing a prototype or the production of parts in small series has so far been complex business. Since the production of the required pressing tools by means of CNC milling for the manufacture of the end products, such as gears, bushings, seals, etc., is often very expensive and time-consuming, more and more companies rely on new technologies, such as additive manufacturing. The Danish company AddiFab offers injection molders a powerful printed tooling solution with its Freeform Injection Molding technology. In combination with the Geometric Similarity Search of the Strategic Parts Management PARTsolutions of CADENAS, the manufacturing of tools for prototyping and small series production can now be significantly simplified and accelerated.

Using the Geometric Similarity Search GEOsearch, engineers can quickly and easily search for geometrically similar components within their parts libraries, starting from a roughly designed part or a 3D sketch.

In addition to the shape they are looking for, users can also use CADENAS' GEOsearch to define the desired size of the printed tool in advance of the search. Because when printing with the AddiFab technology, the maximum size of 10 x 10 x 20 cm is of decisive importance. In this way, workpieces that are too large can be effectively excluded.

Due to the significantly reduced costs of 3D printing tools in prototype development and small series production, PARTsolutions in combination with the AddiFab printing technology offers an enormous savings potential.

With the AddiFab technology, tools can be 3D-printed in one day. These tools are of a quality suitable for the creation of prototypes in product development and small series production and are many times cheaper to produce. The technology also enables the production of complex tools by means of 3D printing, which cannot be molded with conventional injection mold tooling. "3D printing leads to great savings through shorter delivery times and very low entry costs. With PARTsolutions, we may provide users of Freeform Injection Molding with an ideal solution for prototype production and small series production for injection molding," says Lasse G. Staal, CEO at AddiFab.

More information about the Geometric Similarity Search of the Strategic Parts Management PARTsolutions of CADENAS in the CADENAS brochure "Finding instead of searching“