Rapid tooling applications of the selective laser sintering process

The selective laser sintering (SLS) process is one of the leading rapid prototyping techniques. This paper presents two rapid tooling (RT) methods based on the SLS process. The first method employs the SLS process to build tooling inserts in copper polyamide that can be used for fabrication of a limited number of pre-production parts in the same material and manufacturing process as the final production parts. The second method, the RapidToolTM process, is a RT solution for manufacture of pre-production and production tools for injection moulding and die-casting. The paper also discusses the applications and limitations of these RT methods.