Quick Summary
Additional Context
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Boeing have produced a steel Stamp Form Die (SFD) mold using wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). The tool stands 6 feet tall, measures 4 feet wide, weighs close to 2 tons, and took eight weeks to print. Boeing will use it in its work for NASA‘s Hi-Rate Composite Aircraft Manufacturing (HiCAM) project. The build also examines whether metal additive manufacturing (metal AM) can produce the large forming tools used in thermoplastic composite part production.
An SFD is a punch press that cuts or forms material. Molds of this kind are typically made through machining, casting, forging, and drilling. The project assessed whether printing a thermally controlled SFD mold at the Department of Energy‘s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at ORNL c