Lasersko sintranje orodja za tlačno litje aluminija: Laser-sintered tools for the die-casting of aluminium

In this paper some results from using a DMLS (direct metal laser sintering) rapid-tooling solution for aluminum die-casting are presented. The product chosen for the investigation was a car safety-belt strap winder (an application for the automotive industry), and according to the requirements ofthe prototype tools, we have adapted the construction of the classic tools and made some improvements to the material and the sintering process. The comparative-value analysis with classical tooling has shown that the time of production with the DMLS process is considerably shorter. The final investigation was focused on the industrial testing of the DMLS, followed by the tool analysis after die-casting to confirm the research goal, i.e., 5,000 practical parts produced. V prispevku so prikazani rezultati uporabe neposrednega laserskega sintranja kovinskih prahov (NLSK) kot postopka hitre izdelave orodij za tlačno litje aluminija. Za izvedbo raziskave smo izbrali za izdelek navijalnik varnostnega pasu (uporaba v avtomobilski industriji). Skladno z zahtevami glede izdelave prototipnih orodij smo sedanjo konstrukcijo običajnega orodja ustrezno prilagodili in naredili nekatere izboljšave materiala za sintranje kakor tudi postopka sintranja. Primerjalna vrednostna analiza med običajno izdelavo orodij in NLSK je pokazala, da je z NLSK čas izdelave dosti krajši. Končne raziskave so bile usmerjene v industrijsko testiranje orodja izdelanega z NLSK in analizo njegove obstojnosti za potrditev postavljenega raziskovalnega cilja, tj. izdelati 5.000 praktičnih izdelkov v industrijskem okolju.