Product category:
Fast prototyping equipment, pattern-making and services
News Release from: Arrk PDG | Subject: Vacuum polyurethane castings
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 April 2006
Vacuum castings made for automotive
lenses
In producing polyurethane vacuum castings for the prototype market, ARRK has established itself as a 'Centre of Excellence' in automotive lens work for the UK and Europe.
ARRK globally has been pioneering developments within the rapid prototyping industry for over 50 years now and in particular its capability in vacuum castings for the prototype market However it is in automotive prototype lens work that has brought ARRK PDG in Gloucester its most significant success
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 17 Aug 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Its unrivalled precision and quality, often on extremely complex and challenging parts has earned ARRK PDG a world class reputation amongst clients and other ARRK sites globally for producing exceptional, class leading components.
ARRK PDG UK is now regarded as the 'Centre of Excellence' in automotive lens work and now builds parts not only for customers in the UK but also for most major accounts across Europe.
ARRK PDG has built up this reputation as a result of years of research and development, working closely with leading resin and technology manufacturers to test and develop materials and technologies before offering them to our customers.
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StereoLithography, Selective Laser Sintering, Fused Deposition Modelling and down stream services, such as polyurethane castings, were included in processes delivered to Supercart by ARRK.
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It is only after they meet our own high standards of performance that we accept them for our specialist processes.
By trialling most new materials and processes that hit the market place ARRK are well placed to determine which will offer our clients a 'competitive edge/advantage' in the field of prototype, testing and development work.
ARRK PDG's global overview, combined with its own in-house research, ensures it is at the cutting edge in this field and remains a pioneer for pushing the boundaries of prototype capabilities and their performance! * Vacuum Casting - an overview of the process - the world of product development is as varied as it is diverse in terms of what each individual designer is looking to achieve from a prototype part at any given point in time.
In some circumstances it can be the need to get 'first cut' prototype parts on the table quickly that is critical, in other instances it can be to prove functionality, where as at other times it is the need to produce prototypes that most closely represent the finished production part that is the determining factor.
It is precisely this understanding that helps ARRK Product Development Group to remain the market leader in the production of prototype parts.
It is in the field of polyurethane vacuum castings that the most significant advances have been made in producing high quality prototypes that most closely represent final production quality parts.
For many years stereolithography (SLA) has been the natural starting point for the tools from which polyurethane castings are made.
In many instances this is still the case, as SLA represents the quickest and cheapest method of producing the master model required to create a tool, often ensuring 'first-off' polyurethane parts within a week of commencing a project.
With 12 stereolithography machines based at the Gloucester factory, ARRK has the largest SLA facility in Europe at its disposal.
This flexibility allows us to select; the type of machine, resin and build style most suitable to your part geometry, and not compromising design intent simply through machine availability.
Increasingly however customers are demanding higher quality more aesthetic parts that are far closer to the quality they can expect when their parts reach full production.
It is under these circumstances that ARRK are able to draw upon our extensive in house resources to create rapid prototype polyurethane parts that standard techniques alone can not achieve.
Within the UK, ARRK Product Development Group Limited have 30 full time dedicated model makers, employing a wide range of sophisticated model making techniques enabling us to include details from customers existing products within new designs.
These can range from, particular design features to company logo's or areas of optical functionality, all can be 'lifted' from current product and incorporated into the creation of a new master pattern.
Similarly, the extensive CNC facilities available within ARRK worldwide, allow us to create master patterns CNC machined directly from; acrylic, ABS or aluminium.
This not only creates a near perfect master as a starting point, but the durability of the master allows for additional tools to be taken from the same part for larger batch quantities, or design modifications to be incorporated without the need to completely start again.
As we have mentioned earlier, in order to meet the market demand for prototype parts that are able to simulate ever closer the more expensive moulding techniques we see in today's aesthetic and ergonomic designs, ARRK have developed significant advances in its multiple shot tooling techniques.
These principles have also been extended to encompass the multiple shot colour tinted lenses used extensively in automotive lighting applications.
We are proud to report that we now work with some of Europe's leading automotive lens businesses to develop their new designs.
So as we have seen ARRK PDG has built up significant expertise, capacity and capability in Vacuum Casting not only within the UK and Europe but globally and known more so than in the field of Automotive lenses.
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