KWM were approached by a leading Formula 1 team to provide a tooling solution that would allow them to continue rapid carbon fibre component development without incurring the traditionally high tooling costs.
The Challenge
- Design tooling for complex carbon fibre component shapes
- Identify a soluble FDM material for easy post-cure extraction
- Design-for-manufacture that minimised material wastage
The Requirements
- Resistant to autoclave curing temperatures
- Easily soluble cores
- Repeatable manufacturing process
- High quality final surface finish
The Approach
- Client CAD data was first manipulated by KWM’s manufacturing engineers to incorporate support structures that would allow for additive manufacture of the tooling
- Tooling was then printed using a combination of materials to cater for both the soluble cores and required support structures
- Printed components were then post-processed by KWM’s FDM technicians to remove support structures and complete surface finishing
The Results
- Bespoke, soluble tools for composite components
- Competition-grade post-processing
- Low tooling investment
- High flexibility of design