INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS, ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT

Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

The Methodology of Patternless Casting

Manufacturing
Wei-Yuan Dzan
also opens up a new field in large-scale mould manufacturing.
Abstract—FRP ship is high technology fine art. It has a huge
amount of technology and complicated high-value production. II. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF PATTERNLESS CASTING
However, FRP ship form design, manufacture to navigation, takes a MANUFACTURING
long time. Take a forty meter ship for example, this takes an average
eight to twelve months to manufacture in Taiwan, and only takes three Patternless Casting Manufacturing (PCM) is the integration
to six months in SuehZan China. Even though the quality level of Rapid Prototyping, Computer 3D digital design, numerical
exceeds that of its Chinese counterpart, the production time is a lot control programs and Materials Science, which rapidly and
differ ent,a ndit’salsoar e a
sonwhys hi
powne rsfrom ot herc ountries precisely turns design concepts into functional prototypes or
hesitate to give countermands. In order to improve our ship-making
mould parts. Hereby, we are able to make fast evaluations and
efficiency, the main task for us is to investigate and strive to shorten
our production times. The strength in making our ships is high alterations on products, thus shortening the time of development.
technology specialized designing, choosing exacting material and With high rapidity and flexibility, it can be used widely in ship
precise processes, belonging to a typically unitary small amount of or big-scale mould fields.
production. The crucial production of this industry is developing large
ship patterns, if we can use five axes, NC control and the manufacture
facilities, we can obtain optimum ship design by making 3D models A. Theory of Rapid Prototype Technology
through the CAE directly. The industrial machining is as good as an additional
Using CAD/CAM software can turn the curve surfaces of the NC
intelligence. It avoids faults or clamping fixtures changing in
machine program to accomplish producing a ship pattern. The design
actual machining, by detecting any procedural or tool problem
produc tions ys tem of' Pa tt
ernlessCa st
ingMa nuf
a ct
ur ing‘ PCM' ,is
exactly turning the production of ship pattern designs into a digitized before the procedure starts, which reduces the costs of faulty
form, departing from the traditional way of diagnosing ship shapes and designs. Also it greatly shortens the product development
carpentry. Not only can this control the precise shape and flow line of period and allows quick confirmation of the machining
the design but it can also save over 60% of the time used in developing attributes because of the simultaneity of rapid manufacture and
patterns. rapid machining. There is no need for concern about
cutter-feeding paths and fixture or mould fabrication that is not
Keywords—Patternless Casting Manufacturing, the best design of necessary for prototyping. It not only decreases the cost, but
the ship, NC machine. also significantly improves the economic efficiency in the cases
that require smaller quantities. In initial development, after the
I. INTRODUCTION
CAD files of required patterns are configured, the fundamental

I N Patternless Ship Casting, with recyclable media or resin

sand as a casting material, we can apply the principles of
dispersed/accumulated forming in the Rapid Prototyping
models produced before the actual manufacture, which are
made for design confirmation, product alteration, function
testing and mould fabrication are what we call prototypes. The
technique, working on computerized slicing on 3D hull models rapid prototyping system is capable of prototyping every
and layered processes to speed up the ship moulding. In this complicated or detailed construction without the limitations of
research we integrated Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Tooling, blank moulding, but also manages to overcome model distortion
precise numerical controls, and applied them to the design of the problems. This is a definitely a major breakthrough in the
ship surfaces with complicated geometric forms. machining industry.
The Rapid Prototyping creates the moulds of prototypes with The principles of rapid prototyping are based on concepts of
complicated geometric forms and curvature, made by Rapid layered machining. The machining process of rapid prototyping
Tooling without traditional NC processes or clamping fixtures is shown in Figure 1. While a 3 dimensional object is sliced
involved. The technique of precise numerical control applies along one of the axes into thin layers, these layers could be
precise stack moulding with recyclable or resin sand as casting regarded as 2 dimensional objects. Contrarily, while 2
materials, through layered manufacturing processes to mould dimensional objects are piled up together they turn into 3
complicated, thin surfaces with great precision. This reduces the dimensional objects. After a 3 dimensional model is constructed
manufacturing duration and costs for ships and large-scale on a computer and converted into an STL file, it would go
moulds. Therefore Patternless Ship Casting not only features through slicing, with the STL file turned into 2 dimensional
accessible materials, short periods, low costs, great quantity as layers of the profile, each of these layers would be processed
well as quality of moulds and rapidly nimble manufacture, but and piled up in the numerical controlling system. Finally the 3

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Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

dimensional object is produced [1]. The theory and process of meters[4]. Besides, although the method from each company
rapid prototyping is shown in Figure 1. has its own character, these moulding systems share the same
sort of concept or basic design theory . Thus, usually according
STL file to the form of materials in the process [5][6], the rapid moulding
3D Design converting Slicing system is categorized into 4 types: liquid, semi-liquid, powder,
and solid. Each type refers to a different principle, attribute, and
property. Direct moulding process has an especially high
efficiency in large-scale mould developing. all types are
explained as below:
RP Parts Laser
Processing 1. Theory and characteristics of liquid method
This method has been the first system commercialized with
Fig. 1 Theory and process of rapid prototyping the highest occupancy rate. The theory is making liquid
photosensitive polymer, hardened and polymerized, into a thin
layer by laser lights such as He-Cd, Argon or UV. Then the
B. Variety of rapid prototyping operating lift is lowered to cover the machining area with a layer
Moulding technique applies principles of rapid prototyping of resin, the liquid surface is levelled with a scraper, the level
machining and becomes a particular process featuring high surface is scanned with laser light to make it closely bound to
efficiency. According to moulding manner, it can be the upper layer and the liquid resin is heated to solidify and form
categorized into two types: direct moulding process and indirect it. The process will repeat until the 3 dimensional object is
moulding process. In direct moulding process, moulds are produced. The most distinguished feature of the liquid process
produced directly without any mould insert involved, followed is the high accuracy, the deviation is eliminated down to 0.1 mm
by post processing. In indirect moulding process, a mould insert to 0.025 mm. (3.) Also the low distortion rate, easy for
of required form is needed, then the mould is formed after retouching prototypes, is great for surface painting effects and
casting procedure. Following is the list of some common so on.take, for instance, the SLA system from 3D System and
moulding methods[2][3]. SOUP system from CEMT, Japan [7].
The first part is direct type molding process, include:(a)DTM: 2. Theory and characteristics of semi-liquid method
Rapid Tool, (b)EOS, DMLS(Direct Metalpowder Laser The theory uses a thermal head to melt the thermoplastic
Sintering), (c)EOS, DCP(Direct Croning Process), (d)3D material by heating it up to １℃ [6] above the melting point,
systems, AIM(ACES Injection Moulding), (e)Soligen Company, squeezing the melted material to the proper position layer by
DSPC(Direct Shell Production Casting), (f)Helisys Company, layer until object is in the required form. The machining head is
LOM(Laminated Object Manufacturing), (g)Massachusetts controlled by the machine arm moving along X-Y axes, and the
Institute of Technology, 3D Printing, (h)Extrude Hone material supplier moves along with two rollers. Also, because
Company, ProMetal, (i)Stanford University, SDM(Shape the final object is constructed on top of another spongy-like
Deposition Manufacturing), (j)Case Western Reserve object, it is very easy to detach. For instance, the FDM system
University, CAM-LEM (Computer Aided Manufacturing of from Stratasys, applying the hot melting method, melts the solid
Laminated Engineering Materials), (k)Stanford University, ABS or another particular wax material with two sprayers, and
LENS(The Laser Engineered Net Shaping), (l)New York State then sprays that to form each layer. When one of the sprayers is
Centre for Advanced Technology, FPM(Freeform Powder used for spraying ABS prototyping from semi-liquid material,
Modeling), (m)3D System, SLA(Stereo Lithography Appatrtus) the other one is in charge of spraying flexible or water-soluble
system, (n)CEMT, Japan, SOUP system, (o)Strastasy, material. The most distinguished feature of this method is that
FDM(Fused Deposition Modeling) system, (p)3D System and ABS prototypes can be produced directly with the material
DTM, United States, SLS(Selective Laser Sintering) series, strength, for which both are almost exactly identical, as with the
(q)Cubital, SGC(Solid Ground Curing), (r)Helisys and ABS parts from mass injecting production. This method is ideal
LOM(Laminated Object Manufacturing) system. The second for fast development for parts that need to be tested. Also it has
part is indirect type molding process, include:(a)Silicon rubber an accuracy as little as around 0.178-0.25 mm [8] which is ideal
mould, (b)Epoxy-aluminum mould, (c)3D System, 3D Keltool, for parts that require detailed characteristics or accurate
(d)Metal spraying, (e)CEMCOM, NCC Tooling(Nickel surfaces.
Ceramic Composite), (f)Mitsubishi, MRM(Mitsubishi 3. Theory and characteristics of powder method
Chemical Rapid) and (g)Carnegie Mellon University, Spray The theory of powder method is based on prototyping from a
Metal Faced Tooling. combination of plastic or metal powder with either laser
C. 2.3 Rapid Prototyping property and attributes sintering or glue bonding mode. The laser sintering mode is
especially distinguished for directly producing both Nylon
To summarize all the kinds of Rapid Tooling techniques
prototypes with high strength, and the injection mould used for
above; because of the influences of property, process and
mass production. There are some common powder methods
equipment, the scale moulds are mostly limited to 0.125 cubic

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Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

such as the SLS system from 3D (United States) and DTM, or Nylon powder produces Nylon parts with high strength, which
the Z402 system from Z Corporaton, which both belong to the are ideally used in the fields such as motor or machine industry
powder method in Rapid Prototyping. that require high strength and function testing when developing
In SLS Rapid Prototyping system, a medium-high power plastic parts. As for systems like Z402 from Z Corporation, the
laser is used for scanning the plastic powder, wax or metal layer theory is based on spraying the binder through a spray head to
by layer, to heat up the scanned part to sintering temperature, bind the powder of ceramic or mixed material, to form the
then it melts, binds, and then forms into the prototype or mould. prototypy with an accuracy of around 0.25-0.3 mm. Because of
Its accuracy is about 0.25 mm. In industrial applications, one of the rapidity, multiple colour combination, cheap price, and
the features of SLS is that the single system is capable of because the costs of materials required are far cheaper then
choosing the proper powder material for different purposes such other RP systems, this method is ideal for product shape design
as plastic parts, metal parts, or moulds. The direct sintering of confirmation.

Product System Detail Mass

Concept Design Design Manufacturing Test Production

Simulation
Confirmatio
n
Traditional Product Developing Process

System
Design

Detail
Product Design Mass
Concept Production
Manufacturing

Test

PCM Product Developing Process Reductiontime Interval

Fig. 2 The difference between traditional product developing process and PCM

4. Theory and characteristics of solid method the slicing will be processed. The method is to approach the
The theory of the solid method in Rapid Prototyping is prototype with a triangular mesh to produce sliced layers, in the
cutting some thin layered materials (normally paper) covered in case with less triangular mesh there will be a smaller sized file
adhesive into the shape, as these layers are the slices of 2D but lower accuracy. On the contrary, with more triangular mesh,
profiles of the target 3D object , and finish the 3D moulding there will be a larger files and higher accuracy. Besides that, the
process by hotpress uniting. The most common systems include thickness of each layer also primarily effects the finesse of the
the LOM series from Helisys, United States and SAHP Rapid objects, because the thicker the layers are, the edges will be less
Prototyping system from Kira, Japan. These prototypes have not smooth, especially on non-vertical or horizontal levels. The
only the accuracy about 0.25 mm but also have quite good prototypes for the slicing are mostly processed in the form of
strength and hardness, which makes them suitable for producing STL file. After the 3D model is constructed, in the PCM
prototypes of function testing parts and wax squirt mold. prototyping system, the paths defined for each layer will be
executed by the program to construct the mould prototype layer
D. Comparing traditional and Patternless Casting
by layer. The 3D model and layered construction method are
Manufacturing
shown in Figure 2.
In Patternless Casting Manufacturing, the prototype of the
product is constructed in a computer 3D design system, and then

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Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

and complicated products.

3. After the ship 3D model has been constructed, the mould
and numerical controlling program is then designed,
which saves a lot of production time.
4. In PCM there is no limit to any geometric form, and it is
possible to carry out surfaces with any degree of
complexity. Also, the parting surface is not necessarily
set as the biggest section of the casting, which eliminates
the limits inherent in product design and process
analysis.
5. It produces prototypes with recyclable media or resin
sand in a short time, which after being processed
properly, could take the place of wooden moulds as the
Fig. 2 The 3D model and layered construction method basis of Rapid Tooling, leading to fast manufacturing
and mass production of moulds.

III. ANALYSIS OF PCM

A. Theory of PCM
FRP ship moulding or large scale casting are often in forms of
completely hand-shaped wood, CNC computer cut wood
trimmed by hand, or CNC computer cut PU. Completely
hand-shaped wood method could result in different accuracy
because the staffs have different levels of skills, or because it is
difficult to completely control the accuracy by hand. In the
method of CNC computer cut then trimmed by hand, the radian
of 3D mould surfaces is not really controllable. The method of
CNC computer cut PU is the only one which is more accurate.
However the large CNC computer numerical contolling
equipment often costs tens of millions NT dollars. Also PU is
expensive but not environment friendly. It is a heavy burden
both economically and environmentally.
In this research a new casting technique is adopted, which
uses casting sand or PLA as casting material, with the principle
of dispersed/accumulated forming in Rapid Prototyping, then
Fig.3 The difference between traditional product developing process process the slicing on 3D model to obtain the closed curves
and PCM from sections of different height. Then use the techniques such
as section scanning, squeeze shaping, reasin catalyzing,
Traditional ship or product developing always includes the injecting solidifying, to complete the mould casting. PCM in
whole sequential process of concept design, system design, this research excels in recyclable, cheap and accessible
detail design, producing and testing before the stage of mass materials, short casting time, and high accuracy for large-scale
production. However what PCM excels at is the best traditional casting. It actually opens up a new field in ship or large scale
product development for the the system design, detail design, mould casting. PCM (Patternless Casting Manufacturing)
producing and testing, all these are accomplished in the process is also the division or stacking according to RP
computer PCM system, with efficiency and accuracy. In technology, and it is a new shaping method different from
Diagram 3. is the analysis of the difference between traditional traditional ones. PCM process is discribed in Figure 4.
product development and PCM. Besides, PCM also includes the
feature detailed below (Figure 3):

1. The materials used in PCM are recyclable medias or

resin sand, which lowers the costs.
2. The PCM model is constructed in a computer 3D
modeling system, which makes it easier to revise without
requiring to remake the wooden or PU mould. This
greatly decreases the cost of manufacturing large scale

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Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

3D Mold Mold Get the

design design slice scanning Control
design way
Design Control
interface files software Electronic

X-Y
motion
Sand
The sand Spray Sweeping Drop-On
condensatio nozzle system Demand
n material control control Planer Jets
Sand transports
condensation Mechanis
the catalyst
catalysis large-scale
element
mold part
Sand Model Part Overhang Support
Mold mold
post-pro manufac Build
Mass FRP mold turing
production manufacturing cessing
Substrate
Z motion
Build
Fig. 4 PCM process Table
Fig. 5 The forming method of PCM prototype
In the process, the primary spray nozzle lays the resin along a
particular path, followed by other nozzles laying the solidifying 2. Integration of CNC numerical control machine and
media, such as the catalyst, along the same path. The resin and PCM system
the catalyst must be combined with the sand quickly during the The CNC numerical control machine is a highly automatic
moulding. It is also very important to meet the requirements of technology with a computer interface. Apart from the accurate
strength, heat transfer rate, and hardening time. construction of 3D models, the computer integrated process
design and program design are the key techniques which should
B. Parameter planning of PCM be dealt within this project as well. Especially, the planning for
In the PCM process, there are lots of factors that need to work integration of the CNC numerical control machine and PCM
in co-ordination, including the scanning speed, liquid flow, system requires both theoretical knowledge and practical
mold sand scale and thickness of slices. They do not only experience in numerical control and injection moulding, to
respond to one another, but there are also chain reactions among solve all the difficulties.
them. Many of these factors could possibly effect the moulding 3. Chose for moulding materials
process. For instance, the choice of physical or chemical The development and innovative use of PCM materials is
properties of moulding sand media is related to the amount of another key point of this research, because there were no
resin and catalyst, the distance between the spray heads and precedents. Therefore, it is quite a challenge choose the proper
moulding sand, flow of injection, scanning speed, and pressure moulding materials in an innovative way. In this project we
of spray heads, etc. search for the properties with the best application values to both
To some extent, the environmental temperature and humidity experiment and verify, through both theoretical analysis and
could also effect the PCM process. The first major problem in bibliography. We look for the best moulding proposals through
this research relates to the media injection technique. The a mixture of cross-comparison of ingredient structure,
second is the liquid diffusion rate of moulding the sand cohesion prescription, and strength of materials.
material and the third is the choice of the properties of moulding 4. Adjustment of materials and system parameters
sand cohesion material. The study from now on will focus on The adjustment of materials and system parameters is
these last three aspects, in order to improve the PCM production definitely a point to deal with in this research. When the PCM
efficiency. The forming method of PCM prototype is described system is used in large moulds, the requirements include being
in Figure 5. environmently friendly, cheap, accessible, and maintaining a
proper degree of strength and accuracy. In this project we
analyze the experiments by an optimized system, to obtain the
C. Key technique and method of PCM setting of the parameters in the PCM process, such as the
1. Development of PCM pressure of the casting system, stage temperature of the injectors,
PCM casting system is an innovative design of resin injector forming temperature of resins, moving speed of casting, and
and casting theory, which has to overcome the pressure and thickness of slices, etc.
temperature of injectors and allocate the equipment properly.
Thus, well designed hot runners and controlling interface of
runner system are necessary.

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IV. THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF PCM

In this project a specially designed operating lift is used with
the large 3D CNC numerical control machine to complete the
PCM of a large scale ship. The injection moulding theory of
PCM, integrated with the CNC program control system,
squeezes out layers in the form of X-Y axes and 2D closed
curves, using the automatic operating lift moving along the Z
axis, to construct the 3D mould. The PCM system and structure
is explained in the Diagram below. In order to improve the
forming method of PCM prototype is described in Figure 5, the
PCM concept for pleasure yacht is described in Figure 6&7, the
process of PCM slicing for pleasure yacht is described in Figure
8-12, the objective placement of PCM is described in Figure
13-17.

Fig. 7 The PCM concept for Pleasure Yacht

Fig. 8 The process of PCM slicing for Pleasure Yacht

Fig. 6 The PCM concept for Pleasure Yacht

Fig. 9 The process of PCM slicing for Pleasure Yacht

Fig. 10 The process of PCM slicing for Pleasure Yacht

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Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

Fig. 14 The objective placement of PCM

Fig. 11 The process of PCM slicing for Pleasure Yacht

Fig. 15 The objective placement of PCM

Fig. 12 The process of PCM slicing for Pleasure Yacht

Fig. 16 The objective placement of PCM

Fig. 13 The objective placement of PCM

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Issue 4, Volume 5, 2011

[8] D.I. Wimpenny., G..J. Gibbons., Metal spray tooling for composite
forming, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 138, (2003),
443-448.

Wei-Yuan Dzan is a assistant professor in Department of Naval Architecture

at National Kaohsiung Marine University. He obtained a Master in Technology
Education from National Kaohsiung Normal University and a Ph.D. in
Department of System and Naval Mechatronic Engineering from National
Cheng Kung University. His research interests include materials and heat
treatment, analysis of mechatronic systems, creative product developing, and
products designing and digital manufacturing process. His research has
appeared in a variety of journals including those published by the WSEAS.

Fig. 17 The objective placement of PCM

V. CONCLUSION
Revealed by the experimental results in this research, the
PCM system not only greatly shortens the period of trial
manufacturing and marketing of large scale products, but also
decreases the cost of product prototype design. It also excels in
rapid and nimble production and opens up a new field in ship
and large scale mould production.
In the design, analysis and simulation of the PCM system in
this research, it has been proven that the technique of
computerized slicing of complex surfaces and RP/RT
technology, is capable of constructing a pure PCM system result.
The PCM system has the feature benefits, in the mould design
industry, of shortening product developing time and exacting
the sought after perfection of moulds, which is now a feasible
and extremely economical reality.

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