Product category:
Materials processing and testing
News Release from: Norse Precision Castings
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 06 June 2005
Plastic or metal without favour to
either
Norse Precision Castings reckons its ability to offer plastic or metal components without favour to either is an almost unique service.
Norse Precision Castings offers an almost unique service to design and production teams being able to offer plastic or metal components without favour to either Recognising some years ago the parallels of processing rigid polyurethane and aluminium sand casting, the company offers both materials, cross fertilising the many common skills, particularly mould and pattern making
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 17 Oct 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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Rigid polyurethane moulding down to 1mm thick
Techniques at Norse Precision Castings for moulding rigid polyurethane can produce wall thickness from 1 to 30mm with tolerances as low as +/-0.3mm.
Both materials are highly fluid - aluminium at temperature and polyurethane as cold cast - giving exceptional ability to form complex three dimensional patterns to near net shape.
This excellent fluidity also allows thin walls and irregular shaped surface indentations for logos to be incorporated into the part.
Rigid polyurethane has been used to form a retrenchant feature which, with many other production methods, would need expensive split tooling.
Techniques at Norse Precision Castings allow wall thickness on rigid polyurethane from 1 to 30mm with tolerances as low as +0.3mm, and 3 +0.4mm on aluminium, producing parts requiring little or no secondary operations.
The materials are fluid enough as cast to allow changes in section for strengthening ribs or, in aluminium for heatsinks to be incorporated.
Further, the benefits of polyurethane come without the loss of the commercial advantage of plastic, and both benefit from low cost "tooling" made in relatively short production times.
Without then any styling restrictions the net effect is to allow the designer the luxury of material selection on secondary considerations such as net strength, aluminium being overall the stronger, weight, polyurethane being the lighter, or on parameters such as heat conductivity, electrical insulation or screening and the like.
The input from Norse Precision Castings is experience in the precision manufacture of parts in both.
Each have however, some unique aspects for example the absence of high temperatures during the polyurethane process means more delicate items can be encapsulated without risk of damage, and the heat conductivity of aluminium is exceptional, parts often being used as an integral part of a system's thermal management.
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