Using a new rapid manufacturing process, MCP - HEK Tooling GmbH utilises all the advantages of their MCP Vacuum Casting Process for producing prototypes, short and pre-series runs in Polyamide - Nylon PA6. Dimensional accuracy and the material properties of nylon parts produced with MCP Nylon Vacuum Casting correspond fully to the requirements of production components, whereby costly and time intensive preparation and machines of prototype tooling is totally unnecessary. A further advantage, casting in silicone moulds with the nylon casting equipment enables the most complex of nylon parts to be produced in a cycle time of only 6 minutes, even with internal undercuts.

Getting from the product idea to a usable production part still takes far too long using traditional methods. The main reason: the properties of prototyping materials are in most cases not up to real production requirements. Even when the "touch, feel, fit and function" properties of prototypes are acceptable, in many cases the original, specified materials, are required to fulfil all tests. Ideally, a rapid prototyping process such as nylon vacuum casting which produces accurate thermoplastic parts in original production materials is the perfect solution. One of the most popular production materials - with increasing tendency, is polyamide (Nylon), in particular the group PA6. The properties and durability of nylon parts are so convincing that the material is used today in all areas of industry and in all walks of life, for example for fixtures, containers, housings, pipes, automotive inlet manifolds, gears and living hinges etc. etc.

Looking at this tremendous usage of polyamides and the fact that the development of nylon production parts always requires expensive, machined prototype tooling it is evident that with MCP Nylon Vacuum Casting a multi million rationalisation method is imminent. Further, MCP Vacuum Cast Nylon PA6 parts are suitable for welding and glueing. Long term testing shows that vacuum cast parts have advantages over nylon parts produced with other rapid prototyping processes, particularly regarding material density and weldability, which will develop quickly into a competitive advantage for MCP - HEK System.

The equipment operates on the principals of standard vacuum casting machines with a PLC controller, together with a purpose designed nylon module, to control all casting parameters to produce exact prototypes and pre-series runs in Nylon PA6. The cycle time is 6 minutes, much shorter than with the regular vacuum casting process which has cycle times of 15-60 minutes and in some cases more.

Time and cost intensive machined injection tooling for producing prototypes is no longer required. For producing nylon casting moulds, users can apply the complete MCP Silicone Tooling Technology, with which a completely new rapid manufacturing process is made available. This enables quick manufacture, as long as a pattern or RP (Rapid Prototyping) model is available, of nylon parts identical to the production parts within one, or, depending on size, two days. Based on over 15 years of vacuum casting technology, MCP - HEK can confirm cost and time savings of up to 97% when compared to traditional mould making methods using metal tooling to produce prototypes in original materials. The components produced in nylon are convincingly tough and rigid, have excellent mechanical properties, wear and chemical resistance! Lightness in weight is another attribute making nylon components an acceptable substitute for aluminium particularly since three completely different nylon materials are available, with flexural modular ratings ranging from 700 through 1000 to 2000 MPa. Further, all materials can be colour matched using master batch. The maximum size of mould which can be used in the nylon vacuum casting machine is 750 mm H x 900 mm W x 750 mm D. The maximum casting capacity of the MCP Nylon Casting Module is 5kg. This is large enough to include the majority of parts which are produced internationally using nylon. Whether MCP - HEK will be supplying equipment for larger parts is not a question of feasibility, but one of actual requirement for big components. The world's largest machines are available for the standard MCP Vacuum Casting Process with 4m“ mould size and 26 kg casting capacity, for example for producing prototype bumpers and dashboards.