Founded in 2007, Eastern Rail Corporation built a reputation on designing sustainable, high-quality solutions for the Metro Rail infrastructure in the US. For a specific component—an insulator that isolates the electrified third rail in underground subway systems–Eastern Rail needed to update the material to meet safety standards. A switch to Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) subsequently required a reevaluation of the existing mold. To tackle this issue, Eastern Rail approached Linear AMS, a Shapeways Company, seeking partnership in creating an innovative solution to enhance functionality and efficiency.

Eastern Rail is a long-standing customer, supporting transit agencies in metropolitan areas like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Miami, where urban rail systems frequently operate in underground tunnels. Such an environment demands components with specific dielectric properties, safeguarding against unwanted electrical charges and allowing for more effective management of underground train lines.

Incorporating Advanced Cooling Technology

Injection molding manufacturers often face challenges related to long cycle times, part quality, and overall efficiency. Conformal cooling technology specifically resolves these problems. Relying on 3D printing for customization and efficiency, conformal cooling adapts to fit into industrial molds. 

In contrast to conventional methods, which are restricted to machining in straight lines, conformal lines are designed to follow the shape of the part itself–leading to a more consistent temperature throughout the part’s cooling stage. This means that parts are less likely to warp, while also cooling up to 50% faster. With conformal cooling, manufacturers can reduce their cycle time and increase their throughput, all while improving part quality. 

For Eastern Rail, integrating this technology produced more consistent temperatures in tooling, leading to more efficient production cycles, satisfying stringent requirements for reliable and efficient rail systems.

Improving Tooling for Complex Materials

Initially, Eastern Rail encountered challenges due to the complex part design and core mold features, combined with the nature of Xencor PPS LGF-3045, a 45% long-glass, fiber-reinforced Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS).

While providing beneficial properties like heat resistance and durability, PPS also presents manufacturing difficulties. Linear performed a comprehensive analysis, revealing that Eastern Rail’s existing tooling with conventional cooling–in combination with a PPS material–would not produce a moldable part.

“I was aware a new approach would be necessary with the change in material,” said Mickey Morales, CEO of Eastern Rail. “After working with Linear for the past decade, I was confident in their engineering expertise and knew they were capable of delivering the dynamic solution this project needed.”
To address these issues, Linear and Eastern Rail worked side-by-side for months in prototyping and testing, experimenting with molds and the integration of 3D printed conformal cooling lines.

Upon initial review, the team suggested making the change to a steel mold over aluminum for production volumes. The PPS material is highly corrosive and would deteriorate the aluminum mold. Transitioning to a steel mold also opened up the possibility of using conformal cooling to allow for better thermal control. Additionally, based on the molding temperature requirements of PPS, the team determined hot oil would be necessary to maintain tool temperature, as opposed to water which is more commonly used.

“The shift to steel molds significantly transformed our approach, working much better with the unique characteristics of PPS and the need for a precise, controlled molding environment,” said John Tenbusch, Director of Automotive Sales at Shapeways.

“After working with Linear [A Shapeways Company] for the past decade, I was confident in their engineering expertise and knew they were capable of delivering the dynamic solution this project needed.”

Mickey Morales, CEO of Eastern Rail

Reducing Cycle Times & Improving Part Quality

The introduction of conformal cooling was highly effective, yielding a remarkable improvement in efficiency after Linear introduced steel tooling. Implementing conformal cooling led to a design adjustment that significantly cut costs. Interchangeable inserts, usually requiring three cores, were reduced to just one.

“We had to incorporate cooling one way or another,” said David Dickerson, Manager of Client Services at Shapeways. “Without conformal cooling, we couldn’t have made the interchangeable parts we needed for the various sizes of the insulator.”

With the new steel molds and conformal cooling inserts, the Linear team was able to reduce the cycle time from 181 seconds to 138 seconds, reflecting a 23% improvement. Reduced production time allows for more parts to be made, lowering both piece cost and overall program cost, without sacrificing part quality. The more even, controlled temperatures also led to the production of higher-quality, more reliable parts.

While the initial prototyping and testing phase required significant time and financial investment, the cost savings over the long term more than justified the upfront expenditure. The enhanced material durability, lower maintenance needs, and increased production speeds collectively contributed to significant long-term economic advantage for Eastern Rail.

“While we encountered a few obstacles during our journey, Linear’s team of experts was again able to provide a highly engineered solution while providing cost-saving benefits,” said Mickey Morales, CEO of Eastern Rail.

Aligning with Regulatory and Environmental Considerations

Eastern Rail’s openness to new solutions enabled improvements with both short and long-term benefits, meeting industry-specific needs while maintaining a commitment to environmentally friendly materials and regulatory compliance.

This case study offers useful problem-solving insights for issues related to materials, tooling, and cooling. These solutions may be applicable to other manufacturing sectors as well. Overall, this project showcases the value of teamwork, innovation, and excellence in manufacturing

Find out more about how Shapeways can collaborate with your company.

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What is Tooling in Manufacturing?

A typical tooling definition for industrial manufacturing refers to procuring all the parts and machinery necessary to complete a production run. No matter what the industry, machine tooling is the process that allows for the design, cutting, and shaping of materials used to make industrial parts. 

Quality tooling leads to quality in parts. When the focus is on quality, 3D printed tooling is a common option for creating jigs, fixtures, and molds. Tooling is frequently used in prototyping, allowing manufacturers to make parts and test them for form and fit. This allows project members to give feedback during the iteration process. 

Additive manufacturing plays a large role in this process today; for example, although a manufacturer can machine an aluminum mold, 3D printed injection mold tooling can be made exponentially faster without lead time, offering high resolution and overall exceptional quality.

For traditional manufacturing, tooling is critical to the production of end-use parts. Once the prototyping process is completed, parts can be created efficiently in large quantities.

Soft Tooling vs. Hard Tooling

Delineating soft tool vs. hard tool is a matter of the materials used, easily defined by the terminology. Soft tooling relies on creating a master pattern for a tool with flexible materials like silicone, while hard tooling relies on metal materials like Aluminum or Stainless Steel. In choosing one over the other, manufacturers tend to use soft tooling for prototyping via Urethane Casting, offering great surface finish, accuracy in detail, and swift turnaround for project deadlines. Shapeways 3D prints silicone molds which  can also be manufactured traditionally with materials like carbon. 

Soft tooling is predominant in use cases like making models for testing, client presentations, and small batches of products–for a client to introduce to their customer base or pilot program. Small production runs make it easier to customize parts and make changes easily. Lead times are shortened with soft-tooling, and it is a better option for projects with limited budgets but with the need for speed in production. 3D printing in tooling makes it even easier to meet such goals.

With hard tooling, there may be greater expense upfront, but tools like molds tend to last longer–in comparison to soft tools that expire more quickly; in fact, it may not be possible to use them for more than 50 production runs. Hard tooling pays off as a good investment for larger volumes, despite the need for post-processing and further treatment after manufacturing.

Applications for both soft and hard tooling could include nearly anything industrial, with large volumes of parts manufactured in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and medical.

Traditional Manufacturing with Shapeways

Shapeways offers a variety of options for Injection Molding, whether tooling requires the use of metal or other materials, and industrial machine tools are used to make molds for manufacturing high-performance parts. Versatility in manufacturing is always important, leading processes like Urethane Casting to continue trending upward in popularity. 

With a technique like urethane casting, manufacturers enjoy the ability to make a wide range of molds without being restricted to the expense and time-consuming process of making metal molds, typically more suitable for mass production.

“The vast material selection available for Urethane Casting is a great benefit,” said Thomas Murphy, Senior Product Manager, Physical Products at Shapeways. “This technology provides many material options for functional, durable parts as well as offering colors not always available in additive manufacturing.”

Additional traditional manufacturing options with Shapeways include:

• CNC Machining – Shapeways relies on powerfully automated CNC machines. Parts are constructed through the removal of material–subtractive manufacturing–to create a part.
• Sheet Metal – Numerous traditional manufacturing processes are used to create durable, high-quality metal structures.
• Vacuum Casting – A vacuum draws liquid into a 3D printed mold, where it solidifies–resulting in the desired structure.

About Shapeways

Enjoy the benefits of this advanced technology and a wide range of materials from Shapeways for 3D printing your creations with accuracy, complex detail, and no minimum or limits in terms of mass customization or single part orders. Shapeways has worked with over 1 million customers in 160 countries to 3D print over 21 million parts! Read about case studies, find out more about Shapeways additive manufacturing solutions, and get instant quotes here.

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