Challenges
A government contractor was challenged to find a small lot method to produce a hexagon boot clamp with a temperature performance requirement that was limiting their options. Traditional manufacturing techniques like injection molding and machining were too expensive for short run production. Initial AM methods used to produce these parts fell short on meeting the desired material properties, and failed testing conditions that they were subjected to.
Stereolithography (SLA) models were challenged by temperature limitations, and warped during thermal testing and heating. Each failure would compromise a week of testing for the application.