Tooling, in manufacturing, can be defined as the process of designing and

engineering the tools essential for producing the components or parts needed
to form the final product. It can include cutting tools such as grinding and
milling machines; work-holding tools such as fixtures or jigs; molds, dies, and
patterns for plastics and sheet metals; and welding and inspection fixtures.
There is an unlimited number of approaches for tool development and many
materials, ranging from hard metals to composites that can be used to
produce these tools.

Image Credit: General Plastics

Tooling is a core technology used in virtually all major markets — from electronics to
transportation to food processing — and is frequently a standard part of the design
and production process. With so many other aspects to look into, it is easy to fall
back on the default traditional tooling approaches. But for many companies, shifting
to an alternate tooling material or using a new method for designing and developing
tooling, could help to deliver that bullet-proof design in a more efficient way, saving
time as well as money.

Across industries, plenty of manufacturers are trying out composite, or “soft” tooling
techniques using materials such as polyurethane foam. While this may not be the
right choice for all applications and tooling requirements, there are several instances
where using polyurethane foam either as the final tool or to help in making the final
hard tool can help you to lower cost, iterate faster, or create a more accurate tool.
This article explores the main considerations to evaluate your tooling requirements
and how to make the most of the tooling strategies and methods using polyurethane
foam.

High Cost of Small Mistakes

Tooling is an important part of the manufacturing process. Using inferior quality
tooling will mostly result in substandard components being built that are susceptible
to malfunction, fail under stress, or be unable to meet project specifications or
requirements. This can cause huge quantities of parts to be wasted or even require
you to start production from scratch.

The quality of the finished part, its properties, the accuracy and speed with which the
part can be made, and repeatability in high-volume operations all rely on the
precision and features of the tooling. Using the right process and correct material to
develop those tools is vital to guarantee properly functioning parts. In brief, to
develop the best product, you must design the best tools, engineered to the
maximum quality, for the task.

Top Considerations for Designing the Right Tooling

There are a number of considerations when choosing the right tooling for a specific
application. The following are some of the most critical questions a manufacturer
needs to ask:

 How will the tool be used and what performance requirements are needed for
that use?
 What material will ideally suit those requirements?
 What are the curing conditions?
 What is your production rate?
 What are your tolerance levels?
 What are the dimensions of the finished tool?
 How many times does the tool need to perform its task?
 What contours and incorporated functions does the product have?
 What will be the time taken from prototyping to production?
 What is the required surface finish?
 What is the allocated budget?
In the end, choosing the appropriate technique depends on how you plan to use the
tool and achieve a perfect (or near perfect) match of coefficient of thermal expansion
(CTE), production rate and curing conditions, tolerance levels and surface finish, and
dimensional complexity, among others. The answers to these questions will lead one
to the correct process for discovering this match and engineering the correct tooling
that will result in the production of superior quality, suitably functioning parts.

Tooling Technique: Hard Tooling vs. Soft Tooling

There are two basic types of tooling — hard tooling and soft tooling. Hard tooling
mostly uses metallic materials such as aluminum, steel, or metal alloys like Invar;
while soft tooling materials are usually composite materials such as high-density
foam, machinable epoxy boards, fiberglass, or wood/plaster models.

High-density tooling foam (left) and Polished graphite Hexcell Corporation

HexTool® (right). Image Credit: General Plastics

Traditionally, hard tooling has been the reliable standard in the manufacturing sector.
It is durable, delivers good surface finish, and stands up to a lot of pulls for high-
production operations (for example up to 1,500 autoclave cycles for steel tools).
Furthermore, metals commonly have low CTEs, which work well when developing
components that also have a low CTE, demanding tolerances, or require repeated
high-temperature cycling.

The CTE measures the fractional variation in size per degree change in temperature
at a constant pressure.
When the CTE values of the tooling and production materials are matched, the
materials will expand and contract at the same rates when dealing with diverse
curing temperatures — resulting in high-quality parts possessing precise dimensional
tolerances. Just like a hard tooling technique is a better selection when making
components with low CTE, soft tooling options are mostly a better choice when
producing composite parts to decrease CTE mismatch and maintain dimensional
accuracy while curing. Shown below are the CTEs of standard tooling materials.

Relative CTEs of Common Tool Materials. Image Credit: SME.org

In contrast to hard tooling, soft tooling is faster and easier to machine into complex
shapes and can rapidly be modified as needed or reworked. Moreover, the soft
tooling raw material, as well as the process of machining it, offers the advantage of a
lower price tag, and is easier to move about with its lighter weight.

These advantages are why several manufacturers are shifting to lighter-weight soft
tooling for prototyping and other time-bound projects, producing tools with complex
or large designs, production runs with low-part volumes, or when economical
solutions are necessary.

Polyurethane Foam: A Versatile Choice Among Soft

Tooling Options
Although a wide range of materials can be used for soft tooling, polyurethane foam
tooling boards (also called high-density urethane or HDU), such as General Plastics
LAST-A-FOAM®, is an ingenious option. LAST-A-FOAM® tooling boards are a
sought-out replacement for large-sized tools in which material, handling, processing,
and shipping costs of metal are a problem, or in limited-run tooling in which metal
tools are cost-prohibitive. These tooling boards are best-suited as master models
and composite tooling in applications such as low-temperature layups to high-
temperature autoclaves.

In addition, with programs that have limited turnaround times, foam tooling can
considerably cut down on the R&D cycles and help the product in hitting the market
faster. Three applications in which LAST-A-FOAM® polyurethane foam is the perfect
option have been discussed below.

Foam Master Molds

It is usually difficult to develop tooling that can fulfill tight tolerances but still endure
high temperatures and repeated curing cycles. Although the potential to easily
control and shape polyurethane foam renders it highly suitable for creating a tool that
has unique shapes or tight tolerances, it cannot endure repeated curing cycles or
high temperatures that can be withstood by a composite or metallic tool. However,
LAST-A-FOAM® high-temperature tooling boards have demonstrated their value as
a master mold owing to their potential to endure high-heat prepreg and autoclave
curing. It serves as an exceptional substrate due to its high compressive modulus,
high glass transition temperature (Tg), and predictable CTE.

These tooling boards are economical and can be molded into complex shapes and
machined to a tight tolerance. If changes are required on the master tool, the
material can be easily altered and reused at a fraction of the cost of metal tooling. An
example of the steps for developing a master mold with the help of LAST-A-FOAM®
is illustrated below.
 An example of using LAST-A-FOAM® as a master mold to create a composite
HexTool®. Image Credit: General Plastics

Prototyping
While developing new parts, in general, companies go through a number of iterations
to make sure that they perform as intended. Hence, it is highly important to select
tooling materials that are cost-efficient and easy to modify, thereby enabling a range
of design modifications while fulfilling project timelines and budgets.

Apart from being highly stable and precise, LAST-A-FOAM® is a cost-efficient

material that provides the flexibility to cut and re-cut while making product iterations.
For instance, in the aerospace industry, in new or experimental programs that
typically involve various design iterations upfront, the use of LAST-A-FOAM® is
highly advantageous since it is possible to rapidly iterate prototypes in a budget-
conscious manner. It can be also applied in the transportation industry, with almost
all major automotive companies using LAST-A-FOAM® for their prototyping work.
 Students at the University of Utah used LAST-A-FOAM® to build a mold for the
carbon fiber outer shell of their formula SAE racecar. Image Credit: General Plastics

Although the choice of a low-cost and less permanent material is an option, it should
never be the only consideration. It is always best to abstain from materials that might
deform or soften in applications where the temperature stability of the material at
higher temperatures is significant. This will lead to wide differences in tolerance and
production of parts with irregular dimensions.

Surface Verification Tool

Another soft tooling application is the use of the polyurethane foam as a surface
verification tool. Prior to the start of the time-consuming process of machining hard
tooling and cutting a costly piece of metal, it is advisable to use a low-cost surface
verification tool to make sure that the tool path is accurate. The potential to easily
machine and cut LAST-A-FOAM® renders it best suited for surface verification.

Layup Molds and Mandrels

In order to develop layup molds and mandrels, the LAST-A-FOAM® tooling board
series is an excellent choice due to the cell structure and dimensional stability of the
foam and the potential to easily machine it. Due to the fact that the majority of layup
mold and mandrel applications have ambient or low-temperature cures, tight
tolerances, and a low number of pulls, LAST-A-FOAM® is an advantageous material
for these applications.

For instance, LAST-A-FOAM® is used by leading marine manufacturers due to its

ability to easily and securely bond to fiberglass laminating resin systems. The grain-
free, tough tooling board has an exceptional bonding ability that enables
manufacturers to develop the oversized blocks required for molds for large hulls.

Furthermore, used by aircraft and wind turbine manufacturers, LAST-A-FOAM®

aided in creating tools to develop spars that run the length of the wing of a wind
turbine or an airplane to prevent it from buckling under stress. LAST-A-FOAM® is
the perfect choice for developing these spars since it enables their complex hollow
tube shape to be easily accommodated.

To manufacture the spars, first, a polyurethane foam mold is developed, and then,
the carbon fiber is placed on the tool and cured. Subsequently, extraction of the
foam discloses the layup tool used for developing the spars. Then, a resin is added,
the tool is vacuum-bagged, and is then cured, in general at room temperature,
before demolding and extracting the finished part.

Case Study: How Tooling Using LAST-A-

FOAM® Helped Accelerate Aerospace R&D Cycles
BLR Aerospace specializes in developing aerodynamic performance enhancements
and exterior modifications for turbine-powered aircraft and helicopters. For rapid and
profitable development of innovative aerodynamic cowlings, the company was in
search of a stable, easily machined tooling material for prototyping composite parts
— particularly large-scale, life-sized carbon fiber and fiberglass parts. Earlier, the
metallic tools were used by the company, which were expensive to produce and
time-consuming. The company’s design engineers were looking for an affordable
substitute for a more permanent tooling to allow for different design iterations, while
also taking into account time and cost requirements.

An example of a BLR aircraft in flight. Image Credit: General Plastics

BLR tried out other tooling materials and selected General Plastics’ LAST-A-FOAM®
FR-4700 High-Temperature Tooling series due to its uniformity, temperature stability,
and exceptional machinability.

Machining tools using this foam allows us to lay up the carbon-fiber and composite
parts, put them in the oven and make true-to-life prototypes using the actual
materials that we’ll use in production.

Russell Bezzo, lead project engineer, BLR Aerospace

In addition, the tools with lower weight were less cumbersome to handle while
developing prototypes and could be shipped to their composite manufacturing
facilities at low cost.

BLR Aerospace also made the most of the CNC machining capabilities and expertise
of General Plastics to develop its prototype tools, which made the tooling process
simple and the process rapid. On the whole, depending on General Plastics for its
high-temperature tooling foam as well as its CNC machining capabilities enabled
BLR to accomplish shorter R&D cycles, tighter tolerances, and increased cost-
effectiveness and faster design iterations.

Benefits of LAST-A-FOAM®
The choice of tooling material can have an impact on the design and quality of the
product, production costs, and on-time completion of the project. In the search for a
cost-efficient and rapid time-to-market option for a limited run tooling, LAST-A-
FOAM® could be the ideal choice. LAST-A-FOAM® comes in a range of densities
that endure a broad range of temperatures of up to 400 °F.

It can be easily machined into complex shapes with minute details and can be
altered by just bonding on extra foam with adhesive, filling voids, or carving off any
excess. In general, lead times are shorter as the machining process is more rapid
and the material is readily available. Moreover, LAST-A-FOAM® is lightweight and
considerably easier to handle, specifically for large parts that have to be maneuvered
over a factory floor.
Its low CTE and high Tg make it ideal for use in vacuum-forming applications;
however, other urethane products may deform or soften. It has an exceptional
bonding potential to develop monolithic tools and molds for large-scale projects and
is uniform from sheet to sheet, non-abrasive, and grain-free to ensure fine surface
finishes with nearly any coating system.

Depending on its low weight, material characteristics, and ease of accommodating

complex shapes, LAST-A-FOAM® could possibly be used as a viable substitute to
conventional metallic tools, saving time and cost on the subsequent tooling project.