Low-cost manufacturing of high-precision personalized flexures by a hybrid 3D printing-electroforming technique

Today, the manufacturing industry increasingly faces the challenge of producing low volumes of personalized parts. As such, novel approaches have to be developed to address this new reality. To this end, a low-cost hybrid manufacturing method combining fused deposition modeling and electroforming to fabricate personalized high-precision metal parts is investigated. Three different approaches are studied and compared with each other in order to fabricate the mold assemblies employed for part electroforming. The potential of employing the chosen technique was evaluated by electroforming micro-hinges with various thicknesses and characterized mechanically. It is demonstrated that dimensions relevant to typical applications of micro-hinges can be achieved. In order to determine the capability of the developed manufacturing process, a functional X–Y micro-positioning stage is fabricated. Finally, the time and costs per part to manufacture personalized parts through the suggested method are studied based on the number of 3D printers deployed to print the molds during the electroforming. Manufacturing costs range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars depending on the type of deployed 3D printer.