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IDC Models Uses Special Moulding Solution to Test Mobiles

IDC Models was tasked by IndexSar to find a solution to a difficult moulding issue. Indexsar required a model of a human hand which would incorporate carbon black to absorb the radio waves emitted by mobile phones during performance testing, but this presented several problems.

Vince O’Horo, director of IDC Models, explains, “Carbon black is a difficult substance to work with. The ratio of carbon to polymer needed to be exactly right in order to distribute the carbon evenly throughout the phantom hand. Often the black carbon powder becomes very thick when mixed making it difficult to manipulate and creating air pockets within the mould. We had to work quickly and accurately, employing a moulding technique customised for the job in hand.”

Rapid prototyping was a core part of perfecting the production process in-house at IDC Models. Polyurethene elastomer was used to allow the ‘phantom’ fingers to flex and curve around a mobile phone for testing, regardless of its shape or size. Engineers and model-makers worked together to devise a specialist moulding technique which cancelled out the issues raised by the materials and system design itself. After producing numerous prototypes, the model-making team found that a moulding system which encompassed half pressure casting and half vacuum-casting was most efficient and effective.

O’Horo continues, “Working with such thick materials can be a real challenge when moulding , but by having all the rapid prototyping techniques available to us we were able to rapidly develop a custom injection process. Having an in-house SLA machine (Stereolithography) to produce durable master 3-D parts from which to make the moulds also reduced lead times. By perfecting the process, we have also cancelled out the possibility of wasted imperfect models, allowing the client to supply demand quickly and effectively.”

IDC Models has produced over 20 phantom hand models for Indexsar in a variety of sizes to meet the demands of the mobile phone design. Each model has been produced using the customised technique.

7 July 2010

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