## 1 Introduction  
Manufacturing organizations are being forced to adopt new production techniques as a result of intense market competition, dynamic customer demands, environmental laws, and advances in technology [1]. More demanding customer requirements and greater organizational pressures have increased the need for more customized products and processes in the manufacturing sector. Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies may offer a flexible and cost-effective means of meeting these challenges [2]. Rapid tooling (RT) is a methodology which involves the application of AM in the production of small- and medium-sized batches of plastic or metallic tools [3; 4]. RT is a natural extension of AM; it originated from the need to assess the performance of AM models. To enable performance validation, such models (prototypes) must be produced using the same material and production process used for full-scale production [5; 6]. Today, the main application of RT in conventional production processes is in casting, where it is used in complex-shape and net-shape manufacturing [7; 8]. It is also used in injection moulding, to increase process flexibility and reconfigurability [9; 10], and in forming, to reduce process costs and production times [11; 12]. To increase awareness of the application of RT in conventional processes, the present study focused on the use of carbon-reinforced polymers to produce tooling for deep drawing applications with fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology. Many researchers have tested the performance of plastic tools in sheet metal processes. [PERSON] et al. tested polymeric die materials in sheet metal forming and found that by using polymeric materials with high mechanical properties it was possible to produce parts with a dimensional accuracy sufficient for most applications, even using high-strength steels. [13]. [PERSON] et al. fabricated sheet metal forming dies in epoxy resin filled with zirconia (ZrO2) to deform Al-Mg alloy blanks; their results demonstrated a forming capacity at a thickness of 0.35 mm [14]. [PERSON] et al. tested PLA punches with different internal fill patterns to draw steel blanks of 1 mm thickness to a depth of 10 mm. In terms of sheet formability,their performance was similar to that of conventional tools. The performance of polymer materials has also been tested by other researchers, and good friction properties have been reported [15]. [PERSON] et al. used FFF technology to investigate the suitability of a conventional PLA to produce tools for rubber-pad forming of metal blanks. Blanks were of 0.7 mm thickness, punch diameter was 60 mm, and drawing depth was 10 mm. A small-sized batch (64 parts) was produced, and results indicated good performance overall, though some loss of accuracy was recorded in the fillet radius due to the drawing force [16]. In [17], the authors used PLA tools to produce 30 pieces of hemispherical steel cups with a radius of 25 mm. The internal design of the tools was optimized using a topology-optimization technique which reduced weight by up to 30%. [PERSON] et al. investigated the drawing performance of two different materials: PLA; and PA filled with carbon (CF-PA). Steel blanks were formed with punches of 25 mm diameter, and higher accuracy was obtained using the CF-PA material [18]. [PERSON] et al. proposed a method to evaluate the effects of wear and the friction characteristics of polymer composites on sheet metal forming [19]. To better understand the mechanical behaviour of plastic punches, [PERSON] et al. tested the compressive and flexural mechanical properties of PLA, polycarbonate, nylon and PETG cylinders made using FFF. Their results revealed significant effects of different materials and different layer heights on properties such as flexural and compressive strength and modulus, as well as density, hardness, and surface roughness [20]. Published results in the literature show that polymer punches can be used in sheet metal forming for both aluminum and steel alloy.