engleski

Casting mould creation using additive manufactured base pattern

The role of additive manufacturing is increasing in the casting industry. The traditional manufacturing of complex base patterns requires considerable time and labour. As it is typically machining, it produces high amount of waste, the machinery is significantly more expensive and requires higher proficiency than 3D printers. Additive manufacturing can support sand casting technology efficiently as it facilitates rapid, precise and cheap production of even more complex base patterns. Thus, in our study we assess the additive manufactured pattern for sand casting. In our research we manufacture a daily used storage crucible capable of safely holding a sample of Cesium-137 isotope. An adequately thick lead shielding was required to protect against γ-emission. The sample size was the main input parameter for the design. Sand casting seemed a proper technology manufacturing the crucible as machining soft lead work pieces precisely is difficult. We hypothesized that additive manufacturing would be the simplest way to create the base pattern. A model suitable both for 3D printing and sand casting was designed using CAD software considering the abovementioned factors. Using a slicer software, the G-code was generated for the fused deposition modelling printer using polylactic acid filament. Additive manufacturing was utilized with high efficiency in the process. Before creating the sand mould, a layer of putty was applied to smoothen the 3D printed surface. The quality and size of the end product was satisfactory. Casting the thick wall model resulted in cavities due to the shrinkage of the cooling material, but these deformations were very small and easily removable after casting. Acrylic coating was applied to prevent skin contamination. We experienced no other difficulties using the 3D printed base pattern. Our hypothesis was confirmed, we were able to create a 3D printed base pattern with lower cost and in shorter time compared to traditional methods.

Sand Casting, 3D printing, Sand mould, CAD design

nije evidentirano