The whole industry covers the rapid casting solution based on 3D printing

Casting is an Industrial basic industry and has an irreplaceable position. At present, there are about 26,000 foundry enterprises in my country, and the annual output of castings accounts for about half of the total global output. Among the many casting methods, sand casting is the most common production method, and the products produced by sand casting account for more than 90% of the total castings. However, in the traditional sand casting method, there are the following problems:

A ●The labor intensity is high, the working environment is harsh, and the phenomenon of shortage of employment, difficulty in recruiting and retaining workers is common;

B ●Moulding costs are high and the cycle is long, which makes it difficult to meet the production needs of multiple varieties and small batches;

C ●When manufacturing molds with complex geometric shapes, the density and precision are low, which increases the difficulty of subsequent processing;

Additive manufacturing technology (3D printing) breaks the shackles of the traditional preparation process. With the help of computer-aided design, based on the digital model, the three-dimensional model of the part is divided into multiple two-dimensional sections by using the discrete/accumulation principle, and the sections are accumulated by superposition. into a three-dimensional entity. At present, this technology is applied in the field of sand casting, which just meets the needs of the industry:

A ●Instead of the manual operation, all the molding process is carried out in a relatively closed box, and there will be no dust phenomenon during the printing process, which greatly improves the working environment and reduces heavy physical labor;

B ● Omitting the link of making molds not only saves production costs, but also improves the speed and flexibility of product trial production;

C ●Improve the dimensional accuracy of products, enhance the control ability of sand mold size, reduce the dependence of enterprises on high-tech workers, and enhance product quality, which not only reduces the subsequent product scrap rate caused by dimensional problems, but also improves the efficiency of subsequent casting product processing;

With the continuous development of aviation, aerospace, ships, new energy vehicles and other fields towards high performance, high reliability, and low cost, more and more components tend to be high-strength, lightweight, and complex, which promotes the development of additive materials. The application of manufacturing technology in many fields.

Relying on more than 50 years of casting experience of Sharing Group, Sharing Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. began to focus on casting in 20123D printingIndustrial application research, up to now, more than ten types of foundry sand mold 3D printing equipment have been independently developed, and five foundry 3D printing intelligent demonstration factories have been established across the country. In the past ten years of industrial production, the service customers involved in military industry, aerospace, engine,robotcompressors and other fields.

Below, please follow the footsteps of the editor and review the typical application cases of various industries that the company has served.

1 engine flywheel housing

Product weight: 50-100kg

Product Difficulty: The main structure is large flat and thin-walled (7mm), which is partially thick and prone to defects such as air bubbles and cold shuts

Solution: use inclined pouring process, large plane and multi-point exhaust to ensure good filling

3D printing lead time: 15 days

2 screw compressor housings

Product weight: about 1 ton

Product Difficulty: The inner cavity structure is complex; the local structure is thick and easy to shrink; there are many drilling parts

Solution: isolate thick and large parts, and use powerful chilling measures; adopt special smelting process (CE4.4 ~ 4.5, △ T≤3) to achieve simultaneous solidification

Mold opening cost: wooden mold 700,000 yuan

Mold opening cycle: 50 days

3D printing lead time: 25 days

3 multi-way valve

Product weight: 15-400kg

Difficulty of the product: The dimensional accuracy of the internal flow channel is required to be high, and there must be no defects such as draping seams; the body sampling (near the center) for metallographic measurement requires nodularization rate ≥ 90%, and the number of graphite spheres ≥ 100

Solution: The runner core is made into a whole core to ensure dimensional accuracy and avoid defects such as core assembly seams; use long-acting inoculants and special nodulizers to meet metallographic requirements

Mold opening cost: metal mold 500,000 yuan

Mold opening cycle: 90 days

3D printing lead time: 15 days

4 internal combustion engine

Product weight: 30-2000kg

Product Difficulty: The product structure is particularly complex, any form of welding repair is not allowed, the cost of mold opening is high and difficult, and the size of the sand core is large

Solution: 3D printing is used for the overall shape, and problems such as double-layer tubes, body inner cavity core, and complex inner cavity structure are easily solved.The most complex product only needs to be divided into 5 sand cores

Cost saving: 20%-60% of mold cost

Mold opening cycle: 3-6 months

3D printing lead time: 25-30 days for the first piece

5 aluminum alloy casting

Product weight: 2-60kg

Difficulty of the product: The dimensional accuracy of the internal flow channel is required to be high, and defects such as seams cannot appear; the structure is complex and the mold forming is difficult

Solution: Simplify complexity, connect multiple cores together, reduce core assembly, ensure dimensional accuracy and avoid defects such as core assembly seams

Cost saving: 20%-60% of mold cost

Mold opening cycle: 20-90 days

3D printing delivery cycle: 15-25 days delivery

The integration of 3D printing technology and traditional industries has become an inevitable trend. In the field of sand casting, 3D printing technology has also opened up a new way for the development and production of rapid, green, multi-functional, large-scale and complex parts with high requirements. The sharing meeting will not forget the original intention, continue to focus on promoting the industrial application of foundry 3D printing technology, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the foundry industry.