Design and Development Of 3D Sand Mold Printer For Rapid Casting

Abstract

3D printing is one of “Additive Manufacturing” technique that has been defined as “the process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing and formative manufacturing methodologies”. The process is used for rapid casting and can be used for direct printing of sand molds. It holds quite a promise to reduce the lead times of cast parts since it can create difficult and exact sand cores and molds directly from CAD data, thereby reducing the need for a physical pattern. Research had been carried out to determine how the locally available/used sands and binders affect the properties of the 3D printed mold. An experimental scale lab setup for 3D printing sand molds was also developed which had made use of inkjet printing technology to spray the binder on the sand layers. The process was started with distributing a fine layer of sand, pre-mixed with the activator, and followed by spraying binder in the selected area of the deposited sand layer. Bonding reactions took place that made the sand particles stick together only within the region where the binder was sprayed. The process was repeated as the platform moves downward by a set distance until all of the layers of the part are completely printed and a final sand layer is spread. Finally, the mold produced was tested for determining the relationships between the various parameters and the properties of the 3-D printed mold. Piezoelectric Jet Head was also designed and manufactured in order to study the droplet dispersion of binder that is jetted by head