Some parts are so critical and designed with such complexity and precision that milling or turning are just not sufficient. For example, jet turbine vanes are developed to exhibit specific metallographic profiles throughout their mass as well as across the specific shape. Investment casting – filling a mold with a specific high-strength alloy that must be solidified under vacuum – is the only way to produce such a part.
At IMTS 2024, additive manufacturing group 3D SYSTEMS will exhibit a range of printing technologies and related developments in booth 433129, including a new design software that enhances investment casting performance.
Foundries that produce investment castings start with a detailed pattern that is encased in a hard ceramic shell… an investment casting mold. When molten metal fills that shell – and thus sacrificed – the pattern is reproduced as a semi-finished casting.
In fact, the investment casting process starts with the design of the pattern. For thousands of years, investment casting tooling has been produced in wax – which vaporizes in contact with molten metal. Producing those designs is time-consuming and expensive, but in the mid-1990s 3D Systems introduced its QuickCast® process for printing patterns in polymer material using Stereolithography (SLA), or MultiJet Printing (MJP), which considerably shortens the design and prep stages for investment casting.
Now 3D Systems has introduced a new function to the design software it offers for polymer printing projects, one that it reports will help maximize material removal from the interior of casting patterns. The effect will be that large, high-precision investment casting patterns will be available more quickly and tooling costs will be reduced, with more geometric options available to designers.
The QuickCast Air™ advanced tool is available via annual subscription in the 3D Sprint® design software, part of 3D Systems’ investment casting portfolio, to assist in designing patterns “with fewer structures within the self-supporting walls,” according to an announcement.
For investment casting producers, “Using less resin and building more refined support structures results in less material needing to be burned out and thus less ash. Furthermore, having less internal structure makes it easier to drain the resin, thus retaining more within the vat during the draining process rather than being lost downstream. Within 3D Sprint, users can easily adjust the part’s shell thickness and add vents and drains on any surface, simplifying part set-up regardless of the build orientation.”
Further advantages cited include lower polymer material consumption, lower pattern costs, and accelerated build times.
According to 3D Systems, QuickCast Air is already helping some large-volume aerospace manufacturers reduce the material consumption on their patterns by up to 50%, and customers also confirm multi-hour reductions in build times.
“Since 3D Systems introduced QuickCast more than two decades ago, we have continued to evolve this unique tool and the capabilities it provides,” stated Patrick Dunne, VP, advanced applications, 3D Systems. “Our customer-centric approach to innovation fuels this transformation by closely aligning with their unique challenges. As with many of our products, QuickCast Air was born from a specific customer’s application requirements. I’m pleased that we are now able to bring this advanced tool to market thus refining the design and production of investment casting patterns. I’m looking forward to seeing how the adoption of QuickCast Air will continue to unlock design freedom and accelerate production timelines.”
3D Systems will exhibit QuickCast Air at IMTS 2024 – in booth 433129 – and invites attendees to see how large-format 3D printing can accelerate problem-solving, optimize workflows, increase uptime, and extend equipment life.
Learn more at www.3DSystems.com
