3DP sand printing technology is a digital green manufacturing technology based on digital model files, using powdered metal or non-metal and other bondable materials, layer by layer printing to construct objects. Compared with the traditional sand casting, 3DP sand printing technology does not require molds, direct printing of sand molds, design flexibility, can be low-cost, efficiently complete the development of new products and small and medium batch product delivery, rapid response to market demand. In terms of quality, 3DP sand mold is not subject to the constraints of the mold sand turning process, with micron-level high precision, complex structure of one free-form, part of the cast aluminum casting surface accuracy can be comparable to precision casting, but also reduces the assembly error caused by the scrap rate, reducing the labor of workers.
At present, 3DP sand printing technology has been matured in the casting production of commercialized applications, is a real market-proven universal technology. Its optimization of sand performance, processing speed, molding size, etc. to enhance the obvious advantages, especially for new product development, complex products and small batch production. Some of the introduction of 3DP sand printing equipment for intelligent transformation of foundry enterprises, has established a green, flexible, rapid casting capabilities, to achieve production efficiency, capacity, revenue doubling growth. Some enterprises have even experienced oversupply and overflow of orders due to the obvious improvement of technology and services.
Price, performance, stability, use and maintenance costs are usually the factors that users will consider when purchasing 3DP sand printing equipment. By 3D printing equipment and rapid manufacturing service provider Longyuan AFS independent research and development of 3DP sand printing equipment AFS-J1600Pro has been purchased by a number of foundry users for the production line, with excellent molding accuracy, balanced and controllable casting performance and excellent reliability to help users to solve the casting production in the efficiency of the casting, the strength of the casting performance of the contradiction between the completion of the order tens of millions of dollars.
The equipment molding cylinder size of 1600 × 800 × 600mm, using the latest generation of high stability, low noise, high-speed vibration powder laying technology and 2-Pass high-precision printing technology, with high-performance molding process and intelligent algorithms technology, can achieve 15 seconds per layer of the printing speed and the highest ± 0.3mm printing accuracy; print the tensile strength of the sand type can reach a maximum of 2.5MPa, the volume of gas 8-11ml/g, the surface roughness ≤ Ra25. The equipment adopts modular design, convenient and flexible maintenance, low maintenance cost; equipped with intelligent system, making the operation more convenient, can realize one-key printing, and has the function of printing warning prompts; also through the visual monitoring and other intelligent systems, real-time monitoring of the whole process of processing, record traceability. For cast aluminum, cast iron, cast steel, cast magnesium and other different casting applications, to provide open source sand process solutions, supporting a wealth of sand systems and high-performance binder, curing agent, cleaning agent, to optimize the cost of use for users.
A user uses AFS-J1600Pro sand rapid casting process to produce a lightweight frame for a new energy vehicle company, and the finished aluminum alloy (ZL101) castings were delivered in 6 days. The dimensional accuracy of the finished product reaches CT7, the surface roughness is better than Ra12.5, and the casting surface is free of porosity and cracks, with complete shape and clear structure. Compared with the 40-day production cycle required by the traditional manufacturing process, the production cycle was shortened by 85% and the cost was reduced by 32% by using 3DP sand-printed rapid casting.
A user through the AFS-J1600Pro sand rapid casting process for a car factory trial production of engine block, due to the complexity of the cylinder structure, and small wall thickness, if the traditional method of production cycle takes more than 1 month. 3DP sand printing equipment produced by the sand mold, precision and strength than the traditional process have been greatly improved, the tensile strength of up to 2MPa, the casting surface roughness of better than Ra12.5, defect control is good, no flesh, pores, cracks, slag, no surface defects and defects. It takes only 10 days to deliver the finished castings of gray cast iron (HT250), which shortens the production cycle by 2/3 and reduces the cost by 30%.