3D Sand Mold Printer Buying Guide – 3D sand printing (Part 1)

New Transformation for Traditional Foundries

In today’s rapid development of the manufacturing industry, traditional foundries are facing increasingly fierce market competition and increasingly high requirements for product quality. Sand 3D printing, as an advanced technology, is becoming the key to enhancing competitiveness and upgrading foundries. However, many traditional foundry owners do not know from what perspective to evaluate before planning to introduce this advanced equipment. This purchasing guide is designed to provide comprehensive, in-depth guidance for traditional foundry managers to help them make informed purchasing decisions.

I. Understand your own needs

Analyze the current production situation of the factory

Evaluate the traditional process:

Carefully review the traditional casting process currently used in the factory, including the mold making method (such as wooden mold, metal mold, etc.), mold making process (hand molding or machine molding), melting and pouring process.

Evaluate the time, labor and material cost of each step, as well as the existing problems. For example, traditional wooden mold making can take weeks and is prone to dimensional deviation and damage; hand molding is labor-intensive, inefficient and of inconsistent quality.

Product characteristics:

Determine the type of castings that the factory will mainly produce, whether they are simple castings or castings with complex internal cavities, thin-walled structures or delicate curved surfaces.

Determine the size range of the casting, from small castings of a few centimeters to large castings of several meters. At the same time, analyze the accuracy requirements of the casting, for example, some aerospace castings may require millimeter accuracy or even higher.

In addition, consider the material of the casting. Different materials may have different requirements for casting processes and equipment.

Consider the production scale:

Evaluate the daily production scale of the plant, including monthly or annual casting output. Understand the characteristics of the production order, whether it is a large-scale production of a single product or a small-scale production of a variety of products.

It is also necessary to understand the production peaks and seasonal changes in production capacity, which will affect the selection of equipment and production arrangement.

Small Batch Sand Casting

2. Identify goals and desired improvement direction

Cost Control Objective:

If the main goal is to reduce costs, you need to analyze the cost components of each stage. Mold making costs account for a large part of the traditional process, while sand 3D printers can eliminate the mold making process and significantly reduce this cost.

At the same time, in terms of labor costs, 3D printers have a high degree of automation, which can reduce dependence on labor. In terms of material costs, although 3D printing requires specific sand and binders, material utilization can be improved and waste reduced by precisely controlling the amount of materials used. For example, for a medium-sized foundry, by introducing sand 3D printers, mold costs can be reduced by 40%, labor costs by 30%, and material costs can be saved by about 20%.

Demand for efficiency:

For foundries looking to improve productivity, focus on the molding speed of the equipment. Sand 3D printers can print a complex sand mold in just a few hours, significantly increasing efficiency compared to the weeks it takes to make and shape a traditional mold.

In addition, considering the parallel production capacity of the equipment, some advanced 3D printers can print multiple sand molds at the same time or print partitions on a large sand mold, significantly reducing the total production cycle. For example, after introducing a 3D printer to an auto parts foundry, the product development cycle was shortened from several months to several weeks, and the production efficiency increased by more than 50%.

Expectations for quality improvement:

The high-precision printing ability of sand 3D printers is essential if higher product quality is required. The ability to precisely control the size and shape of the sand mold reduces the dimensional deviation and surface defects in the casting process.

At the same time, due to the stability and consistency of the printing process, it can improve the internal quality of the casting and reduce defects such as porosity and slag traps. For example, in some high-end equipment manufacturing fields, the castings produced by 3D printing sand molds have reduced the scrap rate from 10% of the traditional process to less than 2%, and the product quality is significantly improved.

Direction to improve flexibility:

For the needs of small batch production, multi-variety or individual customized orders of the foundry, the advantages of 3D sand printers are particularly obvious.

It does not need to make physical molds, you can quickly switch to the production of various products according to digital models, greatly improving the flexibility of production. For example, some art foundries or custom parts manufacturing enterprises, through 3D printing technology can meet the diverse needs of customers, expanding the market space.

3. Review of the main features of the sand 3D printer

Printing Accuracy

The Effect of Printing Accuracy on Casting Quality:

Printing accuracy directly determines the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of castings. High-precision printing can ensure that the dimensional deviation of castings is within a very small range and meets strict assembly requirements.

In terms of surface quality, high-precision printing can reduce the roughness and defects on the surface of castings and improve the appearance quality of castings. For example, in the production of important parts such as engine blocks, high-precision sand molding can ensure the accuracy of the fit between the piston and the cylinder, and improve the performance and reliability of the engine.

Choosing the appropriate precision equipment:

First, determine the required precision level according to the product design requirements and usage scenarios. For some common mechanical parts, millimeter-level precision may be sufficient; while for high-precision castings in aerospace, medical equipment and other fields, submillimeter or even higher precision may be required.

Second, understand the precision parameters of different equipment, including layer thickness and dimensional error range. You can refer to the technical information and actual test data provided by the manufacturer, and exchange experiences with other users. For example, some brands of sand 3D printers can achieve dimensional accuracy of ± 0.1mm by optimizing the design of the print head and control system, which is suitable for the production of castings with high precision requirements.

Comparison and application scenarios of different levels of precision:

Low-precision equipment is generally relatively low in price and is suitable for production scenarios that do not require high precision and focus on cost control, such as ordinary construction machinery castings. Medium precision equipment balances price and performance, suitable for the production of most industrial parts. On the other hand, high precision equipment is suitable for high-end manufacturing fields, such as aerospace, precision instruments, etc., but the price is relatively high. For example, in the production of automobile engine cylinder heads, medium precision equipment can meet the basic production requirements; for aviation engine blades and other high-precision castings, you need to use high precision equipment.

4. Size printing

Print size and production scale and casting size of the relationship:

Print size determines the maximum size and shape of the casting that can be complexly produced.

For large foundries, it is often necessary to have the ability to print large castings of the equipment to meet production requirements. For example, in the production of large marine engine blocks, printing equipment of several meters or even larger may be required.

For small foundries or small casting production enterprises, smaller equipment may be more economical and practical.

At the same time, the print size also affects the installation area and space requirements of the equipment, which should be taken into account in the plant planning.

Selection strategy:

Determine the required print size based on the production plan and market positioning of the plant. If the main production is large castings, you need to choose equipment with larger print size; If it is a small die-casting main, you can choose a small or medium-sized equipment.

It is also necessary to consider the future development needs, and reserve a certain space for capacity expansion. In addition, pay attention to whether the printing size of the equipment can be flexibly adjusted, for example, some equipment can be replaced by a printing platform or the printing parameters can be adjusted to adapt to the production of different sizes of castings. For example, a medium-sized foundry plans to expand into the field of large-scale casting production in the future, then when choosing equipment, you can give priority to equipment with upgradeable printing size or modular design for future expansion according to demand.