Why Consider 3D Sand Printing Molds for Metal Casting?

Metal casting is a $44 billion market in the United States and over $200 billion globally. However, traditional metal casting has constraints and difficulties when considering advanced, complex shapes and features. This is where 3D sand printing molds for metal casting can help!

Traditional sand casting

Traditional sand castings are used in almost all industries including cars and trucks, pipes and fittings, railroad, construction, mining, oil fields, engines, valves, pumps and compressors, farm machinery, municipal, and other specialty industries. Historically, the castings have been fairly simple in shape due to the sand-casting mold process, which requires that a hard physical tool be inserted and removed during the sand-mold creation process.

3D printing sand molds

3D printing sand molds enable the design freedom necessary for complex metal castings. Complex metal castings are in high demand in industries seeking ways to reduce component weight while maintaining casting strength. This focus is called lightweighting. 3D printing for sand castings can be exploited to create castings with high strength-to-weight ratios, ideal for lightweight applications.

In addition to lightweight benefits, the elimination of hard physical tooling requirements eliminates the associated cost of designing and manufacturing the tool. These costs can be significant and can help fund a new 3d sand printing process for sand casting molds. Tooling lead times can also be a constraint on the traditional process. Waiting weeks or months for a tool is not always an option, as such delays cannot be supported by the customer's requirements. Again, 3D printing molds for sand casting can eliminate these delays.

Sand casting patterns

Sand casting patterns and other hard tooling can be digitized for a 3D sand printing process for molds to make sand-cast metal parts faster and cheaper. Given pattern and tooling wear and variability, 3D printing with sand can also result in more accurate, consistent, and capable casting processes. On-demand 3D printing molds for prototypes, complex short runs, or higher volume production castings are made easier with digitization.

Product Design and Development

Product design agility is another benefit of 3D sand printing molds for metal casting. If initial castings are not exactly as desired, it is very simple to modify the 3D CAD model and try 3D printing with sand again. This ability to iterate quickly offers myriad benefits to OEMs, foundries, and customers, again saving time and money by implementing 3D sand printing for molds.

Near net shape product designs are also enabled with 3D sand printing of molds for metal casting, reducing and/or eliminating secondary machining and other operations. Thus, 3D sand molds can reduce the total lifecycle cost of the products.

Simplified operations reduce the risk of safety and health and injury risks. Associated issues can harm company culture, increase turnover, and reduce profitability. A company utilizing 3D printing for sand castings is a safer, better, and more profitable company.

Conclusion

All of these factors enable better products, more market speed and agility, and ultimately profitability. 3D sand printing of molds for metal casting requires upfront capital equipment investment, which can provide a good return on investment as the benefits outlined above are integrated into product design and foundry operations.