CPT International 01/2019
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3-D-PRINTING<br />
Fortunately, relying on casting does<br />
not have to preclude any manufacturer<br />
from using the advanced geometries of<br />
generative design or from getting<br />
started with additive manufacturing. In<br />
fact, modern metal-casting techniques<br />
can provide a pathway to those technologies.<br />
Unlike typical metal-3-D-printing<br />
processes, in which shape and material<br />
are defined at the same time, metal<br />
casting separates defining shape and<br />
material into two discrete steps.<br />
Building on this idea lets you benefit<br />
from a trifecta of technology: Using<br />
generative design and digital optimization<br />
can generate high-performance<br />
geometries in the computer realm; nonmetal<br />
additive manufacturing brings<br />
that shape into the physical space as a<br />
mold; and modern casting methods<br />
finalize that shape using the right metal<br />
for the job.<br />
This approach gives industrial manufacturers<br />
an entry point into both generative<br />
design and additive manufacturing,<br />
which will only become bigger<br />
players in the future. And in the present,<br />
manufacturers can benefit from casting<br />
metal pieces from the 3-D-printed molds<br />
– shapes previously unachievable.<br />
Such a process can (and already does<br />
in some cases) benefit businesses for<br />
which lightweighting is concern, such as<br />
in the automotive and aerospace industries.<br />
It’s also great for creating custom<br />
objects, like new knees and replacement<br />
hips for medical-implant companies.<br />
As an example of this tritechnology<br />
production, earlier this year, my colleague<br />
Andy Harris from Autodesk, San<br />
Raphael, USA, and I made an ultralightweight<br />
aircraft seat frame using lattice<br />
optimization, 3-D printing, and investment<br />
casting. We chose to make the seat<br />
Figure 1: The pattern<br />
produced in the<br />
3-D printer has an<br />
extremely filigree<br />
structure. To obtain<br />
the mold, the pattern<br />
is coated with<br />
ceramic and is melted<br />
away afterwards.<br />
frame out of magnesium because it<br />
weighs 35 % less than conventional aluminum<br />
for seat frames, and it has a<br />
higher strength-to-weight ratio. Current<br />
metal-additive printers cannot print<br />
magnesium, so we turned to one of the<br />
few foundries in North America that<br />
pours magnesium, Michigan’s Aristo Cast.<br />
The Aristo Cast team printed the seat<br />
frame in plastic, made the pattern, covered<br />
the pattern in ceramic (Figure 1),<br />
melted away the plastic, and poured<br />
magnesium into the ceramic mold to<br />
make the final seat frame (Figure 2).<br />
Benefit from your molding material preparation.<br />
Take new opportunities and gain both greater flexibility and benchmark-setting quality for your cast parts.<br />
Increase energy efficiency while conserving resources. Perfect your processes and be ready for automated molding material preparation.<br />
EIRICH makes all this possible. Take the next step and visit us at GIFA 2<strong>01</strong>9 in hall 17 / A38.<br />
www.eirich.com