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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

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