Usage of the 3D printed model for the forming during the development of the casting mould

Abstract

Abstract This paper deals with the usage of the plastic model (created by additive technology), which can be used for the mould production as an internal model for the cavity. This mould is intended for the steel casting technology. The particular plastic model is created by the conventional 3D printer HP Multi Jet Fusion 4200 from the material PA 12 GB. It is polyamide with 40% of glass filling. This material is suitable for this method because of good mechanical properties. The creating of the steel casting mould has some specification which are deeply described in this paper. The comparing of several dimensions between the CAD model, plastic model and the final casted model from steel is performed here. It is obvious that the differences and tolerances are less than 1%. This approach can be used as a replacement of the wood models which are generally used. The benefits of the 3D printed model are higher accuracy of the model, higher complexity of the model and production time which can be less than 3 days (from the CAD model to the plastic model for the casting mould, but depending on complexity and size of the model).