Use of Additive Manufacturing on Models for Sand Casting Process

Sand casting processes are simple and, generally, require a small initial investment in machines and tools. These characteristics make this manufacturing process very used in the metal industry for the manufacture of small series of any size and complexity, where the dimensional and surface quality requirements are not very demanding. Among the necessary tools, it is worth mentioning the flasks and the patterns as the most important elements. Patterns are usually reusable and manufactured with polymeric materials. However, any change in the design or development of a new product involves the manufacture of new patterns. In case of polymer patterns obtained by injection, these product changes lead to the need of manufacturing new matrix, which deduces into higher costs and time. In this regard, the use of Additive Manufacturing techniques may help to solve these problems. Thereby, a methodology for the design and manufacturing of different patterns by using Fused Deposition Modeling techniques is exposed in this work. The results have been compared with those obtained in injection processes, from a functional and economical point of view. These patterns will be used in the manufacturing of parts for educational purposes. Nevertheless, with the appropriate scale and higher 3D printing resolution, the methodology exposed could be implemented on industrial applications