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Giant digital sculpture made with 3D printing
The ‘ cylindrical knot ’ and the giant 3D printer at 3Dealise .
Rinus Roelofs calls himself a ‘ digital sculptor ’, creating sculptures on a computer . A pioneer in this field for over 20 years , he is also a mathematician and his creations are inspired by complex mathematical structures . Many of Mr Roelofs ’ ideas are geometrically so complex that they are a challenge to realise in practice , particularly with traditional production methods . He has been an enthusiast and early adopter of 3D printing for his sculptures . However , most 3D printers are unable to produce items that are large and firm enough for outdoor public display , such as in a museum garden . 3Dealise , the industrial 3D printing and 3D engineering company , has worked for some time with Mr Roelofs to bring his ideas to life . First , the company produced 400mm tall prototypes of two designs for Mr Roelofs , to demonstrate what is possible . Then , the challenge was accepted to produce a giant 2.3m tall ‘ cylindrical knot ’. The shape was described by Rinus Roelofs as “ a tube that is knotted in an unconventional way .” Mr Roelofs unveiled the sculpture at the recent RapidPro tradeshow . It was the first time he had seen the structure himself and he was delighted finally to see a lifesize version of his idea that was conceived so many years ago . The sculpture is 2.3m tall and is made of approximately 600kg of iron . 3Dealise uses a two-step process to produce large items . First , a giant 3D printer , capable of producing prints up to the size of a telephone box ( build volume 1800mm x 1000mm x 700mm ) within 24 hours , produces a mould for metal casting . Mould prints can be stacked like Lego bricks to produce larger shapes . The use of 3D printing in this step enables ‘ freedom of design ’, customisation and other benefits of 3D printing . Second , a metal casting is made with the 3D printed sand mould . This second step uses a traditional casting process , producing high quality material with well-known materials and quality that can be issued with a material certificate such as Lloyds 3.1 . www . 3dealise . com
Automated manufacturability analysis software project
The Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute ( DMDII ) is investing $ 12 million in seven R & D projects , involving 28 organisations across the USA . This includes ‘ Automated Manufacturability Analysis Software ’, supported by the North American Die Casting Association . The ANA project builds upon work from the AVM project to develop commercially viable software that will provide feedback to designers at the conceptual design phase . The resulting analysis software will enable conceptual designers to receive immediate feedback on their designs early in the manufacturing process , cutting down the often lengthy conceptual design phase of components . The outcomes of this project will enable significant reductions in manufacturing costs , product launch costs and time to market . The North American Die Casting Association is excited to be a part of the project and will assist the team by providing further evaluation , training and industry information .
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Four year cycle retained for GIFA
The organisers of GIFA , Metec , Thermprocess and Newcast have agreed to industrial exhibitor feedback to retain the event ’ s four year cycle , rather than changing to every three years . The next event takes place in Düsseldorf on 25-29 June 2019 . “ For some time now , switching to a three year interval has appeared to us to be necessary ,
NADCA Director of Research , Education & Technology , Steve Udvardy added : “ The project is targeted to develop software that provides early feedback for making ‘ shape ’ related decision for ease of manufacturability of parts . A module specific to diecasting will be developed . NADCA will be assisting by providing tolerance information and other design information from the NADCA Product Specification Standards and design-related NADCA educational courses for use in the development of the ANA software .” This project , led by Iowa State University , ( supported by NADCA , AFS , John Deere , The Lucrum Group , MFG . com , Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory , Steel Founders ’ Society of America , Tech Soft 3D and University of Alabama at Birmingham ) will create a manufacturability analysis package that can work on any platform to provide real-time feedback on critical manufacturing issues . www . diecasting . org
because the innovation cycles in the foundry technology and metallurgy sectors are shortening too ” Messe Düsseldorf Director Joachim Schäfer explained . “( But ) it has proved to be the case that a shortening of the interval would put too much pressure on the corporate exhibitors .” www . tbwom . com
Increasing use of recycling porosity sealants reported
According to Ultraseal International , a trend that was apparent at the recent CastExpo 2016 event is that more foundries are exploring the benefits of using recycling porosity sealants in their postcasting processes . Reportedly , they are turning away from using conventional ( non-recycling ) porosity sealants because modern recycling impregnation technology offers cost and environmental benefits that give them an edge in a competitive market . Recycling impregnation technology uses less water , less chemicals and produces less waste water than conventional porosity sealants , while exceeding the first-time sealing rates of many conventional sealants .
“ Foundries and manufacturers are now seeing the advantages of turning to modern recycling equipment and sealants such as Rexeal 100 as a solution to the problem of porosity in cast metal parts ” commented Stephen Hynes , Marketing Director of Ultraseal International . “ Companies were very interested in Ultraseal ’ s recycling technology in general and the R-FL-Duplex Plus in particular because it produces so very little wastewater and can cut their costs ” added Bob Remler , VP Sales at Ultraseal America Inc . “ There was also a trend towards companies wanting to carry out casting impregnation in-house , rather than outsource it , in order to reduce their lead times and avoid transportation costs . They can also substantially reduce their own lead times by eliminating the need to truck parts off-site for processing .” The R-FL-Duplex Plus casting impregnation machine has reduced the process to two stages – eliminating the drain and cold wash modules . Parts go straight from the autoclave to the hot cure tank . It uses Ultraseal ’ s benchmark recycling sealant Rexeal 100 and both the water and sealant are recycled from the hot cure tank to ensure that a fully closed loop system is achieved . The process is fully automated and can run round the clock with minimal downtime . www . ultraseal . co . uk
Chinese refractories directory
China Refractory Directory 2015 is the only source of English language information available on the refractory industry in China . The 342 page directory ( ISBN : 978-0-9733166-9-8 ) provides a comprehensive listing of 2200 refractory companies , providing company name , names and titles of key personnel , brief description , product lines and contact details ( address , telephone and fax numbers , email addresses and websites ). The directory is available for US $ 199.50 plus shipping from Business Data International Inc . www . ibizdata . com
Cast Metal & Diecasting Times April / May 2016