DIRECT ENERGY DEPOSITION

ADVANTAGES

  • Can be done with powders or wires
    • Deposition rate with wire up to 3kg/hr.
    • Power deposition rate up to 2kg/hr.
  • Does not require starting on flat plane, full 5-axis control with deposition head.
  • More material options.

DISADVANTAGES

  • Minimum features sizes are 1-2 mm.
  • Only extremely simple water channel possibilities, if any.
  • Greater porosity in part (up to 2%)

BINDER JETTING

ADVANTAGES

  • Printing speeds are fastest among AM techniques (up to 50 kg/hr).
  • Adhesive resin joining powder particles means greater material library.
  • Can stack many parts in one build, no need to attach to a build plate.
  • No need for support structure.

DISADVANTAGES

  • Part come out ‘green’
    • Require special heat treatment to burn out the resins/glues.
    • Uncontrollable shrink and warpage.
  • Greatest level of porosity due to evacuating resins/glues (~3%)
  • Lowest material properties.
  • Parts greater than 50mm not recommended due to post-processing.

SHEET LAMINATION / DIFFUSION BONDING

ADVANTAGES

  • Hybrid of subtractive and additive techniques.
  • Most cost competitive.
  • Only limitation in size is your milling machines and furnaces.
  • Diffusion bonding the sheets together creates fairly uniform parts.

DISADVANTAGES

  • Can not create true conformal cooling lines (lines are mostly square/sharp due to milling steps).
  • Greater number of infernal stress risers.
  • Risk of crack propagation from layering process.

DIRECT METAL LASER SINTERING

ADVANTAGES

  • Capable of printing fine feature as well as extremely complex shapes.
    • True conformal cooling
  • Better surface finish (10-20 Um)
  • Can keep adding lasers to increase speed, mass production.
  • Fully dense parts (up to 99.95% dense).

DISADVANTAGES

  • Slow compared with other 3D printing techniques (0.15kg/hr per laser).
  • Large beds (>300mm) make it difficult to evenly spread powder.
  • Most development dedicated to AI,Ti for aerospace and medical industry.
  • Overhangs greater than a few mms not possible.

Power Bed Fusion Technology is the only viable method available on the market capable of producing the complex shapes

Additive manufacturing can thermally improve die casting conditions, resulting in reduced cycle times and extended tooling life. This is accomplished by conformal cooling channels which were impossible with conventional manufacturing processes.

We can accommodate up to 100kg or 400mm x 400mm x 400mm part. A proprietary heat treatment systems is also in-house to guarantee consistency and short lead times.

UPON REQUEST THERMAL SIMULATION CAN BE PROVIDED

There are various ways of additively manufacturing metal parts, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

  • Processes differ:
    • Feedstock material type
      • * Wire, powder, sheets, adhesives, etc.
    • Material feeding method
      • * Wiping, raining, inkjet, nozzles, etc.
    • Energy source
      • * Lasers, UV, electron beam, etc.
  • All have their purposes, you just need to understand the process and applicable uses.

All have their purposes, you just need to understand the process and applicable uses.

THE PERFECT DIE

Requires the die and shot end temperature to be stable from the first to the last casting.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FOR HPDC WHY 3D PRINTING?

ADVANTAGES OF CONFORMAL COOLING

  • Getting water closer to the cavity surface
  • Thermal balance and control
  • Cycle time reduction
  • Decreased scrap rates
  • Increased die uptime

ADVANTAGES OF 3D PRINTING

  • Design freedom
  • Simplified die design
  • Less wasted material
  • Minimized machining

Castool makes die casting better.

Results may vary depending on individual press characteristics and setup.

CONTACT CASTOOL TODAY