Rethinking Metal Casting from an Additive Manufacturing Perspective 

Title: Rethinking Metal Casting from an Additive Manufacturing Perspective
Speaker: Dr. Philip King, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Maine
Abstract: Metal casting is an old but important manufacturing technology. While traditional metal casting has existed for thousands of years, it remains a complex process under controlled conditions that suffers from variable casting outcomes, leading to high incidence of scrapped castings. This variability has long been considered unavoidable, and even acceptable by the metal casting community. This seminar presents research that integrates sand casting and additive manufacturing (AM) to solve these problems. 3D sand-printing (3DSP), a binder jet AM process, enables us to reimagine mold design to improve casting quality and reduce casting variation. In the first part of the seminar, Dr. King will present research that focuses on redesigning how liquid metal is transported in sand molds. His research shows that AM-enabled 3D mold geometries can greatly reduce casting defects, resulting in an increase in mechanical strength. At the same time, these geometries reduce the inherent variation present in casting. In the second part of the seminar, Dr. King will discuss how AM is changing metal casting design, specifically focusing on how design elements commonly associated with AM (i.e., topology optimization) have been integrated into castings.