Sorry for the cross-post from MetallicaRap, but this may be of a more general interest.
If there is a better forum for powder-bed technologies (instead of fused filament like RepRap), let me know.
I'm working on building a powder bed printer, and I was wondering if incremental sand casting has ever been developed for poured metal casting?
The concept I have would require three X/Y heads:
- A water misting head (ie inkjet technology)
- An electro-valve controlled vacuum pipe, that can suck up dry sand grains.
- A metal 'pour' head (ie solder flowing into a hollow tip soldering iron, like the design used for solder removal irons)
I would envision printing would follow this process:
- Part bed lowers by one Z increment
- Powder feed (fine grain dry sand) bed raises by one Z increment
- Fine sand is rolled from powder feed to part bed
- Water mist head on the X/Y head sprays to the non-part area of the Z slice (to prevent sand from sliding into the part area of the slice)
- Vacuum head is selected on X/Y plane, and dry sand in the part area of the Z slice is removed.
- Metal pour head is selected on X/Y plane, and pour is performed at selected spots in the part area of the Z slice for fill operations (a bit of tricky math going on here for good spread)
- Go to 1.
The intent is to do incremental sand casting, where you are casting one layer at a time, using sand as a support structure, and you can perform the operation at normal atmospheric pressure.
If you have an existing powder bed setup, this shouldn't be impossible to prototype.
I have no interest in metal casting at the moment (I'm working on a water fused sucrose powder bed printer), but maybe someone else might find this idea useful - I'm planning on a similar technology for jam filled sugar structures.
Thought I might as well write it down here.
Anyone know of existing technology like this?
And, my sugar printer work-in-progress:
BrundleFab
