Improving the Design to Part Workflow for Investment Casting

Investment casting is a tried-and-true metal fabrication process that many industries rely on. However, many complex or low part runs are prohibitively expensive and time consumptive. Formlabs' customers were able to take the newly developed processes and apply them directly to their own workflows with almost no changes. The Formlabs SLA ecosystem, powered by the Form 4 and 3L Printer and Clear Cast Resin, provides an accessible and reliable solution for 3D printing of patterns. With the high accuracy, smooth surfaces, and reliable print quality, customers were able to produce parts at not only a reasonable price, but also a fast turnaround, and without the rework and finishing that is often expected in these processes. Formlabs will provide examples of two customers that used printed parts to quickly turn around parts to serve their own customer's needs, serving both art and defense markets with different requirements. Critically, we will explore their new ability to react dynamically and fill a void in the forging market which has been addressed by the federal defense agencies.

In this presentation, we will also share how Formlabs developed this process with Materialise & the University of Northern Iowa, including unique material characterizations and research results for the impact of lattice geometry & material properties on pressure against the shell, along with the threshold for pressure that typically results in cracking or failures.