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3D Printed Molds and Cores Create Comparable Heavy-Duty Components

Heavy equipment applications require industrial-grade materials and parts that will stand up to hard use. ExOne^® 3D printers produce sand molds and cores using standard foundry industry materials to make durable parts of steel, iron, aluminum or magnesium that align to industry standards. The main differentiator is that sand printing generates these molds with substantially less lead time and less opportunity for human error than traditional methods.

3D printing also offers greater design flexibility than traditional heavy equipment manufacturing, and several major companies are already integrating ExOne’s binder jetting systems into their production lines. The large build volume and fast build rate combine to make patternless production a reality for metal-based prototype castings.

Our metal 3D printers can also support rapid product development through the direct printing of low volume batches in aluminum and copper alloys, gray and ductile iron and magnesium. Learn more about 3D printing applications for heavy equipment manufacturing and how to integrate our systems into your production procedures.

Neenah Foundry 3D Printed Cores and Saved Thousands in Tooling Costs and Cut Weeks Off Lead Time

Traditionally, it takes six weeks to manufacture core box tooling, but with patternless production, Neenah Foundry was able to generate the required sand molds and cores in less than two weeks and at a savings of over $5,000. 3D printing allowed Neenah to re-evaluate the design, adjusting to a single core strategy that reduced tooling and materials costs as well as the weight of the finished part.

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Sand 3D Printers Reduce Scrap Rate

Leveraging 3D sand printers to generate molds and cores for heavy equipment reduces waste in the form of time, energy, materials, and finished products. With greater design control and reliance on high-caliber systems to print sand molds and cores for heavy equipment manufacturing, there’s less opportunity for human error and imperfections inflicted by older machinery, resulting in less abandonment of product. Plus, unused sand powder in our printing process can be collected and reused. In this way, plant engineers save across the board when incorporating ExOne 3D sand printers into their production process.

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Metal Parts on Demand Supports Rapid Prototyping

In addition to sand molds and cores, ExOne 3D printers can directly print prototypes for rapid product development. The ability to fabricate the full-scale prototype in the final print material (leveraging metal injection molding powers) increases the accuracy of prototype testing when compared to non-production material prototypes. It’s a quick and cost-effective way to test new parts designs for heavy equipment and machinery – and the prototype 3D CAD files can be manipulated quickly to make adjustments and reprint. This helps get products through revisions and into market, faster.

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