Digital moldless precision forming technology (referred to as moldless casting technology) is an integrated innovation of technologies such as computers, automatic control, new materials, and casting. It is driven directly by three-dimensional CAD models for mold manufacturing, eliminating the need for molds, shortening the casting process, and enabling digital casting and rapid manufacturing. This technology is particularly suitable for the rapid manufacturing of complex components and offers significant advantages in saving casting materials, shortening process flows, reducing casting waste, improving casting quality, and lowering energy consumption of castings. It transforms the millennia-old requirement of molds for casting.
Moldless casting is a groundbreaking method for the rapid manufacturing of complex metal parts, enabling flexibility, digitization, precision, green manufacturing, and intelligence in the production of complex metal components. It represents a revolution in casting technology. The moldless casting process boasts a high degree of automation, though the initial investment in equipment is relatively large. However, other production conditions, such as the preparation of raw materials like raw sand and resin, are similar to those in traditional self-hardening resin sand molding processes.
Compared to traditional mold-based casting manufacturing, the processing cost for single-piece digital moldless casting is only about one-tenth of that of traditional mold-based methods. Development time is reduced by 50% to 80%, and manufacturing costs are lowered by 30% to 50%. Therefore, for large, complex single-piece or small-batch castings where mold costs are high, moldless casting offers significant economic benefits.
