Sand Casting
Selection of Casting Processes
The primary consideration in casting process design is the selection of an appropriate casting method. Each casting method has its own advantages, disadvantages, and applicable scopes. The choice of casting method should be based on factors such as the types of applicable alloys, the structure and size of the casting, technical requirements including dimensional accuracy, surface roughness, and internal quality, as well as production volume and production conditions. A comprehensive evaluation and comparative analysis should be conducted from the perspectives of technology, economy, production conditions, resource utilization, and environmental protection. The goal is to adopt the most economical casting method to produce castings that meet quality requirements under existing or feasible process equipment conditions.
Characteristics of Sand Casting
Among the various casting methods, sand casting offers the most inexpensive and readily available molding materials, and the mold-making process is relatively simple. It imposes virtually no restrictions on the types of casting alloys, the structure and size of castings, or production batch sizes. It can be used to produce castings with highly complex external shapes and internal cavities, such as various boxes, machine beds, and frames, and can accommodate castings ranging from a few grams to several hundred tons. Sand casting is adaptable to single-piece production, batch production, and mass production alike. However, the sand casting process involves numerous production steps, including molding, core-making, alloy melting, application of coatings, mold assembly and pouring, casting cleaning, and inspection. The overall casting process is relatively complex and intricate.
Development and Application of Casting Technology
In recent years, with the advancement of science and technology, significant progress has been made in casting equipment and tooling, particularly in areas such as molding, core-making, alloy melting, and solidification control. Furthermore, computer-aided design and simulation analysis have been widely applied in casting production, substantially reducing product development cycles and costs while markedly improving quality. The advent of 3D rapid prototyping technology has further propelled the development of casting technology. Techniques such as inkjet droplet printing and selective laser sintering have been successfully employed in the manufacture of complex, precision castings, enhancing the efficiency of new product development and the flexibility of structural design. Currently, over 80% of our company's products are manufactured using moldless casting technology.
Moldless Casting Technology
Digital moldless casting precision forming technology (referred to as moldless casting technology) represents an integrated innovation combining computer science, automatic control, new materials, and casting technologies. It is driven directly by 3D CAD models for mold manufacturing, eliminating the need for physical molds, shortening the casting process flow, and enabling digitalized and rapid casting. This technology is particularly well-suited for the rapid manufacturing of complex components and offers notable features and advantages in terms of saving casting materials, shortening process cycles, reducing casting waste, improving casting quality, and lowering energy consumption. It has fundamentally changed the millennia-old paradigm that casting requires molds. For example, a comparison of the application effects between the moldless casting process and traditional casting process technology for automotive cylinder heads is shown in the table below:
Moldless casting is a brand-new rapid manufacturing method for complex metal components. It enables flexible, digitalized, precise, green, and intelligent manufacturing of complex metal parts, representing a revolution in casting technology.
Simons Technology (Foshan) Co.,Ltd currently owns multiple 3DP high-speed automated sand printers. These printers utilize silica sand or ceramic sand as base materials, which are thoroughly mixed with a catalyst and then cured. Under the action of a resin binder, the sand particles are bonded together and solidified through a layer-by-layer printing process. Compared with traditional casting processes that require physical molds, moldless casting significantly reduces mold development costs, shortens development lead times by 50%–80%, and lowers manufacturing costs by 30%–50%. This technology offers particularly notable economic benefits and advantages for large, complex single-piece or small-to-medium batch castings, where mold costs are typically high.
