Study of the viability of manufacturing ceramic moulds by additive manufacturing for rapid casting

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been considered one of the best processes to manufacture components with complex geometries, many times impossible to achieve with traditional processes, such as moulds with conformal cooling. Binder Jetting (BJ) technology uses an ink-jet printing head that deposits an adhesive liquid, layer by layer, to bind a powder material that can be ceramic, metallic, or other, which allows manufacturing parts to be used in research and industry. The aim of this work is to study the possibility of using BJ to produce plaster moulds for directly cast metallic parts at a lower cost than with metallic AM processes, using different types of infiltrates and post-processing parameters to improve the mechanical and thermal strength of moulds in order to be able to cast an aluminium alloy. The mechanical and thermal resistance of moulds with a thickness range of 2.5-4 mm were analysed, as well as the surface roughness of metal samples, and compared with those obtained by traditional processes. Although all the moulds had good heat resistance during the casting, some did not have enough mechanical strength to withstand the metalostatic pressure, especially those with walls of 2.5 to 3.5 mm. © 2017 Portuguese Society of Materials (SPM)