Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are used to fabricate three-dimensional complex geometries. There are several technologies that use laser or electron beam over metal powder beds. However, the direct AM processes have inconveniences such as specific set of materials, high thermal stress traced, high local energy absorbed, poor surface finish, anisotropic properties, high cost of material powder, and manufacturing with high-power beams. In this paper, an alternative process was developed. An indirect additive manufacturing (I-AM) combining a 3D print of castable resin and metal casting in order to obtain a cellular structure similar in shape to commercial metal foams but completely definable as design features was developed. Design of the cellular structure was made by the graphical algorithm editor Grasshopper®. Designed structures were realized by a lost-wax casting process and compared with commercial foam specimens by a system designed for this work. The designed metal foams showed a performance superior to that of commercial metal foam; in particular, the heat thermal coefficient of designed metal foams in the better case was 870 W/m2·K, almost doubled in comparison with the commercial foam tested in this work.
Highlights
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is able to fabricate parts characterized with complex geometry from a three-dimensional Computer-Aided Design (CAD) system
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process is characterized by its cheapness, nontoxicity, and the different variety of materials, colors, and types that can be used, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), medical ABS, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), investment casting wax, and elastomers [3,4]
The matching between the number of pores was made by macroscopic observations (Figure 4), while the check on section ligaments was made by SEM analysis that showed how the casting process generated
Summary
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is able to fabricate parts characterized with complex geometry from a three-dimensional Computer-Aided Design (CAD) system. There are various AM processes, and the differences among them are the way layers are realized to create parts, the operating principle, and the materials employed. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a Material Extrusion (ME) process of a thermoplastic polymer. It uses a movable head, which deposits material into a substrate. Due to temperature control of the process, the polymer solidifies after extrusion and welds to the previous layer. FDM process is characterized by its cheapness, nontoxicity, and the different variety of materials, colors, and types that can be used, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), medical ABS, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), investment casting wax, and elastomers [3,4].
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