Abstract

The use of rapid prototyping technologies provides a unique opportunity of cost-effective methods of investment casting to create new industrial products, of particular importance is the cost and speed of production. Development and research of rapid prototyping technologies have allowed a new level of optimization and introduction of new technologies into various industries. The essence of investment casting is that to get the castings use a single, accurate non-split, ceramic shell molds, which are produced on single models using liquid molding compounds. Before pouring the melt, a model shape is destroyed by melting, burning, dissolving, or evaporation. To remove residues of the model and hardening, mold is heated to high temperatures. Calcination form before its filling virtually eliminates gas formation and improves occupancy melt. At the stage of pilot production, which is characterized by frequent changes in design, the problem of the rapid production of cast components becomes crucial. This is mainly due to the complexity of manufacturing foundry equipment. The aim of this work is to identify opportunities and evaluate accuracy of the casting size during investment casting using rapid prototyping technology. The work was conducted with the use of cross-cutting design in CAM / CAD / CAE systems. The work has been verified according to the adequacy of the virtual simulation of the casting formation process in the casting simulation ProCAST, in comparison with those obtained castings. The study showed that the use of rapid prototyping technologies with investment casting can significantly reduce the time for making castings, reduce production costs and improve the accuracy of the casting size.

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