Rapid casting

Rapid casting is an integration of conventional casting with rapid prototyping/3D printing. In this technique disposable pattern used for forming mold are created with 3d printing techniques like fused deposition, stereo lithography or any other 3d printing technique.
One of the items that is a subset of fast casting is rapid metal casting.[1].
Let us first explain this:
Pressure die casting & investment casting is not typically considered a rapid prototyping process. It requires costly equipment and a high level of expertise, and is generally suited to large quantities of metal parts. It is, in many ways, the metal equivalent of injection molding, another process favored for mass production over short-run or prototyping.
That being said, 3ERP is not your typical rapid prototyping company. Over the years, we noticed an appetite amongst our customers for low-volume pressure die casting, so we established partnerships with a handful of casting companies in order to offer professional casting services — even in very low volumes. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
The transformation of die casting into a metal rapid prototyping process is a game changer for product designers, who can now order cast metal parts as easily as machined parts. This article discusses some of the main advantages and possible applications of rapid metal casting, the only rapid prototyping solution for metal casting.
Why choose rapid metal casting?
When making a prototype with rapid metal casting, a product designer can benefit from two unique sets of advantages.
The first set of advantages concerns the metal casting process itself. As an example, pressure die casting is a manufacturing process that uses a mold cavity to create parts from molten metal. It is generally a very expensive process, because specialist equipment is required. However, its benefits are significant.
One of the advantages of pressure die casting is its economy of scale. Unlike CNC machining, die casting is most cost-effective when ordering in large volumes. That’s because a mold cavity can be used many times to create many units of a part, with the cost-per-unit gradually decreasing as the order size increases. This is one of the characteristics it shares with injection molding, which also has high startup costs but a low subsequent cost per unit.
Another advantage of pressure die casting is its ability to fabricate very large metal parts such as automobile engine blocks, camera chassis and floodlight housings that would be difficult to machine from a metal blank. The process also produces an excellent surface finish, dimensional accuracy and tensile strength.
Advantages of pressure die casting:
The second set of advantages concerns the rapid prototyping aspect of rapid metal casting. Customers using our rapid metal casting services not only reap the rewards of the die casting process, but can also get their parts made at a speed, volume and price point usually associated with low-cost prototyping processes.
A major advantage of rapid metal casting is how it gives product designers a final-stage prototype that may be near-identical to the finished part. Since die casting is a professional process used for end-use parts, rapid metal casting is one of the most representative prototyping services available for such parts. It is prototyping convenience coupled with end-use quality.
Similarly, rapid metal casting gives engineers the ability to mechanically test prototypes of soon-to-be cast products in a more accurate manner. A rapid cast engine block prototype, for example, can be put through its paces in the factory, giving an accurate picture of how the final cast part will perform.
Combining die casting with rapid prototyping also allows businesses to benefit from other aspects of rapid prototyping. First, there’s the speed and convenience. And with 3ERP, your cast metal prototypes can be expertly finished with our CNC machining centers, adding details, engraving or other features.
Applications of rapid metal casting.
Rapid metal casting can be used to create prototypes and short-run parts in several industries. Some of the most common applications of rapid metal casting include:
Automotive.
Die casting is regularly used to create metal parts for automobiles, and rapid metal casting allows automotive companies to obtain and test prototypes for new vehicles.
Cast metal automotive parts include:
Medical.
The superior strength and surface finish of die casting makes the process suitable for several medical and healthcare products, which can be fabricated in small quantities with rapid metal casting.
Cast metal medical parts include:
Electronics.
Mass-produced parts for consumer electronics are frequently made with the die casting process, and rapid metal casting is an effective way to prototype electronic parts or create short-run orders of specialist electronic products.
Cast metal electronics parts include:
3ِD printing as a method of rapid casting.
Traditionally, 3D printing focused on polymers for printing, due to the ease of manufacturing and handling polymeric materials. However, the method has rapidly evolved to not only print various polymers [2] but also metals [3][4] and ceramics [5], making 3D printing a versatile option for manufacturing. Layer-by-layer fabrication of three-dimensional physical models is a modern concept that "stems from the ever-growing CAD industry, more specifically the solid modeling side of CAD. Before solid modeling was introduced in the late 1980s, three-dimensional models were created with wire frames and surfaces.[6]" but in all cases the layers of materials are controlled by the printer and the material properties. The three-dimensional material layer is controlled by deposition rate as set by the printer operator and stored in a computer file. The earliest printed patented material was a Hot melt type ink for printing patterns using a heated metal alloy.