3D printed foundry hollowware - step change improvement to metal casting

包括航空航天、汽车、制造业和建筑业在内的许多行业都需要金属部件。因此，2017年英国铸造金属销售额为18.9亿英镑（铸造金属基金会，行业普查），2019年全球市场为1230亿英镑（Grandview Research, 2020）。液态金属被铸造成不同的、通常是特定的形状。铸造厂使用专门的陶瓷中空器皿（管道、弯头、漏斗、下浇口）来建造路径，液态金属沿着这些路径流动。然而，全球只有不到10家制造商。几乎所有的都比需要的重，这意味着金属在流过它们时迅速冷却。因此，铸造厂必须将金属加热到比正常情况下更高的温度，从而浪费能源。CAT国际有限公司是铸造过滤器和消耗品的领先制造商，他们开发了一种新的陶瓷配方（已获得专利）和工艺，他们现在希望将其应用于金属铸造铸造部门（基础行业）的空心器皿。我们将使用我们已经开发的增材制造（3D打印）工艺和专有陶瓷配方（陶瓷材料与有机树脂结合）来制造空心器皿。我们已经开展了初步工作，并寻求进行进一步的工业研究，以优化后处理过程。通过使用我们新的创新流程，我们寻求提高整个供应链的绩效。我们将尽量减少因次优空心件而导致的铸件缺陷造成的材料浪费（报废和维修）。我们将允许铸造厂在较低的温度下浇注，从而减少能源消耗。我们将为关键的消耗品提供强大的供应链，在那里我们为铸造厂生产空心件。供应链中断和高能源价格导致的行业变化，加上俄乌战争加剧的情况，给我们带来了提高效率的动力，这符合英国和全球减少浪费和到2050年实现净零排放的优先事项。

Metal components are required across many sectors including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing and construction. As such, cast metals in the UK generated sales of £1.89bn in 2017 (Cast Metals Foundation, Industry Census) with a global market of £123Bn in 2019 (Grandview Research, 2020). Liquid metal is cast into different and often specific shapes. Foundries use specialised ceramic hollowware (pipes, bends, funnels, downsprues) to construct paths, along which liquid metal flows. However, there are less than 10 manufacturers globally. Nearly all are heavier than needed, which means that metal cools rapidly as it flows through them. Foundries must therefore heat metal hotter than it would otherwise need to be, wasting energy.CAT International Ltd, a leading manufacturer of foundry filters and consumables, have developed a novel ceramic formulation (covered by a patent) and process that they now wish to apply to hollowware for use in the metal casting foundry sector (foundation industry). We will use Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) processes and proprietary ceramic formulation (ceramic materials combined with organic resin) that we have already developed to fabricate hollowware. We have undertaken initial work and seek to carry our further industrial research to optimise post treatment processes.By using our new innovative process, we seek to enhance performance throughout the supply chain. We will minimise materials wastage (scrappage and repair) associated with defective castings due to sub-optimal hollowware. We will allow foundries to pour at lower temperatures, reducing energy consumption. We will enable robust supply chains for a critical consumable, where we produce hollowware for foundries.Changes to the sector as a result of supply chain disruption and high energy prices, made worse by the Russia-Ukraine war give us impetus to drive efficiencies, in line with UK and global priorities to reduce waste and work towards net zero emissions by 2050\.