Determining when to use 3D sand printing quantifying the role of complexity

Abstract

The additive manufacturing industry has the potential to transform nearly every sector of our lives and jumpstart the next Industrial Revolution. Engineers and designers have been using 3D printers for more than three decades but mostly to make prototypes quickly and cheaply before they embark on the expensive business of tooling up a factory to produce the real things. In sand casting industries, a growing number of companies have adopted 3D sand printing to produce final casts. Yet recent research suggests that the use of 3D sand printing has barely begun to achieve its potential market. It is not surprising that executives are having difficulty adopting additive manufacturing; the technology has many second - order effects on business operations and economics. One of the most important factors is the lack of awareness of additive manufacturing's applications and values in the sand casting manufacturing process. The lack of awareness is significantly slowing down the adoption rates. This research will help executives to optimize their adoption decision by answering the question of At what level of part complexity should sand printing be used instead of the conventional process in molds and cores manufacturing? Moreover, this thesis defines and analyzes the geometric attributes which influence the parts' complexity. As known in the conventional sand casting process, the high level of complexity leads to higher manufacturing cost. On the other hand, in the additive manufacturing process, the manufacturing cost is fairly constant regardless of the level of complexity. Therefore, 3D sand printing provides a unique advantage that the increasing in geometric complexity of the part has no impact on the molds and cores manufacturing cost or what is known as complexity for free.