Sand from the shores of Lake Vättern works best in the foundries’ 3D printers, a research project shows. “Sand with feldspar in it becomes a little more flexible. The sand grains can expand when they get hot “, says Ulf Gotthardsson, researcher at the Rise Institute.
In the industry, there are 3D printers where sand is the raw material for making casting cores. These cores are then used as a kind of molds when casting, for example, engine blocks of iron.
The 3D printers are made in Germany, and the sand itself also usually comes from there. But Swedish sand works better, according to a study done at the state research institute Rise.
– The sand from Germany consists in principle of 100 percent quartz. The Swedish sand has perhaps 80 percent quartz and 20 percent feldspar, says Ulf Gotthardsson.
The sand used in the project comes from two sand roofs in Habo, on the southwestern shore of Lake Vättern. There is deposition from an ice river, and the sand that can be excavated is almost completely free of pebbles and other unwanted.
The sand has, among other things, been tested in 3D printing of casting cores in AB Volvo’s production of engine parts for heavy vehicles in Skövde.
The other “ingredient” in the manufacture of casting cores is a binder, which in the research project was based on phenol.
Source: Nyteknik – Senaste nytt by www.nyteknik.se.
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