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..Helping government & industry develop, demonstrate & deploy technology. |
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FOUNDRY |
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CETL Foundry - Equipment & Melting Capabilities | |
The CETL currently employs an Ajax Model LSF Coreless Induction Lift Swing Coil Furnace with a 250kW, 3kHz power supply. With this furnace our air melting capacity is 125 pounds of aluminum or 350 pounds of ferrous alloy. |
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EXAMPLE PARTS |
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RESIN BONDED SAND CASTINGS MADE WITH Z-PRINTED SACRIFICAL PATTERNS. |
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| For one of a kind or only a few parts, at CETL we use a 3D printed, sacrificial pattern to make sand molds. The result is similar to investment casting, but is less expensive and produces parts with slightly greater surface roughness than investment casting. | ||
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| The sacrifical pattern technique also works well for intricate parts, like the auger tip shown to the upper right, and for thin wall parts like the cover shown to the lower right. |  |
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| Below is a two piece, welded casting. The lower cast part was machined to achieve the required dimensional tolerance and surface finish prior to being welded to the as-cast top part. | ||
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| The images below show the sequence for casting the large auger that was attached to the cone, shown above. The last image shows the completed assembly in a transparent shell. | ||
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INVESTMENT CASTINGS MADE WITH FORTIS ABS SACRIFICAL PATTERNS. |
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Sacrificial patterns for investment casting can be made on the Fortus machine. The patterns are encased in the plaster mold and burned out, similar to the "lost wax" process. The image on the left shows 2 sets of patterns, including the part pattern and the pour cup and runner system. A close up of the built parts is shown on the right. |
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| The pattern and the cast part are shown below. Note the detail picked up in the casting that reflects the build path of the pattern. | ||
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| Updated April 2010 | ||