Promoting sustainability in 3D printed sand casting through adaptive sand mold structures

The use of 3D printed sand molds offers a high degree of flexibility in structural design and satisfying customer requirements. The optimization and adjustment of the structure of sand mold module with the required functionality helps to maximize the application potential of binder jet 3D printing technology. In this study, an adaptive sand mold structure design method was proposed to meet the sustainable requirements of 3D printed sand casting. Firstly, the functional modular and module clustering of the sand mold is carried out and then each module is adaptive structure design, to reduce the carbon emission and cost of the 3D printed casting process. Therefore, taking the small casting furnace cover and medium-sized cast engine block as examples, the life cycle framework of the 3D printed sand casting process is established, and the sustainable advantages of the adaptive structure method are explored through the calculation and analysis of carbon emission and cost models. The results show that the adaptive structure method reduces the carbon emissions of the two castings by 9.2% and 11.9%, respectively, and the cost of two castings by 6.7% and 11.1%, respectively. This approach provides more sustainable design ideas for 3D printed sand casting and 3D printed sand mass production.