AMS 2025

ExOne Unveils Water Wash-out Tooling Process for Industrial 3D Printing

RAPID

Share this Article

ExOne-Applications-Research-Development-1It’s intended to aid in the production of hollow parts, the sort which are constructed using mandrel or clamshell molding, and ExOne says they’ve qualified a new application for their additive manufacturing process they call Water Wash-out Tooling.

Mandrels with specialized reinforcement materials can be heated above transition temperature, inflated inside a clamshell mold, and then cooled until they hold their new shape. A composite part is then laid up on the resulting molded mandrel tool.

Developed at the company’s Materials Applications Laboratory – or ExMAL – the process identified the limitations of traditional manufacturing techniques for tooling production with water soluble materials. This latest application was developed to take on the creation of varying designs of composite parts.

ExOne-Consulting-Services-3D-Design-contentWith ExOne printers, the company created 3D printed “cores” which can easily be washed out of a part following the manufacturing process, and in fine tuning the application, ExMAL developed a surface coating process applied to the printed core which eliminates the porousness of printed media. The technique ultimately provides extremely smooth surface finishes.

Rick Lucas, the Chief Technology Officer at ExOne, says his company continues to qualify and refine applications and materials for industrial 3D printing. He says the systems allow customers to directly print not only parts, but the tooling required as well.

“This new Water Wash-out Tooling process is unique when compared with traditional methods in that all of the print material can be recovered and reused for future print cycles,” Lucas said. “It reduces inventory requirements and removes molding steps to help speed up development time.”

The process is largely aimed at producing hollow parts, and it involves 3D printing a core in sand, ceramics, or carbon and applying a composite lay-up before curing. The final core is then washed out to leave the structural composite alone.

It’s a “dimensionally stable” process which provides manufacturers with prototyping for part evaluation. Lucas says the process can be used with Polyester, Vinyl Ester or Epoxy resins, and the system can operate at autoclave pressures up to 125 psi and can withstand process temperatures to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lucas says Water Wash-out Tooling is ideally suited for printing mandrels for filament winding, plugs and source tools, styling and design models, hollow or trapped shape fabrication and for the production of one-off parts for validation.

About-ExOne-header2 Can you imagine applications for what ExOne are calling Water Wash-out Tooling? Let us know in the Water Wash-out Tooling forum thread on 3DPB.com.

Share this Article


Recent News

3DPOD 236: AM Materials Science & Applications with Nick Sonnentag, Sunnyday Technologies & Oshkosh Corporation

Women of i3DMFG: Building Leadership, Mentorship, and Innovation



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

3D Printing Webinar and Event Roundup: January 19, 2025

We have a couple of in-person events in Las Vegas to tell you about this week, plus a few webinars, including one about 3D printing for dental restorations. Read on...

Overcoming Barriers in Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is reshaping industries, offering new opportunities for supply chain disruption and customization. However, many face barriers such as high costs, complex adoption processes and sustainability concerns, including the...

Sponsored

From Prototype to Production: The Comprehensive Journey of Additive Manufacturing

I have been professionally immersed in the world of 3D printing for the past 19 years, witnessing its evolution from massive, lab-based industrial machines to today’s desktop printers that excel...

Sponsored

Burloak and MDA Space: 8 Years of Transforming Aerospace with Metal 3D Printing

Burloak Technologies, Canada’s largest contract manufacturer specializing in metal 3D printing and post-processing for flight applications, recently celebrated 8 years of partnership with MDA Space, Canada’s largest space technology company....