Düsseldorf, June 19, 2019 – Leading companies from the core making, 3D printing and material-science industries join forces in a key alliance to pioneer additive manufacturing in foundry mass-production and are going to show the complete integrated solution at GIFA 2019.
Loramendi, voxeljet and ASK Chemicals have taken a major step towards reinventing the manufacturing landscape by developing the world’s first fully automated 3D printed core production solution. The technology called ‘Industrialization of Core Printing’ (ICP) allows automated production of highly complex sand cores for casting processes. By harnessing the flexibility of additive manufacturing, ICP eliminates the design limitations of conventional tooling and is capable of matching conventional core making in mass-production.
Loramendi & Aurrenak have an extensive background as a leading group in the design and supply of complete solutions and turnkey projects for core making, moulding and casting services. With this extensive expertise, Loramendi has designed a fully automated, 3D printed, inorganic core production line. The ICP technology and equipment have been developed to enable high production flexibility and to boost industry 4.0 opportunities for core making factories and foundries. Loramendi’s know-how and experience as a main contractor have been a key success factor to deploy this disruptive innovation by integrating process development and equipment industrialization.
Experience from traditional manufacturing empowers 3D Printing
“Loramendi has built equipment for the foundry industry for more than 45 years and nowadays enjoys world-wide prestige. We are recognized as a builder of heavy duty, reliable machinery and solutions specifically designed for the unique challenges of the foundry industry” stated Joseba Goitia, General Manager of Loramendi. “We are really excited about starting this new journey that will completely transform the landscape of the foundry industry and set new standards for core making.”
The new solution leverages voxeljet’s decades of research and expertise in precision mechanics, microfluidics and material sciences and features a new type of 3D printer, which is more than ten times faster than previous models.
The 3D Printing industry has reached the turning point
Dr. Ingo Ederer, Chief Executive Officer of voxeljet, commented: “We started nearly 20 years ago as a spin-off from Technical University Munich with a clear vision in mind: to match conventional manufacturing by constantly pushing technological boundaries. Today I can say that, together with our partners, we are set to become the world’s first to use fully automated 3D printing in automotive serial-production. The 3D printing industry is at a turning point and this achievement marks a key milestone in our mission.”
Ask Chemicals, a leading supplier of innovative casting materials, developed the new inorganic binding materials and tailored them to specific ICP requirements in order to meet expected quality and productivity goals.
Inorganic binder systems for 3D Printing unite sustainability and technological impact
“3D sand printing has been used in the foundry industry for many years to produce prototypes and short runs. However, with the development of ever faster printers, the technology now offers foundries new opportunities. We are therefore very pleased to take this important step towards industrialized core printing with our alliance partners Loramendi and voxeljet.”, states Frank Coenen, CEO of ASK Chemicals. The inorganic two-component system INOTEC 3D, consisting of an INOTEC 3D printing fluid and an INOTEC 3D promoter, is applicable to hot-curing additive manufacturing processes. Further advantages are the low finishing effort of the sand cores produced, which, due to the high thermal stability, lead to castings with high dimensional accuracy and surface quality. Above all, INOTEC 3D supports current trends in the engine casting segment of the light metal casting industry.
The key alliance for Core Printing
The ICP technology and partnership will be officially launched at GIFA 2019 on Wednesday June 26th at 15:00h on the Loramendi & Aurrenak stand E34 – E26 in hall 16 with an official executive press conference. The integrated ICP line is going to perform demo shows twice daily (10:30h and 15:00h) followed by technical presentations from the project development team. We encourage you to visit us at our stand to learn more about this game-changing technology and discuss the best suited solution for your core production needs. See you at GIFA!
For interview requests, comments or suggestions relating to the Industrialization of Core Printing, please contact: ICP@loramendi.com.