3D printing materials have been expanded to the middle and northwest of Sand enterprises

Source: Economic Daily

A variety of industrial molds and cultural and creative products are displayed in the Innovation Works Exhibition hall in Lanzhou High-tech Zone. Different from the regular exhibits, the raw materials are sand, which is printed by 3D technology.

It is reported that materials are an important material basis for the development of 3D printing technology.
Common materials are nylon glass fiber, durable nylon, gypsum, aluminum, titanium alloy, stainless steel, silver plating, gold plating, rubber, etc.

“Raw materials for sand moulds are widely available in Gansu, especially in the Hexi Corridor desert.”
An Jiangdong, deputy general manager of Gansu Bailijiang 3D Printing Technology Co., LTD, told reporters that the traditional method of making molds with sand needs to be done by hand. The sand can be redeveloped into a material that can be directly printed by machines.

For example, 3D printing takes two hours to make a traditional mold in a week, according to An.

“Sand surface adhesion is not enough, poor bonding performance, through constant experimentation, the formation of printable sand.”
Ma Weigang, the company’s material development engineer, said that after the sand is formed, two steps are carried out: mixing curing agent and sandblasting, and then the product is printed layer by layer through the equipment.

According to Ma, the ratio of curing agent and resin is different for different sand.
Sometimes more than 200 attempts are made on a traditional craft to get the best mix of sand, resin and curing agent.

This innovation works as an accelerator in lanzhou high-tech zone science and technology enterprises, to develop advanced manufacturing, biological medicine, new materials, such as strategic new industry is given priority to, to provide 10-15 growing high-tech enterprise research and development of production site and sharing technology platform, “le jiang is one of the 3 d printing company, they rely on geographic resources, science and technology advantages, and lanzhou high-tech zone management committee, the national engineering research center of rapid manufacturing cooperation to build a national engineering research center of rapid manufacturing innovation demonstration center in lanzhou, is committed to intelligent green manufacturing technology innovation together.