Three-dimensional printing of engineered, on-demand, ceramic filters for castings

摘要

Systems and methods are disclosed that overcome problems with conventional filters for high temperature casting materials. According to embodiments, uniform, engineered filters enable consistent and repeatable metal flow rates without becoming a secondary source of contamination. Proven Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods generate engineered filters that achieve consistent filtration efficiency and predictable metal flow into a casting mold. Through this application of AM for ceramics, the resulting filter incorporates features that can be adjusted on-demand to address the needs of specific alloys and geometries applied in the production of castings. According to an embodiment, the method includes generating, using an additive manufacturing apparatus, a plurality of layers, wherein each layer includes individual ceramic ligaments arranged in a grid pattern having a two-dimensional rotational orientation. The method further includes stacking the layers along a thickness direction to form the filter.