SOLIGENS DIRECT

SHELL PRODUCTION
CASTING (DSPC)
 Soligen Technologies Inc. was founded by Yehoram Uziel, its
President and CEO, in 1991
It first installed its Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC)
System at three alpha sites in 1993.
It bought the license to MITs 3D printing patents for metal
casting which is valid till 2006

COMPANY
 Model and Specifications:
Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC) creates ceramic
molds for metal parts with integral coves directly and
automatically from CAD file. Soligens Direct Shell
Production Casting machine (see Figure ), DSPC 300,
includes the following mechanisms:
(1) A powder holder which contains the manufacturing
material powder.
(2) A powder distributor to distribute a thin layer of powder.
(3) Rollers which are used to compress each layer before
binding.
(4) A print head which sprays binder on each layer.
(5) A bin which is used to hold the mold.

PRODUCT
 Model DSPC 300
Process Direct Shell Production Casting
XY resolution (mm) 0.05
Work volume, XYZ (mm mm 304 304 304
mm)
Layer thickness (mm) 0.178
Vertical build rate (mm/hour) 12.719.0
Size of unit, XYZ (m m m), 2300 1300 2600
estimated
Data control unit EWS
Power supply 110 or 220 VAC, 10 A

THE SPECIFICATIONS OF THE

MACHINE ARE SUMMARIZED IN
TABLE :
 Patternless casting. Direct tooling, thus eliminating the need to
produce any patterns.
Functional metal parts. Up till the late 1990s, DSPC was the only rapid
prototyping process which created ceramic molds for metal casting. As
a result, functional metal parts (or metal tooling, such as dies for die
casting) could be made directly from the CAD data of the part.
Net-shaped integral molds. No parting lines, core prints or draft angles
are required. Integral gatings and chills can be added to optimize
mechanical properties.

ADVANTAGES
 Limited materials. The DSPC 300 only focuses on making
ceramics molds primarily for metal casting.

DISADVANTAGES
 The DSPC technology is derived from a process known as three-dimensional
printing and was invented and developed at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), USA.
The process steps are:

PROCESS
PROCESS
PROCESS
 (1) A part is first designed on a computer, using a commercial computer
aided design (CAD) software.
(2) The CAD model is then loaded into the shell design unit the central
control unit of the equipment. Preparing the computer model for the
casting mold requires modifications such as scaling the dimensions to
compensate for shrinkage, adding fillets, and removing characteristics
that will be machined later. The mold maker then decides how many mold
cavities will be on each shell and the type of gating system, including the
basic sprues, runners and gates. Once the CAD mold shells are modified
to the desired configuration, the shell design unit generates an electronic
model of the assembly in slices to the specified thickness. The electronic
model is then transferred to the shell production unit.

PROCESS STEPS:
 (3) The shell production unit begins depositing a thin layer of fine alumina
powder over the shell working surface for the first slice of the casting mold. A
roller follows the powder, leveling the surface.
(4) An ink-jet print head, similar to those in computer printers, moves over
the layer, injecting tiny drops of colloidal silica binder onto the powder
surface from its 128 ink jets. Passing the pressurized stream of binder
through a vibrating piezoelectric ceramic atomizes it as it exits the jet. The
droplets pick up electric charge as they pass through an electric field which
helps to align them to the powder. The binder solidifies the powder into
ceramic on contact and the unbounded alumina remains as support for the
following layer. The work area lowers and another layer of powder is
distributed.

PROCESS STEPS:
 (5) The process through Steps 3 and 4 is repeated until all layers of
the mold have been formed.
(6) After the building process is completed, the casting shell remains
buried in a block of loose alumina powder. The unbound excess
powder is then separated from the finished shell. The shell can then
be removed for post-processing, which may include firing in a kiln to
remove moisture or preheating to an appropriate temperature for
casting.

PROCESS STEPS:
 (7) Molten metal can then be poured in to fill the casting shell or mold. After
cooling, the shell can be broken up to remove the cast which can then be
processed to remove gatings, sprues, etc., thus completing the casting
process.

NOTE: The hardware of the DSPC system contains a PC computer, a powder

holder, a powder distributor, rolls, a print head and a bin. The software
includes a CAD system and a Soligens slicing software

PROCESS STEPS:
 The principle of Soligens Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC) is based on
Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP), a technology invented, developed and
patented by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
3DP is licensed exclusively to Soligen on a worldwide basis for the field of metal
casting. Using this patented inkjet technology, binder from the nozzle
selectively binds the ceramic particles together to create each layer.
Layer after layer is built and bound to the previous layer until the ceramic shell
is completed. The shell is removed from the DSPC machine and fired to
vitrification temperatures to harden and remove all moisture.
All excess ceramic particles are blown away.
In the process, the parameters that influence performance and functionality are
the layer thickness, the powders properties, the binders and the pressure of the
rollers.

PRINCIPLE
 The DSPC Technology is used primarily to create casting shells for production of
parts and prototypes. Soligen Inc. has acquired a foundry in Santa Ana for the
commercial production of the prototypes and molds, called Parts Now Division.
It serves as a service center as well as a place for equipment and process research
and development. It aims to be a premier one-stop shop for functional cast
metal parts produced directly from a CAD file, and with no need for pre-fabricated
tooling to produce the first article. DSPC has been used in the following areas:
(1) Automotive industry.
(2) Aerospace industry.
(3) Computer manufacture.
(4) Medical prostheses.

APPLICATIONS
 Soligen Inc. continues to do research on part- and mold-design. Using
knowledge and experience from application development, the Parts Now
division is developing technology to produce intricate aluminum die casts that
could improve throughput from 50% to 250% while improving accuracy and
durability as well. Improving mold surface finishes with the DSPC-cast
electrode used with electric-discharge machining (EDM) and coating
technologies are also under development

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT