ExOne Introduces Water Wash-Out Process for 3D Printing

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Rick Lucas, the Chief Technology Officer at ExOne, says a new process his company's think tank, ExMAL, has created will allow customers to directly print not only parts, but also any required tooling. They call it Water Wash-out Tooling, and it's unique when compared with traditional methods in that all of the print material can be recovered and reused for future print cycles. 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 and curing. The final core is then washed out to leave structural the composite alone. Lucas says the dimensionally stable process can be used with Polyester, Vinyl Ester or Epoxy resins, and the system can be used at autoclave pressures to 125 psi and can withstand process temperatures to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. You can read the entire story here: http://3dprint.com/78127/exone-water-wash-out-tooling/

[Prof Pat Pending]

I'm not convinced that the article has fully grasped the concept here

[raysspl]

I'd be interested in trying this actually

[СаlеbPetersеn]

Any idea what it consists of? Sand mixed with water-soluble polymer (PVA?)? I'm not sure why sand-PVA would be superior to pure PVA for this application...it may have something to do with their infiltrative printing process.