Back to results
US 12,350,735 B2Granted
Lost foam and sand casting with polylactic acid- based foam articles
AssigneeLifoam Industries, LLC
InventorSaumitra Bhargava
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods for forming metal articles are provided. The methods include forming foam casting molds from polylactic acid for use in lost foam and sand casting processes. The PLA-based foam casting molds advantageously reduce cycle time, reduce overall cost, increase reusability of the foam casting molds, reduce costs associated with shipping the foam casting mold, and improve yield and quality of cast metal articles.
Claims22
A method for forming a metal article, the method comprising:
- producing a foam casting mold, wherein producing the foam casting mold comprises:
- producing expandable foam beads formed from polylactic acid,
- molding the expandable foam beads into a foam article having a first shape, wherein the foam article corresponds to the metal article,
- drying the foam article,
- conditioning the foam article, and
- exposing a surface of the foam article to heat and pressure to form a skin from the expandable foam beads on the surface of the foam article to form the foam casting mold;
- investing the foam casting mold in sand;
- casting molten metal into the invested mold;
- removing the cast metal from the sand;
- and
- treating the cast metal to produce the metal article.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.