Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program, Research Project

Team members:

Research question: Can we use 3D sand printing and gyroids to create low-density metal
cast structures?
Broad topics which will be covered: 3D modeling & model manipulation, 3D printing, casting,
materials testing, engineering simulation, data analysis

Summary –
Key components
ExOne S-Max sand 3D printer, located at Humtown Products in Columbiana, OH
The S-Max allows for the direct fabrication of highly complex sand cores and molds for sand
casting directly from CAD data. The ability to cast in hours without hard tooling improves the
entire casting process chain and introduces design capabilities that would be otherwise
impossible to manufacture.

Gyroid Lattice Architecture

The gyroid is a mathematical surface described by a trigonometric equation which can be used to
impose and define a lattice architecture within an arbitrarily shaped solid volume. Due to its
mathematical complexion, the gyroid is extremely manipulable in terms of wall thickness,
macropore size, and density, while maintaining computational efficiency.

Objectives
Objective 1: Tensile testing of gyroids (aluminum A356)
S1: Design of gyroid tensile specimens
S1a: Specimen size, wall thickness, gage density, gyroid orientation, wall
thickness and/or density gradient(s)
S1b: ANSYS structural finite element analysis
S2: Design of gating (i.e. runners, risers, sprues, etc.) for casting
S2a: Simulate casting process in Magma
S3: Casting tensile bars
S4: Tensile testing, data analysis, and statistics
Objective 2: Identify a part to design using gyroids (artwork, sculpture, other).
S1 – S3: Same as above