Journal of Manufacturing Processes 53 (2020) 43–47

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Manufacturing Processes

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/manpro

Fabrication of a ceramic core for an impeller blade using a 3D printing T

technique and inorganic binder
Eun-Hee Kim, Hyun-Hee Choi, Yeon-Gil Jung*
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changwon National University, Changwon, Gyeongnam, 51140, Republic of Korea

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Ceramic cores for fabricating an impeller blade were prepared by a process using 3D printing and an inorganic
Ceramic core binder system. This process is much simpler than precision casting and can produce ceramic cores with strength
3D printer suitable for casting. The two types of 3D printer, powder bed binder jet printing (BJP) and selective laser
Inorganic binder sintering (SLS), with different starting materials were used as 3D printers. The core prepared by the SLS showed
a higher strength than that by the BJP because of the smaller particle size of the starting powder, which induces a
large specific surface area, resulting in the high coating efficiency of the inorganic binder. The core sample
prepared using SLS showed a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than that by BJP, indicating that the core
made by SLS is more applicable in precision casting. In addition, the core after casting was completely eluted in a
NaOH solution. The casting of the real impeller blade casting was very successful and the precision of the
product was excellent.

1. Introduction been made on 3D printing technology and, in particular, attempts have

In the production of hollow mechanical components by casting, a
ceramic core for forming an internal shape or flow channel is used to-
gether with a ceramic mold for forming an external shape [1–3]. The
external shape can be modified or complemented after casting, but
because the internal space is difficult to advance after casting, the
ceramic core is an important part for securing the precision and ob-
jectivity of the components. The cores used in precision casting for
manufacturing various mechanical components such as impellers,
blades, and vanes are prepared by a series of injection processes [4], but
these processes have disadvantages of low productivity and high
manufacturing cost [5].
Recently, the development of 3D printing technology has made it
possible to fabricate precise and complicated parts with less cost and
time, without mold making [6–8]. The production of the ceramic core
by 3D printing technology provides a speedy process and high energy
saving in precision casting, compared with injection molding, in which
it is not easy to change product design due to a high mold price and a
long production time. In addition, small-sized companies can easily
meet the needs of customers and thus gain competitiveness. By creating
3D drawings and prototypes quickly, errors and defects can be easily
detected, making product modification easy and reducing product in-
ventory and waste. Accordingly, many studies and developments have
been made to improve the starting materials so as to produce high-
quality products. However, the ceramic core produced by a 3D printing
technique still has a problem in that it is difficult to produce sufficient
strength, and a lengthy sintering process is required to induce the
strength [9]. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new process that
can induce strength without the sintering process while applying 3D
printing technology. For this purpose, the inorganic binders were ap-
plied to the core fabrication using 3D printing technology to increase
the firing strength of ceramic cores without sintering reaction between
particles [6,10–12]. An inorganic binder was applied to maintain the
shape of the core and to withstand the molten metal. That is, when the
green body is immersed in the inorganic binder solution, the inorganic
binder is coated on the surface and interface between ceramic powders.
In inorganic precursors, NaOMe is hydrolyzed to form NaOH. Si(OEt)4
(i.e., TEOS) is degraded to silici cacid (Si(OH)4) and ethyl alcohol
(EtOH) through the hydrolysis reaction, and silica (SiO2) is formed by
the condensation reaction. This hydrolysis-condensation reaction is
usually called a sol-gel reaction. Then, the SiO2 and NaOH synthesized
via the above mechanisms are glassified to form sodium silicate (Na2O
ㆍSiO2) during heat treatment at 1000 °C. The core has green strength
by gelation of the inorganic binder and ultimately has firing strength
through the synthesis of sodium silicate during heat treatment. That is,
a glass phase converted from inorganic precursor is uniformly dispersed

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jungyg@changwon.ac.kr (Y.-G. Jung).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2020.01.055
Received 9 May 2019; Received in revised form 9 September 2019; Accepted 29 January 2020
1526-6125/ © 2020 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E.-H. Kim, et al.
Table 1
Starting materials used for each 3D printer.
Powder bed binder jet Selective Laser Sintering
printing (BJP) (SLS)
Molecular structure Quartz (SiO2) Mullite (3Al2O3ㆍ2SiO2)
Particle size 190 μm 70 μm
Binder Furan resin Phenol resin
between the particles by being coated on the ceramic powders and the
bonding force between the particles can be increased, resulting in im-
proved durability of the core [13].
In this work, the ceramic cores were prepared using two types of 3D
printer, namely a powder bed binder jet printing (BJP) type and se-
lective laser sintering (SLS) type. In addition, the organic–inorganic
binder conversion process was applied to increase the mechanical
properties of the prepared core [14–18]. The cores with a real shape
and a bar type were designed with a CAD program and formed through
a 3D printing process, and then dipped into the inorganic precursor.
Actual impeller blades were cast to test the applicability to the industry
of ceramic cores made using a 3D printing process.
2. Experimental procedure
2.1. Starting material and sample preparation
Two types of 3D printer were used in this study: a BJP type (Voxeljet
VXC800 model, Germany) and SLS type (SENTROL SS600 G model,
Republic of Korea). Quartz sand with a size of 190 μm and a mullite
powder with a size of 70 μm were used as the starting material in the
BJP and SLS types, respectively, as shown in Table 1. The shape of the
starting materials used for each 3D printer is shown in Fig. 1. The furan
resin and phenolic resin were used as organic binders in the BJP and
SLS types, respectively (Table 1). A schematic diagram for fabricating
the ceramic core is shown in Fig. 2. The inorganic binder employed in
the coating process consisted of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS; Sigma-
Aldrich Korea) as a silicon dioxide (SiO2) precursor and sodium meth-
oxide (NaOMe; Sigma-Aldrich Korea) as a sodium oxide (Na2O) pre-
cursor. The composition of the inorganic binder system is shown in
Table 2. Fig. 3 is a schematic drawing of the ceramic core for 450 mm
impeller. The green bodies of a bar shape with 10 × 10 × 50 mm3 and
a 4 mm thick impeller blade were designed using a CAD program and
prepared using the BJP and SLS printers. The green bodies were dipped
into the mixture solution of inorganic precursors and followed by a
drying process at 80 °C for 1 h and heat treatment at 1000 °C for 1 h.
Heat treatment was carried out in the atmospheric environment as in a
normal core fabrication process. The inorganic precursors cause a sol-
gel reaction during the drying process,
2.2. Measurement
The decomposition point of the organic binder was measured using
a thermogravimetric analyzer (Q600; TA Instruments, New Castle, DE,
Fig. 1. Starting materials with the type of 3D printer: (a) BJP type and (b) SLS type.
44
Journal of Manufacturing Processes 53 (2020) 43–47
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the process sequence to prepare the ceramic core.
Table 2
Composition ratio of the inorganic binder used in this study.
TEOS (wt% (mol%)) NaOMe (wt% (mol%)) Isobutyl alcohol (wt% (mol%))
38 (0.18) 56 (1.5) 6 (0.08)
USA) from room temperature to 1000 °C (no maintenance interval) and
in an atmospheric environment, with a heating rate of 10 °C/min. The
fracture strengths of the green and firing samples were measured using
a universal testing machine (Instron 5566; Instron Corp., Norwood, MA,
USA) in the 3-point bending mode, at a loading rate of 0.5 mm·min–1.
The span distance of low support was 40 mm. The test was performed
10 times at room temperature to obtain the standard deviation in the
fracture strength. The thermal expansion of the core samples was
measured with a heating rate of 5 °C min−1 up to 1000 °C, using a
dilatometer (Model 500S; Mac Science, Tokyo, Japan). To investigate
the possibility of elution, a NaOH solution of 50 wt% concentration was
used and stirred for 24 h at 60 °C. A nondestructive test was performed
after the dewaxing process using an X-ray machine (LK-C27
PROD170300414, Zzlinker, Zhengzhou, China) to confirm the sound-
ness of the core. X-ray photographs were performed under the condi-
tions of 60 kV (voltage), 0.02 ∼ 2 s (exposure time), 0.3 × 0.3 mm
(focus), and 30 kHz (frequency). The height of the blade was fixed by
the Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) equipment, and the height
was measured at 10 points according to the position of the sample. The
experiment was conducted at a temperature of 25 °C and a humidity of
45 %.
3. Results and discussion
The organic binder, a furan resin used in the BJP, is a thermosetting
resin containing a furan ring, and it is cured by heat and used as a
water-resistant adhesive. After curing, its color became black or dark
brown. The characteristics can be seen by looking at the color of the
core sample shown in Fig. 4. However, furan resins have drawbacks in
that when they are heated to 150 °C or more, cracks are generated due
E.-H. Kim, et al.
Fig. 3. Schematic drawings of (a) the 450 mm impeller and (b) the ceramic core.
Fig. 4. Real impeller blade (upper side) and bar sample (lower side) before dipping into inorganic binder solution: (a) BJP type and (b) SLS type.
to thermal expansion. The organic binder, a phenolic resin used in the
SLS, is a thermosetting resin like furan resin. However, unlike the BJP
in which the binder is sprayed onto the powder, the starting powder is
irradiated with a CO2 laser to dissolve the phenolic resin coated on the
powder to form the molded body by laminating the powder with the
function of an adhesive. Both furan and phenolic resins do not dissolve
in solvents once hardened. However, it is difficult to maintain a form at
a high temperature because the bond between the resins breaks down in
the firing process (about 950 °C) or in the casting process. Similar
phenomena occur when using other resin-based binders instead of
phenol or furan resins.
The fracture strength values of core samples prepared using a 3D
printer are shown in Fig. 5. The strength before dipping into the in-
organic binder was about 3 MPa, which is insufficient for direct ap-
plication to the casting process. The binders used in two 3D printers
such as furan and phenolic resins, are thermosetting resins that form a
network between molecular chains by heat or beam. Before the dipping
of inorganic binder, the strength is totally maintained by the cross-
linked resins generated at space between particles, so it does not affect
the strength depending on the particle size and type. Thus, the strengths
of two ceramic cores prepared by 3D printers are similar before dipping
in the inorganic binder (As). However, after the dipping of inorganic
binder, since the strength is induced by the bonding of glass phase
between particles, the size of the particles has a great influence on the
strength. Therefore, the strength is greatly affected by the inorganic
binder rather than the organic binders such as furan and phenolic re-
sins. Particularly, since these resins are completely decomposed within
about 200 °C, there is no influence on the firing strength. When the
inorganic binder was impregnated once, the green strength was in-
creased by more than 1 MPa, but still insufficient and the firing strength
after heat treatment reached 5.8 MPa. When the inorganic binder is
coated twice, the strength was not improved much. Finally, in the case
of three coatings of inorganic binder, the green strength of the core
prepared by the BJP was 9.5 ± 0.5 MPa and the firing strength was
12.5 ± 0.9 MPa. In the SLS, the green and firing strengths were
12.5 ± 0.8 and 13.8 ± 4.3 MPa, respectively. Comparing the two
45
Journal of Manufacturing Processes 53 (2020) 43–47
samples (BJP type and SLS type), there was no significant difference in
the strength characteristics after one-time dipping, but the strength of
the core prepared using the SLS printer after the three-times dipping
was significantly increased. The cause is the difference in the shape and
size of the ceramic particles used in the two samples. The starting
powder for the SLS is about 70 μm in size, while the starting powder for
the BJP is about 190 μm in size, indicating that the smaller the particle
size, the higher the coating efficiency of the inorganic binder due to the
larger specific surface area. In other words, the firing strength is in-
duced not by the sintering phenomenon between particles, but by the
glass phase formed on the particle interface. Therefore, the coating
efficiency of the inorganic binder onto the particle surface is an im-
portant factor for enhancing the strength. The smaller the size of the
ceramic particles, the larger the surface area available for coating and
the higher the strength of the core.
The thermal expansion behavior for both samples was measured
after dipping into the inorganic binder and heat treatment (Fig. 6). The
core sample prepared by the BJP showed a thermal strain of about 1.25
% and a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 13.2 × 10–6/℃. The
core sample prepared by the SLS showed a thermal strain of about 0.5
% and CTE of 6.1 × 10–6/℃. Therefore, it was confirmed that the core
prepared by the BJP had more thermal deformation than that by the
SLS. The difference in thermal properties is a result of the fact that the
mullite powder has better thermal properties than the quartz powder.
In addition, the core made by BJP printer has oscillation that undergoes
expansion and shrinkage, while the core made by SLS printer expands
uniformly with temperature. The inorganic binder is coated with a thin
layer of 10 μm–20 μm on the surface of particles. Since the SLS method
uses a mixture of an organic binder (phenol resin) and powder, the
inorganic binder is uniformly coated on the surface of the particles.
However, a BJP printer is a lamination method in which one layer is
stacked with powder and the binder (furan resin) is stacked on the
powder. Thus, when the prepared core is dipped into the inorganic
binder solution, the inorganic binder is not only coated on the surface of
particles, but also locally aggregated. As the temperature rises, the
evaporation of water and condensation reactions of inorganic binder
E.-H. Kim, et al.
Fig. 5. Fracture strengths of the core sample before and after heat treatment
produced through the process shown in Fig. 2: (a) BJP type and (b) SLS type. As,
I, II, and III indicate the strength before dipping, after single dipping, double
dipping, and triple dipping into the inorganic binder, respectively.
generate a bond between inter-silicas (glass formation) and the small
volume shrinkages due to the thinly coated glass phase on the particles.
At the same time, the silica molecule itself increases in volume with
increasing temperature. Thus, in the core made by SLS, the dimensions
of the core increase linearly with increasing temperature, since the
volume expansion of the silica itself is more dominant than the
Fig. 6. Thermal behavior of core sample prepared using 3D printers: (a) BJP type and (b) SLS type.
46
Journal of Manufacturing Processes 53 (2020) 43–47
Fig. 7. The results of the elution test after casting for ceramic cores prepared
using 3D printers: (a) BJP type and (b) SLS type. The arrows are ceramic core
that is not eluted.
shrinkage caused by the inter-silica bonds. However, in the case of BJP,
the bonds between locally aggregated silicas cause the large volumetric
shrinkage, and the dimension expands again due to the molecular ex-
pansion of the silica itself. As a result, when a ceramic core made by the
SLS is fabricated and applied, the shape stability of the core by the SLS
printer can be ensured and the internal space will be sound during
casting.
The results of elution for the core samples (bar samples) after
casting with molten Fe metal are shown in Fig. 7. The inner core after
casting was eluted in a NaOH solution of 50 wt% concentration, and
then the remaining core was removed with high-pressure water. The
core prepared by the SLS was excellent in casting and the elution was
also great despite the high firing strength (Fig. 7(b-1) and (b-2)). In the
case of the BJP, the core was not fully eluted (arrows in Fig. 7(a-1) and
(a-2)). This is because of the aggregated inorganic binder during the
core fabrication, resulting in the difficult infiltrate of alkali solution.
E.-H. Kim, et al.
Fig. 8. X-ray nondestructive test for the real impeller blade core prepared using the SLS after dewaxing.
Fig. 9. Real impeller blade cast using ceramic core prepared using a 3D printer.
Therefore, the waxing process for casting an impeller blade was con-
ducted using the real-type core prepared by the SLS, and then a non-
destructive test was performed after dewaxing using an X-ray machine
to determine whether the core was broken in the dewaxing process. As
shown in Fig. 8, no cracks or broken parts were observed, indicating
that it is suitable for the actual casting process using the core made by a
3D printer and inorganic binder. The castability test was conducted
with molten Al metal to verify the casting applicability of the inorganic
binder and the 3D printing technique (see Fig. 9). The core inside the
blade product was completely eluted after casting. The impeller blade
with an average vane height of 4.56 mm and an error range of ± 0.44
mm could be fabricated, proved by the CMC test. The Al casting with
the core made by a 3D printer and inorganic binder was very successful,
and the dimensional accuracy of the product was also obtained with the
designed values.
4. Conclusions
In this study, two types of 3D printer, BJP and SLS, were employed
to prepare the ceramic cores and the organic–inorganic conversion
process was applied to provide a high temperature strength to the core.
As the coating numbers of the inorganic binder increased, the firing
strength was significantly improved, showing the highest firing strength
of 13.8 ± 4.3 MPa for the core prepared by the SLS after dipping three
times because of the increase of the amount of glass phase on the
particles. The higher strength of the core produced by the SLS compared
with that by the BJP is due to the coating efficiency of the inorganic
binder, resulting from the particle size of the starting material. In ad-
dition, the lower thermal strain of 0.5 % and the CTE of 6.1 × 10–6/°C
were obtained in the core by the SLS, which can ensure the shape
stability of the core prepared using the SLS during casting. In the
castability test, the sample prepared by the SLS showed a better elution
property in a NaOH solution. In the casting of a real-type impeller blade
using the core by the SLS, the product was successfully fabricated with a
100 % elution and with excellent dimensional accuracy. Consequently,
it is verified that the 3D printing technique combined with the orga-
nic–inorganic conversion process can be employed to fabricate the
ceramic core for casting various hollow-type mechanical components.
47
Journal of Manufacturing Processes 53 (2020) 43–47
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants (NRF-2019R1D1A3A03103822)
from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the
Korean Government and by the “Human Resources Program in Energy
Technology” of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation
and Planning (KETEP), granted financial resources from the Ministry of
Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20194030202450).
References
[1] Saikaew C, Wiengwiset S. Optimization of molding sand composition for quality
improvement of iron castings. Appl Clay Sci 2012;67:26–31.
[2] Meng YA, Thomas BG. Modeling transient slag-layer phenomena in the shell/mold
gap in continuous casting of steel. Metall Mater Trans B 2003;34B:707–25.
[3] Şimşir M, Kumruoğlu LC, Özer A. An investigation into stainless-steel/structure-
alloy steel bimetal produced by shell mold casting. Mater Des 2009;30:264–70.
[4] Jiang J, Liu XY. Dimensional variations of castings and moulds in the ceramic mould
casting process mater. J Mater Process Technol 2007;189:247–55.
[5] Kim EH, Cho GH, Oh YS, Jung YG. Development of a high-temperature mold process
for sand casting with a thin wall and complex shape. Thin Solid Films
2016;620:70–5.
[6] Park HY, Kim EH, Choi HH, Cho GH, Jung YG, Zhang J. New conversion process for
fabricating a ceramic core by a 3D printing technique. Surf Coat Technol
2017;332:527–32.
[7] Dong YW, Li XL, Zhao Q, Yang J, Dao M. Modeling of shrinkage during investment
casting of thin-walled hollow turbine blades. J Mater Process Technol
2017;244:190–203.
[8] Saridkmen H, Kuskonmaz N. Properties of ceramic casting molds produced with two
different binders. Interceram - Int Ceram Rev 2005;31:873–8.
[9] Callister WD. Materials science and engineering: an introduction. New York: Wiley;
1997.
[10] Gurav JL, Rao AV, Rao AP, Nadargi DY, Bhagat SD. Physical properties of sodium
silicate based silica aerogels prepared by single step sol–gel process dried at am-
bient pressure. J Alloys Compd 2009;476:397–402.
[11] Anbia M, Lashgari M. Synthesis of amino-modified ordered mesoporous silica as a
new nano sorbent for the removal of chlorophenols from aqueous media. Chem Eng
J 2009;150:555–60.
[12] Xue W, Bandyopahyay A, Bose S. Mesoporous calcium silicate for controlled release
of bovine serum albumin protein. Acta Biomater 2009;5:1686–96.
[13] Kim EH, Jung YG, Lee JH. Development of a new coating system for the high
functional mold in thin-wall casting. Mater Today: Proceedings 2014;1:55–69.
[14] Erich K, Wolfgang L, Hermann G. The Color Change in CO2 Absorbents on drying:
an in vitro study using moisture analysis. Anesthesia & Analgesi 2003;97:151–5.
[15] Schulz GO, Milkovich R. Graft polymers with macromonomers. I. Synthesis from
methacrylate-terminated polystyrene. Applied Polymer 1982;27:4773–86.
[16] Callister WD. Applications, and processing of polymers, materials science and en-
gineering. 8th edition 2020. p. 570–671.
[17] Hasegawa N, Okamoto H, Kawasumi M, Usuki A. Preparation and mechanical
properties of polystyrene-clay hybrids. J Appl Polym Sci Symp 1999;74:3359–64.
[18] Callister WD. Thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers, materials science and
engineering. 8th edition 2020. p. 550–1.