2018年CRI 3D printing of casting pattern leads the industrial transformation in Ningxia

 

There are more than 26 thousands casting companies in China, accounting¹ for half of all the global manufacturers of casting products. But the traditional method of handmaking castings is heavily reliant on human resources and energy, and can produce a lot of environmental pollution.

But thanks to the spread of 3D printing technology, a revolution is taking place in the industrial casting industry in Ningxia Hui autonomous² region.

Liu Yi can still remember the terrible working conditions at the foundry where he landed his first job after graduation. The air in the factory was full of dust and the sweat, and the high temperatures made people feel dull and sleepy.

These type of working conditions seem like a world away from the air-conditioned workshop at Kocel Intelligent Machinery³. Liu Yi's old factory has been transformed with the introduction of 3D printing technology, which has increased the productivity of the factory five-fold, and reduced the burden of manual labor⁴ on the workforce⁵.

Liu Yi, now the vice⁶ president of The National Intelligent Foundry Industry Innovation Center in Ningxia, has seen for himself the huge changes that have taken place in China's casting industry.

"Traditionally it was time consuming to make a single casting product. A sand core needs to be created. It usually takes 1 to 2 months to make the pattern. By using 3D printing, the cast is now made using a digital mold, which generally only takes 2 or 3 days to make. The process is very quick; and the sand core can be printed in 1 to 2 hours."

Kocel Intelligent Machinery is located in the national economic and technological⁷ development zone in Yinchuan. The company owns 12 3D sand core printers. When the printer starts, the sand box slides into the printer, and the sand is spreading evenly across the base.

Nozzles then spray resin⁸ onto the layers of sand, gluing the sand together. The process is repeated until a three dimensional sand core is formed. The key responsibility of the workers in this intelligent foundry is to keep an eye on the smooth running of the 3D printers, and supervise the automated⁹ transportation of the completed products around the factory. The intelligent production line has cut the number of people involved in the production process from 35 down to 7.

3D printers have several advantages over the older production methods. The sand cores can be produced more quickly and with a high degree of accuracy, which makes it easier and faster to make changes to the design. The printers in this foundry were developed by Xu Yunlong and his team, and were the first use of 3D printing technology in China for making sand cores.

Xuyunlong, who is the vice president of Kocel Institute of Intelligent Machinery Research, spent 7 years developing the first printer.

"Different kinds of sand have different structures when you look at them under a microscope. They will perform differently during the printing process, which changes the patterns of each layer of printing, which in turn affects the accuracy of the printing. So we spent a lot of time testing the performance of the printers."

5 engineers in Xu's team spent 4 years testing and fine-tuning the new printing technology. It is their goal to develop the world's largest 3D sand core printer, and set the international standards for the technology.

This mission is shared by the National Intelligent Foundry Industry Innovation Center in Ningxia.

Mai Xinfu, the chief economist¹⁰ of the Ningxia Municipal commission of economy and information technology, says the support that industry receives from the innovation center has contributed a lot to the development of the industry in Ningxia.

"Traditional industries form a large part of Ningxia's GDP. To reduce industry pollution in the region and shift towards a green economy, our industrial transformation¹¹ is very important. This is our economic task in future."

Investment in the industrial restructure of Ningxia reached 43 billion yuan in 2017, which is about 6.2 billion U.S. dollars. This is an increase of 15 percent compared to last year. And the total investment in industrial technology innovation made up 34 percent of all industrial investment in 2017.

Liuyi says that the traditional casting process will gradually be replaced with the new methods of casting using 3D printers.

"At present, 3D printing products make up around 20 percent of our total production. We hope that by the year 2020, almost 80 percent of our production will be produced using 3D printing."

Around 20 thousand tons of mouldings and 10 thousand tons of precision products are produced using the new 3D printing technology each year. The result has been a boom in the economy of Ningxia.

1 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

8 resin   

n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂

参考例句：

• This allyl type resin is a highly transparent, colourless material.这种烯丙基型的树脂是一种高度透明的、无色材料。
• This is referred to as a thixotropic property of the resin.这种特性叫做树脂的触变性。

9 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。