Pumps & Hydraulics

3D Printing Enhances Production and Part Performance for Pump Industry

ExOne has dramatically improved hydraulic balancing of impeller castings and produced quick turnaround times for one-off castings and 3D printed metal components in the pump manufacturing industry. With readily editable design files, concurrent iterations can be achieved in a matter of weeks, and since data files can be stored on a hard drive, there’s no need to store physical patterns. Metal and sand 3D printing is also an ideal application for reverse engineering legacy pump components that are no longer manufactured or are missing molds or patterns.

In addition to process and overhead efficiencies, 3D printed parts from ExOne have been noted for additional benefits, such as improved impeller core accuracy, superior blade registration, better hydraulic performance and ease of dynamic balance. With improvements in performance as well as production process, it’s easy to see why more pump manufacturers are turning to ExOne’s 3D printing solutions.

Standard Alloys Manufactured a 57 Inch Impeller in Just Eight Weeks

A sand-printed core replaced traditional pattern-based sand casting for Standard Alloys’ 57 Inch Impeller cut production time substantially. The cores were produced in under a week using ExOne’s Rapid Casting Process and so Standard Alloys was able to cast and finish the impellers in just two months. This drop in lead time (compared to the multiple weeks required to create a custom core box) as well as post-processing and balancing time reductions gave Standard Alloys the edge they needed to better server their customer base and enhance profitability.

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Print Entire Mold Packages with ExOne 3D Sand Printers

The ExOne process helps customers in the pumping industry produce castings for prototyping, replacement impellers, volute shapes and rotating parts, by printing entire mold packages or as part of a “hybrid” approach to print just the cores. Using additive manufacturing to create these molds and cores, ExOne has substantially reduced the time and expense required to produce castings. When compared to traditional pattern manufacturing process, delivery of mold packages to the foundry is measured in days versus months.

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Directly Print Accurate Metal Pump Parts with Increased Performance

While casting is the primary method of parts production in the manufacturing industry, metal 3D printing can also be leveraged to directly print prototypes or low volume batches for complex designs. Through our global adoption centers, ExOne can produce premium-quality impellers, bearings, valve parts and more to meet the needs of the hydraulic industry.

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Pumpworks Castings, LLC

ExOne technology has empowered our manufacturing team to take on projects we would not have taken on in the past. Matching our team’s skill sets with ExOne’s technology enables us as a supplier of parts to say yes to one-off designs and say yes to fast deliveries.

Mark Welch, Director of Sales at PumpWorks Castings, LLC

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