Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts

Thin-walled structures are a significant and growing portion of engineering construction, with a wide range of applications, including storage vessels, industrial buildings, warehouses, aircraft, automobiles, bridges, ships, and oil rigs. Thin-walled components with minimum thickness without comprom...

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Main Authors: Naol Dessalegn Dejene, Hirpa G. Lemu, Endalkachew Mosisa Gutema
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-11-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/23/7346
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author Naol Dessalegn Dejene
Hirpa G. Lemu
Endalkachew Mosisa Gutema
author_facet Naol Dessalegn Dejene
Hirpa G. Lemu
Endalkachew Mosisa Gutema
author_sort Naol Dessalegn Dejene
collection DOAJ
description Thin-walled structures are a significant and growing portion of engineering construction, with a wide range of applications, including storage vessels, industrial buildings, warehouses, aircraft, automobiles, bridges, ships, and oil rigs. Thin-walled components with minimum thickness without compromising strength and other quality characteristics are the desire of modern industry. Reducing wall thickness not only aids in lowering the cost of production. It also improves the effectiveness of engineering systems, resulting in lower fuel consumption and lower emissions of hazardous gases to the environment. Nowadays, even though thin-walled parts are demanded, the constraints of the production process, quality, and reliability are the concerns of current research and development. The ability to produce parts with intricate geometries and tight dimensional tolerances are important criteria for advanced manufacturing processes. In the early days of society, investment casting was used to produce jewelry, weapons, and statues. In modern industry, investment casting is still used to produce thin-walled and intricate parts such as turbine blades. The current advancements in SLM, which has the capacity to produce thin-walled and intricate parts, have recently attracted attention due to several benefits, such as the supreme degree of design freedom and the viability of tool-free production directly from CAD data. However, the current technological applications of SLM and investment casting are crucial for producing parts at the desired quality and reliability. This review article focuses on comparative studies of SLM and investment casting at the current technology level. The basis of comparison via systematic approach is mechanical characterization; quality in terms of porosity, microstructure, surface roughness and dimensional accuracy; and residual stress. Therefore, the latest open scientific sources published are considered to obtain sufficient literature coverage. Better tensile strength and fine microstructure are found in SLM, while better surface quality, fatigue load resistance, ductility, and residual stress are found in investment casting. The research gap for further investigation is indicated.
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spelling doaj.art-7f2031d6dfc24a629355af00443ba88a2023-12-08T15:20:49ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442023-11-011623734610.3390/ma16237346Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled PartsNaol Dessalegn Dejene0Hirpa G. Lemu1Endalkachew Mosisa Gutema2Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, N-4036 Stavanger, NorwayDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering &Technology, Wallaga University, Nekemte P.O. Box 395, EthiopiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering &Technology, Wallaga University, Nekemte P.O. Box 395, EthiopiaThin-walled structures are a significant and growing portion of engineering construction, with a wide range of applications, including storage vessels, industrial buildings, warehouses, aircraft, automobiles, bridges, ships, and oil rigs. Thin-walled components with minimum thickness without compromising strength and other quality characteristics are the desire of modern industry. Reducing wall thickness not only aids in lowering the cost of production. It also improves the effectiveness of engineering systems, resulting in lower fuel consumption and lower emissions of hazardous gases to the environment. Nowadays, even though thin-walled parts are demanded, the constraints of the production process, quality, and reliability are the concerns of current research and development. The ability to produce parts with intricate geometries and tight dimensional tolerances are important criteria for advanced manufacturing processes. In the early days of society, investment casting was used to produce jewelry, weapons, and statues. In modern industry, investment casting is still used to produce thin-walled and intricate parts such as turbine blades. The current advancements in SLM, which has the capacity to produce thin-walled and intricate parts, have recently attracted attention due to several benefits, such as the supreme degree of design freedom and the viability of tool-free production directly from CAD data. However, the current technological applications of SLM and investment casting are crucial for producing parts at the desired quality and reliability. This review article focuses on comparative studies of SLM and investment casting at the current technology level. The basis of comparison via systematic approach is mechanical characterization; quality in terms of porosity, microstructure, surface roughness and dimensional accuracy; and residual stress. Therefore, the latest open scientific sources published are considered to obtain sufficient literature coverage. Better tensile strength and fine microstructure are found in SLM, while better surface quality, fatigue load resistance, ductility, and residual stress are found in investment casting. The research gap for further investigation is indicated.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/23/7346additive manufacturingcastinginvestment castingselective laser meltingthin-walledmicrostructure
spellingShingle Naol Dessalegn Dejene
Hirpa G. Lemu
Endalkachew Mosisa Gutema
Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts
Materials
additive manufacturing
casting
investment casting
selective laser melting
thin-walled
microstructure
title Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts
title_full Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts
title_fullStr Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts
title_full_unstemmed Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts
title_short Critical Review of Comparative Study of Selective Laser Melting and Investment Casting for Thin-Walled Parts
title_sort critical review of comparative study of selective laser melting and investment casting for thin walled parts
topic additive manufacturing
casting
investment casting
selective laser melting
thin-walled
microstructure
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/23/7346
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