3D Printed (Binder Jetting) Furan Molding and Core Sands—Thermal Deformation, Mechanical and Technological Properties

Casting cores produced in additive manufacturing are more often used in industrial practice, in particular in the case of the production of unit castings and castings with very complex geometry. The growing interest in the technology of 3D printing of cores and molds also brings emerging doubts related to their mechanical and technological properties. This article presents a comparison of the properties of cores made of sand with acid-curing furfuryl resin, made with 3D printing technology; the cores were prepared in a conventional way (mixing and compaction). The main purpose of this research was to determine the possibility of using shell cores as a substitute for solid cores, aimed at reducing the amount of binder in the core. The influence of the type of the binder and the size of the grain matrix fraction on the obtained mechanical and technological properties of the cores, with particular emphasis on abrasion and thermal deformation, as well as on the kinetics of their hardening, was demonstrated.