Aristo-Cast Integrates Casting and 3D Printing to Maximise Their Advantages – Interview with Jack Ziemba

Aristo-Cast Inc. is a small investment casting company based in Michigan, USA. Their Printed Investment Casting Shell (P.I.C.S.) technology combines 3D printing with the casting process, leveraging the strengths of both. In an interview with 3Druck.com, CEO Jack Ziemba shares his insights into the casting industry and outlines the benefits 3D printing has brought to an almost 6,000-year-old process.

Established in 1994, the original team of eight has grown to 38 highly talented individuals who have earned a reputation for being the people to go to for the very tough jobs. For its printed investment casting shells, known as P.I.C.S. the company has been recognised with awards from both, the American Foundry Society (2020) and the Investment Casting Institute (2022). Aristo Cast uses a 3D printer to create ceramic shells that can be used in the casting of metal parts. These shells are printed directly from a digital model, eliminating the necessity for traditional investment casting tooling, which involves several steps before the actual mould is obtained.

Combining 3D printing with investment casting offers several advantages. The entire process can be completed in days instead of weeks or months, leading to faster production times. Additionally, eliminating tooling costs and improving efficiency results in lower overall expenses. The precision of 3D printing ensures castings have excellent surface finish and dimensional accuracy, providing improved accuracy. Designers benefit from greater design freedom, as they can create complex geometries directly from digital models, allowing for more innovative products. Furthermore, 3D printing is more sustainable, generating significantly less waste compared to traditional investment casting methods.

Interview with CEO Jack Ziemba

In an interview with 3Druck.com, Aristo-Cast Inc. CEO Jack Ziemba outlines the key advantage of geometric complexity that additive manufacturing brings to the casting process and comments on the further advancements needed in the production process.

In your opinion, what is the significance of additive manufacturing for the investment casting industry?

The P.I.C.S. process combines the latest advances in additive manufacturing with a 6000-year-old method giving us the capability of producing parts that would normally be metal printed. It allows us the ability to cast internal shapes that would be impossible without additive manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing has developed continuously over the last few years. Which innovations or technological breakthroughs do you consider to be particularly important for your production processes?

We started pursuing the ability to print ceramic cores in 2012 and through those efforts, we were able to gain the knowledge and acquire the equipment that would allow us to produce castings superior to most metal printing methods. As we move into the future, additive manufacturing must demonstrate the ability to be scaled, allowing much higher volume than currently feasible, at least in the metal arena. We are currently using our Voxeljet 1000 to produce over 2,000 patterns for a component that goes on the C8 Corvette, this ability is opening doors to incorporate generative design and topographical optimisation to produce parts that are lighter and stronger than ever before. Having that capability allows designers to think outside the box on what’s possible, not only for earthbound parts but also ones utilised in the space frontier.

First Corona and now high inflation are major challenges for the whole industry. How do you think the multiple crises affect the additive manufacturing industry?

I don’t feel the crises had a huge impact on the AM industry.

What impact do you think additive manufacturing will have on different industries and possibly society as a whole in the coming years?

I’m sure additive manufacturing will have a tremendous effect on every industry. It will depend on how each industry chooses to utilise that capability and once they started adopting it how imaginative they can be with their newfound capability. To be more specific would require that we categorise and then answer. I believe one thing that would speed up the adoption of additive manufacturing across a wide range of industries is for people to be more willing to share their developments and exchange information.

Here you can find further information on Aristo Cast.