Lighting manufactured by U.S. Architectural
U.S. Architectural Lighting is a manufacturer of luminaries, outdoor site and area lighting options for public spaces and industrial settings. Based in Palmdale, California, its product range includes over 400 standard items and the unique ability to offer customised solutions to meet the technical challenges of rain, wind, snow, and sun in specific settings.
The development team at U.S. Architectural has implemented a large format 3D Platform printer into its standard product development process for creating aluminium castings. As a result, it has increased the speed at which it can offer unique solutions in custom designs, while at the same time cutting cost dramatically.
Tim Carraher, Lead Engineer at U.S. Architectural explained how his team had approached new designs prior to bringing a 3D Platform printer in house. “With our old process of product development, we used to spend on average $50,000 a year with an outside service bureau printing mostly SLA parts. The average part was over $3000 and we would have to wait two to three weeks or more to get it in our hands.”
3D printed part
Tim estimates that in just 18 months the team completed 40 projects totalling 15 complete multiple part luminary designs. “The first few months we spent developing FFF 3D printing skills and had some success, but things really took off for us as we found the sweet spot and dialled it in. That’s when the machine really began to make a big impact for us. In what we saved versus going outside to have things printed, the machine paid for itself within six months.”
At an average cost of $3,000 per part, the 40 projects would have totalled $120,000 in 18 months. With an install cost of about $30,000, it means that in that timeframe having the 3D Platform printer has added about $90,000 to the bottom line.
The process begins with A CAD model being printed on the 3D Platform printer using a standard PLA filament. At times, the team will segment the model and print only a section of a part to test printability or quick cast a portion before going to the foundry. They’ve also found that PLA parts printed via the FFF process are stronger, compared to the SLA parts previously used. Once the PLA print is completed, they will spend minimal time filling ridges and sanding the part.
The part is then taken to the prototype shop where the part will be manually pressed into a type of self-binding “green sand” to create the temporary match plate pattern. Next, they will pour the aluminium into the sand, quickly producing the first metal prototype. Upon removal of the part is where the process plays to U.S. Architectural’s strength in metal finishing as they work the aluminium part to achieve the desired final surface finish.
Aluminium casting top
“We’ve found that trying to sand the PLA, while possible, can be risky. We would try to use a tool on it, end up putting a hole in the part and then have to start over. So, we find it’s much easier for the little finish work we need to do to use a die grinder or other tool on the aluminium,” Tim explained.
Once the aluminium part is accepted, it will go on to the foundry and become the master used in creating the production level cope and drag pattern. Having this large-format 3D printer in-house allows the entire process from CAD to casting to happen in a matter of days, not weeks. This gives U.S. Architectural a competitive speed advantage and eliminates the outside cost for prototype prints.
