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Batch Manufacturing - Massive, faster, better

The core components applied to 3D printers are highly refined and intelligent, providing technical support for use and upgrading. The 4K-DLP optical bow engine is applied to the field of 3D printing for the first time, with a larger format and a more delicate surface, which increases the original manufacturing capacity several times. Multiple equipment, large format, fast, efficient and intelligent technical features greatly change the manufacturing method and simplify the production process. Replacing the original method of mold-opening and wax injection, it provides hardware support for mass production.

Manufacturing Process

Since the 1980s, the structure of the global jewelry industry has begun to change. Europe and the United States have mainly maintained excellent design standards and brand output. The jewelry processing and manufacturing industry has begun to migrate to Asia, first to Thailand and Hong Kong and other regions, and then to gradually transfer part of it. In mainland China, modern jewelry manufacturing began to flourish.

At present, China is not only a big country in jewelry manufacturing, but also a big consumer country. Data shows that the annual sales volume of the jewelry industry in 2018 reached more than 700 billion yuan, and the demand for gold jewelry in China has more than tripled in the past 15 years. At present, China is still the world's largest gold consumer, accounting for about 30% of the global market demand.

The traditional jewelry manufacturing process is complex, affected by the manufacturing process, the jewelry structure is simple, and the production cycle is long. If it is mass production, after the mold is executed, it will be turned into a metal master, so as to make a silicone film and inject wax, and then continue to perform mold casting and other work, and the entire cycle will be further extended[1].

In the precision casting process of the jewelry manufacturing industry, the method of manual starting has been used for a long time to make the original mold, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. With the continuous application of new technologies, many processes have gradually changed from manual operations to automated processing, which greatly improves production efficiency[2]. The application of 3D design software and 3D printing technology has completely changed the concept of jewelry design and manufacturing. Design software can create creative designs more quickly, and to quickly convert these complex designs into products, it is necessary to take advantage of 3D printing technology[3].

1 Application status of 3D printing technology in jewelry manufacturing industry

Advanced manufacturing technology was developed rapidly at the end of the 20th century, and 3D printing technology (also known as rapid prototyping or additive manufacturing) was gradually formed and developed under this background. The development of 3D printing technology has greatly shortened the cycle of product design and manufacturing, improved the one-time yield of product design and manufacturing, and reduced product development costs, thereby bringing fundamental changes to the manufacturing industry and catering to the jewelry market. consumer demand[4].

3D printing is a new method of additive manufacturing. 3D printing requires the establishment of a printed three-dimensional digital model first, and then slices the model along the Z direction and decomposes it into a sheet-like structure, and then builds a three-dimensional object layer by layer according to different molding principles and materials. The digital model can be designed by 3D software or obtained by 3D scanning, and then processed into STL/OBJ/AMF/3MF formats commonly used in 3D printing. According to different molding materials and principles, three-dimensional objects are constructed layer by layer, and different 3D printing molding methods have also been formed[5].

In the early days of the development of 3D printing technology, 3D printing technology has been applied in the jewelry manufacturing field, and it has gradually matured. At present, 3D printing has become an indispensable manufacturing method in jewelry manufacturing, and has also had a significant impact on jewelry design[6]. In the early days, 3D printer technology mainly replaced traditional hand-carved wax or machine-made wax. Hand-carved wax requires high skills to make a wax pattern that meets the design requirements. If the design is too complicated, it will be very time-consuming. Unable to restore[7].

At present, 3D printing is related to more than half of jewelry manufacturing. Whether it is used indirectly or directly in jewelry manufacturing, it simplifies the jewelry manufacturing process and promotes the development of the industry towards customized, more complex or unique designs and digital manufacturing.

There are many 3D printing technologies used in jewelry manufacturing, but the most mature and widely used technologies are digital light processing technology and piezoelectric jetting technology. The equipment used in factories is usually called resin spraying machine and wax spraying machine. They use different materials, the former is mostly castable resin, and the latter is castable wax, which is currently mostly used for starting work.

The advantage of 3D printing technology is that it can quickly manufacture three-dimensional prototypes, simplifying the process of designing and manufacturing prototypes. However, it is difficult to play a role in the mass production process, mainly because the production cost of a single part is high and the production cycle is long, which cannot be compared with open mold molding.

2 New technology of digital light processing 3D printing realizes mass jewelry manufacturing

In recent years, resin light processing 3D printing technology has developed rapidly, with faster printing, larger molding format, easier casting of resin materials, and falling prices, creating conditions for mass manufacturing. The CLIP technology of Carbon Company in the United States and the cDLM technology of Envisiontec Company in Germany increase the printing speed through continuous pull-up technology. The UR series and T series of China Totustec Company focus on mass printing and manufacturing in specific fields.

2.1 Diversification of personalized design requirements

The needs of modern people are becoming more and more personalized. Jewelry is no longer just a symbol of wealth. Young people regard jewelry as ornaments and require unique personality. Traditional craftsmanship cannot provide fast and effective manufacturing tool support, and design will be impossible. from [8]. It is precisely because of this weapon that designers' design tools have become more and more abundant and simpler, especially the powerful 3D design software RhinoGold, Metrix, MetrixGold, etc. that have emerged in recent years, making design easier. free. The original data is obtained by 3D scanning, and then modified, everything can be designed.

2.2 Hardware upgrades help mass manufacturing

The core components applied to 3D printers are highly refined and intelligent, providing technical support for use and upgrading. The 4K-DLP optical engine is applied to the field of 3D printing for the first time, with a larger format and a more delicate surface, which increases the original manufacturing capacity several times. Multiple equipment, large format, fast, efficient and intelligent technical features greatly change the manufacturing method and simplify the production process. Replacing the original method of mold-opening and wax injection, it provides hardware support for mass production. Cloud-based monitoring technology greatly reduces the workload of on-site real-time monitoring. In the future, automatic assembly and disassembly of the workbench can be realized, and unmanned operation can be completely realized.

The white wax machine is a new type of photosensitive resin continuous 3D printer. It is named because the material uses a mixture of high content wax and photosensitive resin, which turns white after post-processing. The continuous 3D printer 4KL150UR and other models developed by TotusTec can not only greatly improve the printing speed, but also effectively reduce the layers in the stacking manufacturing process. process.

2.3 Material upgrades help process optimization

Materials are the basis of industrial production. Different materials form different 3D printing technologies and processes. The properties of materials affect the application of the final product. Different from conventional single 3D printing materials, there are many kinds of light-curable resins, which can provide resins with high toughness, high hardness, or high elasticity.

In the process of jewelry manufacturing, lost-wax casting is the most common production method, especially in mass-produced jewelry, wax prototypes must be made first, and then cast into metal jewelry one by one. There is a class of resins in light-curable materials that use their low-residue burnable properties to replace casting wax materials in traditional lost wax casting. Although the early castable resins are combustible, the resins thermally expand greatly during the heating process. For some large and thick jewelry, the surface of the plaster mold will be damaged, resulting in powder falling or even dislocation. The new resin wax, commonly known as white wax, is a mixture of wax and resin, which not only meets the characteristics of light curing, but also meets the requirements of low expansion rate and low residual amount. It is a material that can completely replace traditional casting wax. This method not only simplifies the process flow, but can even completely eliminate the mold-opening wax room. The great improvement of casting characteristics also simplifies the workload of subsequent manual mold execution. Except for simple trimming and supporting treatment, the rest of the work can be handed over to mechanical polishing.

White wax combines the ease of casting of wax and the ease of molding of resin, and has unique advantages, providing technical support for the mass production of jewelry. High-wax white wax material CW2000 is currently the most reliable white wax material on the market and can be widely used in mass production.

3 Conclusion

3D printing technology applied to jewelry manufacturing has been paid more and more attention by jewelers. Design diversification, hardware upgrades, and the application of new materials make 3D printing technology shine and achieve mass production. In addition to simplifying and improving traditional craftsmanship, it will also completely liberate the constraints of design, and the original imagination will no longer be troubled by inability to manufacture. Digital light processing technology is the earliest and most widely used 3D printing technology in the jewelry manufacturing industry. In recent years, the emergence of new materials and new processes has made digital light processing technology develop more rapidly, faster, bigger and more. Trend, 3D printed jewelry is also starting to shift from making prototypes to batch printing.