Manufacturing of blade wax patterns based on material jetting printing: research on printing orientation and voltage parameters

Purpose The aerospace industry has stringent requirements on the precision and quality of turbine blades, but the surface and dimensional accuracy of traditional injection molds are not good. This study aims to explore the feasibility of using material jetting printing technology to prepare wax patterns for this technological bottleneck. Design/methodology/approach The impact of the material jetting printing voltage on the surface roughness of the wax pattern is verified by means of droplet experiments and printing tests; the reasons for the impact on the dimensional accuracy are verified by combining the design of the wax pattern with the design of the printing orientation; reverse engineering with the aid of Geomagic Studio ensured that over 90% of the dimensions achieved an accuracy within 0.1 mm. Findings The optimal printing voltage is precisely determined through droplet experiments and roughness testing; tests show that the wax pattern can have the best roughness (Ra 0.507 µm) when the voltage is at −1 V, and once it deviates from the optimal value, the surface roughness increases significantly regardless of whether the voltage is raised or lowered. For turbine blade wax patterns, the 0° printing orientation yielded the optimal dimensional accuracy (0.0925 mm). Furthermore, ANOVA (p = 0.006) revealed a significant interaction between the printing orientation and the specific wax structure, confirming that both are critical factors. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to single printing equipment and a single material type (SJTU-WAX01). Future research should focus on exploring multiple wax chemistries and testing across various MJP systems to validate and expand the research findings. Originality/value The mechanism of the role of voltage and orientation parameters in material jetting printing on the precision of wax patterns is clarified to realize near-net-shape wax pattern manufacturing, which directly supports the precision casting production of high-precision turbine blades in the aerospace field.