Case Study: Speed 3D Mold achieves rapid, lower-cost, high-precision impeller replacement with ExOne

Reduced Lead Time and Cost While Ensuring High Accuracy and Quality

Speed 3D Mold Co., Ltd. needed an identical replacement for a more-than-20-year-old vertical pump impeller that had cracked and corroded from cavitation; the part was out of production, spares were unavailable, and the customer faced tight budget and time constraints. They engaged ExOne and its binder jetting 3D sand mold printing technology to reproduce the impeller.

ExOne printed a complete sand mold package and produced a cast bronze impeller (50" diameter, 1,984 lbs) with highly accurate blade orientation, minimizing post‑casting machining. Using ExOne’s process reduced lead time from roughly 12 months to about 6 weeks, cut cost from $80,000 to $50,000, and delivered dimensional accuracy of ±0.011 in (±0.3 mm), ensuring faster, lower‑cost, high‑quality replacement parts.

Speed 3D Mold