US Patent 9180514 Deposited core cast diafram process

A method for casting a diafram having inner and outer rings with preformed vanes circumferentially spaced therebetween is disclosed. A digital representation of a sand core is created. Based on this digital representation, a sand core is produced by bonding together successive layers of sand with droplets of a binder material using a binder printhead having nozzles for supplying jets of binder material droplets. A plurality of vanes is inserted into the cavities of the sand core. The sand core is then placed into a casting mold and filled with liquid metal. After the liquid metal has solidified and cooled, the sand core and any remaining sand is removed from the cast diafram.