Sacrificial Mandrels and Cores for Electroforming and Composite Manufacture: Removal, Surface Transfer and Dimensional Control

Sacrificial cores enable enclosed channels and hollow structures that cannot be demoulded conventionally, but the core must perform contradictory functions: remain dimensionally stable during manufacture, transmit an acceptable surface, resist pressure and temperature, then be removed without damaging the final part or leaving residues. This review develops a qualification architecture for printed sacrificial mandrels and cores used in composite manufacture and electroforming. The core is controlled through printing, sealing or surface finishing, thermal/mechanical exposure, dimensional transfer and removal. Recent work on additively manufactured soluble cores demonstrates strong dependence on material transition temperature, infill architecture, pressure and wash-out conditions. Earlier soluble-mould research likewise shows that dimensional error and dissolution are process variables. The central conclusion is that removability is only one gate. A sacrificial core is qualified when it preserves geometry and surface during the manufacturing load, is removed completely within a validated route, and leaves the delivered structure within dimensional and contamination limits.

ER-285 · Version 0.3.