A Comprehensive Review of Patternless Rapid Sand Casting Using Additive Manufacturing Process by Bibliometrix R-tool

Recently, the metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) process has seen a substantial surge in its usage than other processes, especially indirect routes to obtain metal parts, including Rapid Sand Casting (RSC) using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Binder Jetting (BJ). Further, it is observed that the SLS process has lost importance due to the dominance of the BJ. Thus, literature and commercial AM systems are investigated to determine the causes. This study comprises a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and Bibliometrix using the Biblioshiny web application for patternless sand mold and core production using RSC. This article aims to obtain research articles via SLR for the SLS and BJ AM process, followed by the Bibliometrix using the Biblioshiny web application. The SLR divided the RSC domain into the AM and the Sand Casting (SC). The authors considered three databases, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and EBSCO, and applied the SLR, resulting in 148 articles. Subsequently, the authors analyzed 131 relevant articles via Biblioshiny, which led to valuable insights for future research. The bibliometrix and content analysis revealed seven clusters: RSC processes, its optimization, comparison, multi-material compatibility, environmental impact, mold coating, and applications. The RSC via BJ exhibited dominance in the research and commercial market over SLS, one reason SLS lost its importance. The authors proposed the revival of the SLS AM process by employing affordable CO2 laser and linear motor flying optics coupled with recent advancements, including incorporating a hybrid AM approach, adaptive slicing, and mold design for AM (DfAM).