Humans have been working with metals for thousands of years and we have come up with a lot of different methods to create metal parts and components. One of the most useful and highly precise processes for manufacturing metal parts is lost wax casting, which is also known as investment casting. Investment casting involves a liquid state material, in this case, melted metal, being poured into a ceramic mould containing a hollow cavity in the shape desired. Once the liquid metal is poured in it is given time to solidify, and then it is broken away from the ceramic mould.
Investment casting allows you to make highly accurate and intricately detailed castings compared to other similar manufacturing processes like sand casting. The investment casting foundry offers a low-cost, versatile design solution for high-precision metal casting projects, making it a very popular choice for modern production needs. Let’s go over the advantages that make investment casting the go-to choice for industries like aerospace, defence, medical, automotive, and energy!
Flexible Design – Investment casting is perfectly suited for forming highly complex parts, even parts with intricate internal shapes. The casting process can be performed using a wide variety of materials, including bearing alloy, carbon steel, alloy steel, copper alloy, heat-resistant alloy, stainless steel, precision alloy, permanent magnet alloy, aluminium alloy, titanium alloy, and ductile iron, but those most often used are cast iron, non-ferrous alloys, and aluminium alloy. The investment casting process lends itself well to use with high-temperature alloys in particular. It is also very adaptable and there are practically no limits to the thickness, size, and complexity of the shapes that are being cast.
Higher Tolerances – Investment casting also goes by the name of precision casting, and it certainly lives up to that promise! This term is most often applied in the case of precision stainless steel castings. When compared to other similar casting processes, investment casting achieves very high tolerance levels like CT5-CT6, which means that there is little need for post-casting machining.
Precise Net Shapes -The net shape refers to the cast component’s final shape. Net shape manufacturing is any process that delivers an item that is complete without the need for finish machining or any other finishing actions. Investment casting is a process that is able to achieve precision net shape or near-net shape products that are not within reach of other methods of casting.
Superior Surface Finish – Investment casting provides a superior surface in comparison to other casting processes, especially when compared to forged, sand cast, or welded fabrications. These tight tolerances make it so little or no machining is required and provide a superior surface finish right out of the mould so no sanding or buffing is necessary. Moreover, the process can even cast intricate logos or text on the product’s exterior, greatly increasing the value!
Fewer Casting Defects – Investment casting offers high-quality products with fewer casting defects. While no manufacturing process is 100% perfect and most require extra machining to bring the results to that state, investment casting employs highly reliable process controls making defects rare, and the rejection rate of cast items is negligible in comparison to sand casting. Even so, a strict inspection is always performed to confirm that there are no defects passed on to the customer after production is finished.
Less Waste, Lower Costs – Because very little or no post-casting machining is required to achieve net shaping when performing investment casting, there is practically zero material waste. Investment casting also has the advantage of not requiring expensive equipment, and the process is free of the risks inherent in other manufacturing processes so fewer safety mechanisms need to be in place, all of which add up to significantly lower costs. Overall, investment casting offers superior economic performance because it uses less energy, and the rate of material consumption and the cost of building moulds is very low.
No Quantity Limitation – The number of investment castings that can be ordered has no limits, they can be performed in small or large quantities without a significant difference in cost!
Customizable Size – Investment casting allows for almost any size item to be cast- large, small, and anywhere in between! Miniature parts as tiny as 0.1kg or less can be cast, as well as large parts upwards of 100 kgs! Investment casting is by far the most versatile metal casting method available on any scale.
If your business needs high-quality, complex custom components, investment casting is your best solution!
