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What Is Investment Casting?

Investment casting is also known as the lost wax process. This process is one of the oldest manufacturing processes.

Intricate shapes can be made with high accuracy. In addition, metals that are hard to machine or fabricate are good candidates for this process. It can be used to make parts that cannot be produced by normal manufacturing techniques, such as turbine blades that have complex shapes, or airplane parts that have to withstand high temperatures.

What materials are used in investment casting?

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  • Aluminum alloys
  • Bronze alloys
  • Magnesium alloys
  • Cast iron
  • Stainless steel
  • Tool steel
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The Investment Casting Process

Pattern creation

Pattern creation

Pattern creation- The wax patterns are typically injection molded into a metal die and are formed as one piece. Cores may be used to form any internal features on the pattern. Several of these patterns are attached to a central wax gating system (sprue, runners, and risers), to form a tree-like assembly. The gating system forms the channels through which the molten metal will flow to the mold cavity.

Mold creation

Mold creation

Mold creation- This "pattern tree" is dipped into a slurry of fine ceramic particles, coated with more coarse particles, and then dried to form a ceramic shell around the patterns and gating system. This process is repeated until the shell is thick enough to withstand the molten metal it will encounter. The shell is then placed into an oven and the wax is melted out leaving a hollow ceramic shell that acts as a one-piece mold, hence the name "lost wax" casting.

Pouring

Pouring

Pouring- The mold is preheated in a furnace to approximately 1000°C (1832°F) and the molten metal is poured from a ladle into the gating system of the mold, filling the mold cavity. Pouring is typically achieved manually under the force of gravity, but other methods such as vacuum or pressure are sometimes used.

Cooling

Cooling

Cooling- After the mold has been filled, the molten metal is allowed to cool and solidify into the shape of the final casting. Cooling time depends on the thickness of the part, thickness of the mold, and the material used.

Casting removal

Casting removal

Casting removal- After the molten metal has cooled, the mold can be broken and the casting removed. The ceramic mold is typically broken using water jets, but several other methods exist. Once removed, the parts are separated from the gating system by either sawing or cold breaking (using liquid nitrogen).

Finishing

Finishing

Finishing- Often times, finishing operations such as grinding or sandblasting are used to smooth the part at the gates. Heat treatment is also sometimes used to harden the final part.

Advantages of Investment Casting

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Surface

Surface: excellent surface finish

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Metals

Almost any metal can be cast

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Intricate

Extremely intricate parts are castable

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High quality

High quality surface castings

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Mass

The mass accuracy factor of the castings can be as high as 0.85-0.95

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Sizes

Sizes: 0.1 in to more than 3 feet

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Weights

Weights: a few grams to one metric ton

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Low cost

Time & cost savings versus fabrication and machining

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Investment Casting Applications

The investment casting process is most beneficial for casting metals with high melting temperatures that cannot be forged, pressure casted, or molded in plaster or sand.

Investment casting is used in the aerospace and power generation industries to produce turbine blades with complex shapes or cooling systems. Blades produced by investment casting can include single-crystal (SX), directionally solidified (DS), or conventional equiaxed blades.

Other industries that use standard investment-cast parts include military, aerospace, medical, jewelry, airline, automotive and golf clubs especially since the start of 3D printing technology.

With the increased availability of higher-resolution 3D printers, 3D printing has begun to be used to make much larger sacrificial moulds used in investment casting. Planetary Resources has used the technique to print the mould for a new small satellite, which is then dipped in ceramic to form the investment cast for a titanium space bus with integral propellant tank and embedded cable routing.

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Knowledges

Investment Casting usually uses investment materials (low melting point materials such as wax, etc.) to make molten molds and form molds, and then coats the mold surface with several layers of refractory materials.
In mold factories, CNC machining process is mainly used for the processing of mold cores, inserts and other key mold parts and copper cores. The quality of mold cores and inserts directly determines the quality of mold forming parts.
Metal polishing can make the metal surface smooth and flat, removing particles, oxide scales, flaws, etc. on the surface, thereby enhancing the overall appearance quality of the material