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About Investment Castings
Investment casting is the production of industrial
parts through the metallic replication of wax models. In the first step
of this process, investment casting manufacturers inject wax into an
aluminum die to create an injection-molded wax pattern that is in turn
used to form a model of the proposed finished product. The resulting
wax pattern is used to form a ceramic mold, which can be created using
the ceramic mold process or the solid mold process. Ceramic shell molds
are created by dipping the wax pattern into ceramic material, called
slurry, and allowing the ceramic material to harden. Solid molds are
formed by placing a wax pattern into a flask and filling the flask with
plaster, which hardens into a mold. Once the slurry or plaster hardens,
the wax pattern is melted out of the mold, and the molds are heated to
remove leftover wax and to prepare the mold for casting. The mold is
then filled with molten metal, which will harden into the final product.
Once the metal has cooled, the mold is broken away.
The investment castings are then subjected to other treatments, as necessary,
which include additional heating, polishing and refinishing. The bulk
of the investment can be removed by sandblasting. Gating stubs are ground
flush and flashing is removed when needed. Major sections of the investment
cast pieces are welded together and the seams are ground down. Other
casting defects are fixed. Finally, investment casting manufacturers
sand the part down once again sanded and then texturize and finish it.
Investment casting materials are quite plentiful. Typically, all ferrous
and non-ferrous materials can be used. Carbon, tool and alloy steels
and many grades of stainless steel are some of the ferrous materials
commonly investment cast. Non-ferrous materials include most aluminum
and copper-based substances, among others. Heat-resistant alloys can
be investment cast for high-temperature applications. The investment
cast process allows the switching back and forth between metals (ferrous
or non-ferrous) within the ceramic shell molds. Selecting the right combination
of alloys will provide the highest corrosion resistance.
Industrial manufacturers often choose the investment casting process
when complex parts or large quantities of parts are needed during production.
Investment casting manufacturers can create an assortment of parts in
all sizes, shapes and weights, such as dental braces, automotive engine
parts and medical equipment. Although the weight of parts ranges from
one ounce to one ton, the majority of investment castings are less than
20 pounds. Because of the wide application of manufactured metal parts,
investment castings are found within almost every industry, including
the automotive, military, dental, mining, music, food processing, sports
and telecommunication industries. Although, the initial cost may be higher
than that of other casting procedures, investment casting provides greater
design flexibility, greater detail, near net shape (which lowers material
usage) and greater alloy selection to enhance part performance.
Featured
Articles
http://www.hitchiner.com/HIMCO/HIMCO_Library/Intro_to_IC.pdf
http://www.wisconsinprecision.com/casting.pdf
Types of Investment Castings
- can be cast into complex geometric shapes and are commonly
used in the aerospace industry. Aluminum investment castings are also
used in aviation, electronics, hydraulics and military applications.
- are cast out of metals that contain iron, including
300- and 400-series stainless steels, carbon and alloy steels and cobalt
and tool steels.
- is the method through which industrial parts are produced through the metallic replication of wax models.
- consisted of creating and plastering a wax model, replacing the wax with molten metal and removing the plaster after the metal cooled.
- are formed from metals that do not contain iron, including
aluminum and copper-based alloys.
- is the process of creating metal shapes with wax molds.
- shapes liquid steel into molds and dies.
- are used for lightweight, complex structural applications.
Titanium investment castings are also used by engineers to create one-piece
and near-net-shape pieces, which require a minimum of machining and
assembly time.
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