Investment Casting

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What is Investment Casting?

Investment casting typically refers to a mold made from a fusible material, with the surface of the mold covered by multiple layers of refractory material to form a shell. Once the mold is melted and discharged from the shell, a casting without parting surfaces is obtained. After high-temperature baking, the shell can be filled with molten metal, completing the casting process. This method is often referred to as “lost wax casting.”

Investment casting has the following features and advantages:

It allows the production of castings with complex shapes and high precision using a wide range of metal materials, such as aluminum alloys, copper alloys, stainless steel, and more. Since wax molds can be made with extremely fine details, it is possible to create castings with complex features and high dimensional accuracy. Additionally, this casting process enables small-batch production, offering great flexibility for manufacturing castings with specific or special requirements.

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The Investment Casting Process

The process of Investment casting begins by creating a wax pattern of the desired part. The wax model is coated in ceramic to form a mold. Once hardened, the wax is melted away, leaving a cavity. Molten metal is then poured into the mold, producing precise, complex parts after cooling and removal.

STEP 1

Pattern Creation

The investment casting process begins with creating a wax pattern that precisely replicates the shape of the final product. Wax is injected into a mold cavity and, once cooled, forms a detailed wax pattern. The accuracy of this step is crucial, as variations in the wax pattern can impact the final dimensions and tolerances of the investment casting parts.

STEP 2

Making Wax Tree

The next step in investment casting is the creation of a wax tree. Multiple wax patterns are welded to a central wax sprue, forming a tree structure that allows for the efficient casting of multiple components at once. This process requires meticulous handling to ensure a strong bond between wax molds, which contributes to the quality and efficiency of the overall casting.

STEP 3

Sheel Making

The shell-making process involves repeatedly dipping the wax tree into a ceramic slurry and coating it with refractory sand. This creates a ceramic shell around the wax patterns. The procedure is repeated multiple times to build a shell with the necessary strength and thermal resistance. This shell will later serve as the mold for the metal casting.

STEP 4

Dewaxing and Roasting

In the dewaxing stage, the wax inside the ceramic shell is melted and drained, leaving behind a hollow mold. The shell is then roasted at a high temperature to remove any wax residue and to strengthen the mold for the pouring stage. Proper control of temperature and time is essential during this step to ensure shell stability and strength.

STEP 5

Melting and Pouring

Once the ceramic shell is ready, the metal is melted to a liquid state and carefully poured into the mold. Temperature and pouring speed are tightly controlled to ensure uniformity, prevent defects, and achieve the desired quality in the final product. The metal solidifies in the mold, forming the cast component.

STEP 6

Heat Treatment

After the casting has cooled, the individual parts are separated from the wax tree. To meet specific material properties and performance standards, heat treatment is performed on the castings. Techniques such as normalizing, quenching, and tempering are applied to adjust the hardness and mechanical properties of the final product.

The Advantages of Investment Casting

The investment casting process produces parts with high surface precision and allows for the creation of complex shapes. It is the ideal choice for customers who have specific requirements regarding dimensional accuracy, surface smoothness, and the design of small to medium-sized components.

High Precision

Capable of producing parts with complex shapes and high precision

Customization

We provide custom designed solutions.

Smooth Finish

Excellent surface quality, reducing subsequent processing procedures.

Freedom of Design

It can realize complex structure design and improve the performance of parts.

High-quality material

Provide high-quality, uniform material characteristics.

Vast Size Range

Investment casting allows for both large and small casts.

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Investment Casting: Industries and Applications

Investment casting is an advanced manufacturing technology. With investment casting we can produce complex, precise metal components. The application of investment casting cover many key industries, including aerospace, automobile, medical equipment, electronic equipment and energy fields.

Agricultural Machinery

Construction Machinery

Forestry Machinery

Automobile Industry

Railroad

Shipbuilding Industry

Renewable Energy

Aerospace Industry

High-end Equipment

Petrochemical Engineering

Applicable Materials for Investment Casting

Investment casting is a highly adaptable process that can accommodate a wide range of materials, including stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, brass, and bronze. It can also utilize superalloys, such as nickel and cobalt-based alloys. This flexibility allows investment casting to be suitable for producing parts across various industries, including aerospace, automotive, and medical applications.

Stainless steel has good corrosion resistance, strength and aesthetics.Investment casting produces stainless steel medical equipment parts, such as surgical instruments and dental instruments, which require high precision and surface quality. In the field of chemical industry, Investment casting of stainless steel can be used to manufacture a variety of corrosion-resistant equipment and components. In the field of architectural decoration, there are stainless steel sculptures, decorations and so on.

Carbon steel has good strength and toughness, and the cost is relatively low. In the machinery manufacturing industry, engine parts, gears, shafts, etc., need to have high strength and wear resistance. In the construction field, Investment casting products of carbon steel can be used to make steel structure connectors, building decorative parts and so on. The strength and high temperature resistance of carbon steel materials enable them to operate stably under these harsh conditions.

The use of alloy steels in Investment casting is characterized by special performance requirements. Alloy steels are carbon steels to which other alloying elements have been added to enhance the properties of the steel. In the aerospace industry, Investment casting produces alloy steel parts that require high strength, high heat resistance and light weight. For example, aircraft engine blades, turbine disks and other key components need to withstand high temperatures, high pressures and high-speed rotation environment. Alloy steel investment casting parts can meet these stringent requirements.

Aluminum alloy has low density, good thermal and electrical conductivity, high strength and corrosion resistance. In the automotive industry, aluminum alloy parts produced by Investment casting can achieve light weight. For example, engine block, cylinder head, wheel hub and other parts, the use of aluminum alloy investment casting can reduce the weight of the car, improve the performance of the car. In the electronics industry, aluminum alloy Investment casting products can be used to manufacture radiator, shell and other parts.

Why Choose Us for Investment Casting

Dawang has great advantages in investment casting services. We have an independent factory and each production process has an independent production workshop. Advanced high-end machines and a team of 20 engineers have produced products for 37 international companies in different industries. Every year there is a high investment in hardware, SAP software, and scientific research funds.

Equipment Capacity

The shell-making workshop of Dawang Investment Casting Factory has 6 shell-making equipment, which can efficiently produce small parts under 40 kg. Monthly output is up to 500 tons. For parts between 40kg and 60kg, we use robots to make shells. We have 3 large machines. Monthly output can reach 120 tons. Different automated shell-making equipment meets the shell-making needs of parts of different sizes.

Quality Assurance

Dawang Metals’ first goal is to ensure the products’ quality. We maintained our reputation by providing the best quality products for decades. However, to reduce the impact of human factors and guarantee product consistency, the production process uses a combination of parameterized control and standardized procedures.

Latest Tooling Facility

Dawang continues to invest in cutting-edge technology to produce increasingly complicated parts for its clients. As a result, we can create any casting, even those with intricate moulds. specificly, the tooling in Dawang Metals is made of high-quality alloy cast iron, which has a small thermal expansion coefficient, small thermal deformation, good strength, and wear resistance, so the accuracy and consistency of the product are well guaranteed.

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Sample Products of Investment Casting

FAQs

1. How does investment casting differ from traditional casting methods?

The traditional casting method, also known as the lost wax method, can only produce parts with simple structures and rough surfaces. Investment casting uses high-precision metal molds, and the temperature and humidity are also strictly controlled during the production process. Parts with more complex shapes and smoother surfaces can be produced.

2. Why choose investment casting?

Precision casting can meet the high performance and high quality requirements for parts in various industries. Such as aerospace/petroleum railway/automotive automation, etc. For small and medium-sized parts with complex structures and high precision requirements, investment casting is the best choice.

3. How is quality ensured in investment casting foundries?

Our production workshop has several professionals dedicated to quality control and production inspection. Before production begins, our engineers will evaluate the production process and formulate quality control standards, which our quality control personnel strictly implement during the production process. After producing the finished product, we will conduct a variety of tests according to the drawing requirements to strictly control product quality.

4. Is investment casting suitable for my project?

Our precision casting products are used in a wide range of industries, including oil pipelines/auto railways/agricultural machinery/engineering machinery/shipping industries, etc. If you are not sure whether your industry can choose the investment casting process, you can contact us and we will develop a high-quality solution for you.

If you have any more questions about investment casting, please contact us now.

Investment Casting Resources

Investment Casting Cost Estimation Guide