Aluminum Investment Casting
Investment casting also called Lost-wax casting
Process
1.Molding of wax pattern: wax pattern is produced by injection molding with metal die
2.Pattern assembly: assembling wax patterns on wax sprue
3.Coating: The wax parts are dipped into the ceramic slurry, make the wax mold become thicker and thicker.
4.Melting of wax: the mold is heated to drain out all wax
5.Porting of metal: the shell is filled with molten metal by gravity pouring
6.Shake out: Stucco coating is shake out from the final casting
7.Final coatings are trimmed off from gate and sprue, then grinding
Capabilities
Typical
Feasible
Shapes
Thin-walled: Complex
Flat Thin-walled:cylindrical,cubic
Part size
Weight: 0.02 oz - 500 lb
Materials
Metals
Cast Iron
Surface finish - Ra
50 - 125 μin
16 - 300 μin
Tolerance
± 0.005 in.
± 0.002 in.
Max wall thickness
0.06 - 0.80 in.
0.025 - 5.0 in.
Advantages
Can form complex shapes and fine details
Disadvantages
Time-consuming process
Applications
Turbine blades, armament parts, pipe
fittings, lock parts, handtools, jewelry
Solid: Cylindrical, Cubic, Complex
Alloy Steel
Carbon Steel
Stainless Steel
Aluminum
Copper
Nickel
Lead
Magnesium
Tin
Titanium
Zinc
Many material options
High strength parts
Very good surface finish and accuracy
Little need for secondary machining
High labor cost
High tooling cost
Long lead time possible
