What is a casting?
Casting in metalworking, casting means a process, in which liquid metal is poured into a mold that contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process.
Investment casting is a technique for making small, accurate castings in refractory alloys using a mold formed around a pattern of wax or similar material which is then removed by melting also known as the lost wax process.
Benefits
- The investment casting process produces an excellent surface finish
- High dimensional accuracy and no flash or parting lines.
- Extremely intricate parts can be casted, the process is extremely accurate.
- Littleor no machining or detailing required.
- Tight tolerances and thin walls can be achieved through investment casting.
What We Make
Unsurpassed Investment Casting Solutions
Our engineers provide expert and innovative solutions to achieve all precision investment casting requirements regardless of the complexity of the design detail called for in the specifications.
While careful machining can achieve closer tolerances than available in an investment casting, a critical design view will often permit minor expansion of tolerances, undercuts, blind holes, etc. to allow the higher production yields and lower piece costs possible with investment castings. If closer than cast tolerances are necessary, the machining required on an investment casting will still be substantially less than on conventional cast or fabricated pieces.
Precision Casting Advantages
“Using investment casting instead of other manufacturing processes ensures that extensive secondary machining and finishing are unnecessary, and investment casting produces parts and components that don’t need welds, nuts, or bolts.”
– Russell Wilmarth, AlCuMet CEO
Precision investment castings, or “lost wax castings,” are designed to minimize the cost of producing close tolerance parts.
The cost of any part increases in proportion to the precision of its dimensional tolerance requirements, this is true of castings, as well as fabricated and machined parts. While careful machining can achieve closer tolerances than available in an investment casting, a critical design view will often permit minor expansion of tolerances, undercuts, blind holes, etc. to allow the higher production yields and lower piece costs possible with investment castings. If closer than cast tolerances are necessary, the machining required on an investment casting will still be substantially less than on conventional cast or fabricated pieces.
Factors Affecting Precision Investment Casting Tolerance, Dimensions and Surface Finish
Maintaining close dimensional tolerance in an investment casting is affected by many factors. Most of these factors can be controlled by the foundry, although minor “lot to lot” variations will occur. The tolerance bands provided for investment castings are determined by these uncontrollable factors.
Investment Casting Capabilites
Prototype Castings • Low, Medium or High Volume Investment Casting Production
Mitigation of risk • Concept design • Approved design • Full production • Tight tolerances, intricate details, thin-walls, superior corrosion resistant surface finish
AlCuMet is positioned to meet your production schedules and stay within your budget parameters. When expedited lead times are required, we are committed to partnering with you to meet your production needs.
Significant Value Added Services
- Product design assistance • SLA & LOM rapid prototype casting development
- Patterns, mold-making • In-house secondary machining
- Nadcap certified heat treating
- Nadcap certified non-destructive testing
- Florescent penetrant & X-ray inspections
- Chemical & physical testing
- Plating, painting or coating • Partial or complete assembly