The Flooring Expert

Advantages and disadvantages of Investment casting

Advantages of Investment casting

1.Parts with extremely complex shapes and intricate features can be cast as a single piece using investment casting

2.With short length or shallow depth feature, thin sections down to 0.40 mm (0.015 in) can be cast without cold shut defects

3.Lost wax casting has excellent dimensional accuracy and tighter tolerances of 0.075 mm (0.003 in) are easily achievable.

4.Compared to similar manufacturing processes, Investment casting can achieve excellent surface finish without any post-processing. Typically around 1.3 – 0.4 microns RMS Ra

5.It offers almost unlimited freedom in terms of investment cast materials, but most common materials used include Aluminium alloy, cast iron and non-ferrous alloys. The process is particularly attractive for high-temperature alloys.

6.Draft on walls are not required but if a master die is used to make wax patterns then draft on the face would help the pattern making process easier.

7.Since there are no parting lines, the cast would not have any flash. But the wax patterns might have parting lines from the master die.

8.Additional machining can be eliminated or reduced and allowance of as little as 0.4 to 1 mm (0.015 to 0.040 in.) usually enough.

9.Excellent dimensional precision can be achieved in combination with very smooth as-cast surfaces. These capabilities are especially attractive when making products from the high-melting temperature, difficult-to-machine metals that cannot be cast with plaster- or metal mould processes.

10.The wax used can usually be recovered for reuse.

Advantages and disadvantages of investment casting

Investment casting is a highly popular casting method, and for good reason. It has many advantages over other methods and provides highly detailed parts loyal to their molds; however, there are some notable disadvantages that must be discussed.

Below are the main advantages of the investment casting process:

Allows for the casting of highly complex, extremely accurate parts with good surface finish right out of the mold

Can cast very thin (~0.015 in) sections with incredibly low tolerances (~0.003 in)

Allows for the use of almost any metal capable of casting (aluminum, bronze, iron, etc.)

The investment casting process can be automated, generating a huge amount of parts quickly

The wax can be recovered and reused for many patterns

These upsides come at a significant price, so let examine the disadvantages of investment casting: