Among the many casting processes, investment casting is becoming more and more popular. Investment casting is capable of casting more complex products than other casting processes. Once cooled, a near-net-shape part can be produced. In terms of applications, in addition to art and jewelry, the investment casting process is used to produce metal castings in aircraft, automotive, wear parts and construction machinery applications.
Reasons to choose investment casting
Learn about the main advantages of the investment casting process.
1. Tight tolerances
With tighter tolerances than other casting processes, investment casting is capable of producing precise detail and dimensional accuracy of approximately +/- 0.005 inches per inch of dimension in castings weighing up to 200 pounds or just a few ounces. Thereby reducing the amount of processing required.
2. Can be produced quickly in large quantities
Investment casting can reduce labor time and lead time because it greatly reduces the amount of machining required after casting.
3. More material options
Investment casting is suitable for the casting of non-ferrous and ferrous metals. The most commonly used casting materials are stainless steel, tool steel, alloy steel, copper alloy, aluminum alloy, nickel alloy, iron and other metals. Besser Foundry can provide you with a wide range of alloy castings for applications in a variety of industries.
4. Excellent surface finish
The investment casting process provides far superior surface finish as compared to forgings and sand castings. This can be important at times to avoid machining or other finishing operations.
5. Closer to finished part designs
Investment castings provide near net shapes for manufactured parts, thus eliminating or reducing machining costs. An added benefit of near net shape is the savings on material, especially with more expensive alloys like nickel and cobalt alloys.
6. Difficult thin wall castings
The investment casting process is capable of more reliable castings with much thinner walls than sand castings. Advantages include substantially less scrap rates and castings that weigh less due to the thinner wall capability.
7. Lower tooling cost
The initial cost of investment casting tools is generally lower than that of die castings and forgings. besser foundry can provide you with molds at a lower cost. This allows you to get a higher ROI at a lower cost.
8. Rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping is the best method of producing fast to market products for designers to appraise their products before expensive tooling is manufactured. Rapid prototyping can reduce the lead times for test products by up to 75% compared to production tooling methods.
9. Wide-ranging applications
Most metal alloys, such as aluminum, bronze, steel, and nickel can be used in investment casting. For this reason, this type of casting can be used in a wide variety of industries to produce many different components, from turbine blades to safety interlocks and camera housings.
10. Vast size range
Investment casting allows for both large and small casts. Intricate, miniature parts that are 1/10 of an ounce or less can be cast, and also large parts up to 50 pounds can be cast.
Is Investment Casting Right for You?
Thinking of using investment casting on your next project or still not sure?
To make the decision easy, here are five questions about your component goals and five about your business goals.
Are you specifying a part that:
Requires the tightest tolerances and repeatability?
Combines or simplifies multiple, complex parts into one single casting, while retaining unique details of each?
Requires flexibility and design freedom?
Requires a better as-cast surface finish?
Requires flexibility to pour multiple alloys within the same mold?
Do company goals require you to:
Lower your total costs?
Reduce waste, e.g. secondary operations and scrap?
Minimize stagnant inventory?
Improve reputation for product quality/return rate?
Make your supply chain more predictable?
Your score? Simple. Any time you answered “yes,” you’re one step closer to choosing investment casting.
China's Leading Investment Casting Manufacturer
Besser Casting has over 20 years of knowledge and experience. is one of the leading investment casting manufacturers in China. With us you can get the most cost-effective solutions and services, from mold making to providing machined castings, we have the ability to meet the individual needs of our customers.
Contact us today to discuss your dimensional tolerance requirements.