Process Investment casting
Investment casting produces parts with very good surface quality, narrow tolerances, high accuracy and complex geometry without slip angles and parting lines. The use of molds made from refractory material allows metals with high melting points to be casted. The process is also called lost-vax casting (in French: Cire perdu)

Patterns made from vax are attached to a strue to form a pattern tree and then coated with a thin layer of refractory material. The wax is then melted away. The mold is heated to a high temperature which burns away contaminant and permits easier flow of the molted metal.

After casting the mold is broken away leaving the casted metal part. A mold therefore only produce one part.
Danish Name Præcisionsstøbning
Category Mass conserving processes, Metal casting
Materials Steel
Typical products Turbine blade
Dental parts
Jewelry
Competing processes Powder injection moulding
Price notes Rather costly.
Keywords Precision
Surface quality
High tolerances
Accuracy
Photo Thomas Nissen (Computer graphics)
Copyright © 1996-2019 Torben Lenau
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