What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Investment Casting?

Investment casting is one of the oldest manufacturing processes available, yet it remains one of the most precise and accurate thanks to developments in technology used over centuries of refinement.

Investment casting is particularly well-suited to the manufacture of complex components with intricate internal details, or components that need to meet weight requirements.

Advantages of Investment Casting

• Can be used to cast a wide variety of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.
• Low volume production runs are cheaper as tooling is less costly in comparison to other metal forming techniques.
• Can produce much more complex designs, incorporating design features such as logos.
• Tight tolerances – investment casting is extremely precise.
• Parts require little machining after finishing.
• Excellent surface finishes can be achieved.
• Cheaper tooling costs compared to other processes.
• Easy to make adjustments to tooling.
• Quality control assured by regular inspections throughout process.
• You can reuse the material used to make the ceramic moulds.

Disadvantages of Investment Casting

• Cycle times are longer due to the nature of the process.
• Part size is limited by what can be securely gated to a tree.
• Dimensional accuracy is diminished with increasing part size.
• It can be difficult to cast parts with cores, although this is still possible.

Common Issues to Watch out for With Investment Casting

There are a number of issues that expert engineers are trained to watch out for when investment casting.

• Shrinkage cracks – these occur when the mould restricts the molten metal from contracting during the solidification process.
• Inclusions – this can happen if some refractory material enters the mould through unintended cracks.
• Misrun – this is when the mould does not fill properly, and can happen if the metal is too cold when poured, or starts to solidify mid-pour.
• Porosity – this is when air gets trapped in the metal as it is poured or while it solidifies. It can severely damage the strength of a part.
• Cold shuts – this is when molten metal entering the mould by two different streams fails to merge. This can happen if the metal starts to solidify too early.
• Deformation – this can happen due to shrinkage stress during the solidifying process.

Find out more about Texmo Blank's investment casting capabilities.