subject: How Has Investment Casting Evolved In India? [print this page] Investment casting is also called lost-wax casting and primarily an industrial process that is based on an old method of forming metal. One of the most major developments that have taken place in investment casting in India is foam casting. This kind of casting follows a shorter process because it doesnt follow certain steps required in the complete procedure. This foam casting is ideal for small casts but it is more expensive than die casting or sand casting processes. This old manufacturing process of old wax has been around for over 5,000 years and even Egyptians used it to create gold jewelry. Using lost wax process can even benefit creation of intricate shapes and it can perform such tasks with great accuracy and precision. Hence, it is not surprising that investment casting is also referred to precession casting.
Where is investment casting used?
Investment castings are primarily used in aerospace and power generation industry where both the cooling systems as well as turbine blades are made through casting. Besides these two industries, investment casting is also used in military, automotive, medical and other commercial establishments.
Breakthrough in investment casting in India
It is important that in todays day and age investment casting makes use of cutting edge technology to cope with the growing demand and the stiff competition. The need of the hour is to create high quality and precision based casting components while also ensuring that the development time and products costs are reduced. One of the breakthroughs that have taken place to help the development of investment casting is the use of computer aided process simulation. Though this has been available for quite a while, but it is now that it is being used to quite an extent. Earlier the trial and error approach was being used but now this technology is being used to form precision based investment castings in India.
How does computer process simulation help?
Process simulation helps in providing important information that to the engineer about the component in the early development stage thereby minimizing the time taken between concept and production stage.
This process simulation also possesses the ability to precisely model the properties of different casting alloys. The predictions that come out depends completely on the particular software to model the heat loss in the mould.
Another benefit of this computer-aided simulation is that the entire casting method is first visualized in a virtual environment and therefore one can easily predict the problems linked to solidification, fluid flow and distortion of part. This undoubtedly helps in figuring out any loopholes before the actual process takes place.
These are just some of the benefits associated with process simulation for investment casting. Undoubtedly, it is designed to help immensely the complete process because it helps in streamlining the various aspects and prevents errors. There is no question of trial and error in this case because the whole process is tried in a virtual environment thereby ensuring there are risks associated when the actual process takes place.
