Castings - Shaping Industry Future

Casting process started about 6000 years ago. The oldest surviving casting figure is of a copper frog from 3200 BC. Casting may be used to form most intricate of shapes, both internal and external. With the use of casting, we can minimize or eliminate several operations like machining, forging and welding.

With the advancement in technology, casting is now playing a greater role in our lives than before. Even in construction, objects are now casted in a single piece which would otherwise require assembly of several pieces if made by other methods. The example is flyover construction, where material like cement, concrete, iron are casted In a required shape and then fixed.

There are several other advantages of metal casting process including meeting the requirements of mass production. In automobile industry, thousands of cast engine blocks and transmission cases are produced every year. Through casting, heavy metal objects can be casted which would otherwise be difficult to produce. Hydroelectric plant parts, pump housing, valves are examples of the advantages of metal casting.

The casting process is further divided into expendable casting and non-expendable mold casting. Expendable casting includes Sand Casting, Plaster Casting, Shell Molding and Investment Casting This type of casting involves the use of temporary and non-reusable molds.

Non-expendable mold casting includes at least four different methods including permanent mold casting, die casting, centrifugal casting and continuous casting.

I will give you definitions of major casting processes that are used to make metals for different industries.

Die Casting

Die casting is a process for producing engineered metal parts by forcing molten metal under high pressure into reusable molds often called as dies. These dies can be designed to produce complex shapes with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. Most die castings are made from nonferrous metals, specifically zinc, copper, and aluminum based alloys, but ferrous metal die castings are possible.

Aluminum Casting Process

Aluminum is one of the few metals that can be cast by all of the processes used in casting metals. There are factors like cost, quality and feasibility that affects production of aluminum parts. If you are interested in contacting suppliers of aluminum, ferrous and non-ferrous casting.

Investment Casting

Investment Casting is one of the oldest methods for metal forming. It is also called as lost-wax casting. Investment casting process is generally used for small castings but the process has also produced aircraft doors, heavy steel casting and aluminum casting. This process is more expensive than die casting or sand casting. Investment casting process is generally used for aerospace and power industries.

Iron and Steel casting

Steel casting is a form of casting that involves the use of various types of steel. Some of the steel casting examples includes pump casing, valve bodies, hydroelectric turbine wheels, engine casings and others. They are generally of two types alloy steel castings and carbon steel castings.

CI Casting

CI castings are made using cast iron, which is usually referred to as grey cast iron. Cast iron is brittle except for malleable cast irons. Due to their properties they are widely used in making engineering materials like pipes, car parts and machine parts. If you are looking for companies involved in cast iron castings.

In the end, I would like to say that casting are helping the industries grow. They are shaping the future. They play an important role in our lives and made life much easier for us.

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