Investment Casting from the Pyramids to the Present

Investment Casting From the Pyramids to the Present, also referred to as lost-wax casting, has been in use for over 5,000 years, from the pyramids right up to the present. The basic idea behind the process is to create a model out of wax of the object to be cast or created. In the present, other materials that have a low melt temperature may be used in place of the common wax that’s been used for millennia.


As an example, an artisan might sculpt a little statue of a cow out of wax, taking care to detail around the eyes, hooves and horns. The wax model is then covered by the material that will create a mold, as described below.


Investment Casting from the Pyramids to the Present - 1: Once the model is created it is then covered with plaster or sand to create a mold of the model. After the mold has set, it is placed in a kiln or oven and heated to a high enough temperature to melt the wax, which flows out of the mold and is “lost”, thus the reason for the term “lost wax casting.” This leaves a hollow in the exact shape of the original wax model; in this example, the wax cow. Continue...

Aluminum Bronze Casting

Copper aluminum alloys are commonly called aluminum bronzes. They contain 89-95% copper, small quantities of aluminum and in some cases there will be iron, nickel, manganese or silicon. Aluminum bronze casting is used for applications demanding high strengths and corrosion resistance. Aluminum bronzes form two distinct groups of copper aluminum alloys, AB1 and AB2, with iron, nickel and manganese as the component metals. Brass is another group of copper alloys.

Probably bronze casting was the first form of metal casting. That deduction is suggested by the discovery of bronze statues and sculptures from various parts of the world. Today we use aluminum bronze casting for a variety of applications, because of its retaining ductility and strength at elevated temperatures and adverse conditions. The corrosion resistance depends on the casting process and the heat treatment it got. Continue...

Aluminum Investment Castings

When considering aluminum investment castings you need to be aware of the pros and cons, the advantages and possible drawbacks. You must have heard if you are part of any relevant industry, about the benefits of using aluminum castings for today’s industrial needs. There are many uses for aluminum parts in the industry of 21st century – some demanding pure aluminum, while others involve the use of other metals to mix and form different types of alloys.

The Advantages of Aluminum Investment Castings

There are many, many benefits that would benefit any industry which adapts aluminum investment castings for their needs of metal parts duplication or manufacture. The main benefits would be:

Corrosion resistance – aluminum investment castings uses aluminum because it does not corrode like its counterparts such as iron, copper and the like. Though it is not as conducive the copper, aluminum makes up on that by its anti-corrosive properties. Continue...

Aluminum Alloy Properties

Aluminum alloy properties, the mechanical and physical characteristics of the alloy, experience change when exposed to elevated (max. 400°C) and extremely low (cryogenic, -195°C) temperatures. These temperature-related changes are not as obvious as they are with steel and other metals. Additionally, the types of changes evidenced by aluminum alloys due to extreme temperatures are greatly influenced by the actual temper and chemical composition of the metal.

The best room-temperature tensile properties are found in aluminum alloy investment casting ingots of the 7xxx-series alloys. Unfortunately, exposure to high temperatures causes that strength to rapidly weaken due to the fin precipitates coarsening. And while series 2xxx aluminum alloys do well at elevated temperatures, they’re not usually employed in such applications. Continue...

Aluminum Copper Investment Castings

Aluminum copper investment castings use the nonferrous metals of aluminum and copper. The term nonferrous means that the particular metal under discussion does not contain iron. Both aluminum and copper investment castings can be created with alloys rather than the pure metals.

Aluminum Investment Castings

Aluminum is the most commonly used nonferrous metal for investment casting purposes. Aluminum is a lightweight metal. Products and parts made with aluminum are appropriate for use in a wide variety of applications, including aviation, electronics, pump and valve housings, and military equipment.

Aluminum Copper Investment Castings as Alloys

Aluminum copper investment castings are created using the base metals of either aluminum or copper. Both aluminum and copper can be cast in their pure forms, although it is more common for them to be used as the base material for a number of different alloys. Continue...

Aluminum Alloy Castings

The market for aluminum alloy castings is steadily growing with increasing demands from the fields of aeronautics, automotive and military applications. Aluminum alloys, especially aluminum castings, are considered as important structural materials that find applications in mechanical engineering. Properties such as being lightweight, machine-ability and a potentially unlimited supply of raw materials make aluminum the preferred choice for structural engineering parts. Aluminum can acquire the desired property of corrosion resistance or increased strength by adding the proper type of materials like magnesium, zinc or copper. The principle behind aluminum alloy castings is that the single continuous structure gives more stability and reliability than a structure welded together from different units.

Aluminum alloy castings are ideal for a variety of uses such as aerospace, electronics, and in valves and motors. Aluminum alloy castings include high precision parts that have a wall thickness of less than a millimetre to a thickness in the range of 800 to 1000 millimeters. Continue...

Alloy Investment Castings

There are hundreds of different types of alloy investment castings. Alloys are created when a metal is mixed with one or more additional elements. Many different products are created with alloys rather than pure metals, for a variety of reasons. Typically, when a finished product needs a property not present in a pure metal, the metal will be combined with other substances that will result in an alloy that does provide the desired properties.


When selecting an investment casting manufacturer, it is important to be certain that you are selecting a foundry that has the ability to work with the type of metals or alloys that are best suited for your products. There are hundreds of different types of alloy investment castings. Two of the most commonly used alloys for investment casting are aluminum alloy and nickel based metallic substances. Continue...

Aluminum Alloy Casting

Aluminum alloy casting is the process of creating solid shapes from an aluminum alloy. Metal alloys have been around for a long time, but the precision casting methods used are frequently refined. Within a span of about two thousand years from around 5000 BC, mankind first learned how to extract and manipulate metals from heating copper ore - a natural combination of minerals. Today, this learning process has evolved into many alloys including one of the most useful metal alloys produced used in aluminum alloy casting.

Aluminum alloy casting uses a mixture of two or more ferrous and non-ferrous elements fused or dissolved into one metal alloy under extreme heat. In the case of aluminum alloy casting, these metallic elements are aluminum. Continue...