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Metal Casting

FORMING TECHNOLOGIES
There are three main types of metal casting: sand casting; die casting; and investment casting. Sand casting uses expendable sand moulds, which are broken apart to remove the solidified part. For one-off and low volume production this is relatively inexpensive and suitable for casting a range of ferrous metals and non-ferrous alloys. Die casting is a more precise method. It is a high speed process that uses pressure to force molten metal into reusable steel moulds, to create intricate and complex three-dimensional geometries. It is more expensive than sand casting and only suitable for high volume production. Investment casing – also know as lost wax casting – is used to form very complex and intricate shapes that may not be achievable by other casting methods. This process uses non-permanent ceramic moulds, which take up to two weeks to produce. It is suitable for one-off, low volume and high volume production and casting metals with very high melting temperatures.