• The lost wax casting process

developed by the ancient Egyptians some 3500 years

ago.
• fashioned a core in the general shape of the piece, but smaller
than the desired final dimensions, and coated it with wax to
establish the size.
• The wax proved to be an easy material to form, and intricate
designs and shapes could be created by the craftsman.
• On the wax surface, he carefully plastered several layers of clay
and devised a means of holding the resulting components
together.
• He then baked the mold in a kiln, so that the clay hardened and
the wax melted and drained out to form a cavity.
• At last, he poured molten bronze into the cavity and, after the
casting had solidified and cooled, broke away the mold to recover
the part.
• Considering the education and experience of this early pottery
maker and the tools he had to work with, development of the lost
wax casting process demonstrated great innovation and insight.
• In investment casting,
a pattern made of wax - coated with a refractory
material - make the mold- wax is melted - molten
metal.
• The term investment comes from word invest,
invest-to cover completely
then coating of the refractory material
around the wax pattern.
• It is a precision casting process
• because it is capable of making castings of high
accuracy and intricate detail.
• is also known as the lost-wax process,
• because the wax pattern is lost from the mold prior to
casting.
• Since the wax pattern is melted off after the refractory
mold is made, a separate pattern must be made for
every casting.
• Pattern production is usually accomplished by a
molding operation
• Pouring or injecting the hot wax into a master die -
designed with proper allowances - for shrinkage of both
wax and subsequent metal casting.
• Complex part geometry - several separate wax pieces
joined to make the pattern.
• In high production operations
- several patterns are attached to a sprue,
- made of wax, to form a pattern tree
- this geometry will be cast out of metal.
Schematic illustration of investment casting (lost-wax) process. Castings by this method can be
made with very fine detail and from a variety of metals.
• Coating with refractory accomplished
dipping the pattern tree into a slurry of very fine grained silica
or
refractory (almost in powder form) + plaster (bond the mold into shape)
• The small grain size of the refractory material
- provides a smooth surface
- captures the intricate details of the wax pattern.
After this initial coating has dried, the pattern is coated repeatedly to increase its
thickness for better strength
• The final mold is accomplished by
- repeatedly dipping the tree into the refractory slurry
or
- by gently packing the refractory around the tree in a container.
• The mold is allowed to air dry for about 8 hours to harden the binder.
• The one-piece mold is dried in air and heated to a temperature of 90° to 175°C.
• It is held in an inverted position for a few hours to melt out the wax.
• The mold is then fired to 650° to 105 0°C for 4 hours to drive off the water of
crystallization (chemically combined water) and
Wax patterns require careful handling because they are not strong enough
unlike plastic patterns, wax can be recovered and reused.
Advantages and disadvantages of investment casting include:
(1) parts of great complexity and intricacy can be cast
(2) close dimensional control—tolerances of 0.075 mm are possible
(3) good surface finish is possible
(4) the wax can usually be recovered for reuse
(5) additional machining is not normally required—this is a net shape process.
• Parts up to 1.5 m in diameter and weighing as much as 1140 kg have been cast
successfully by this process.
• many steps are involved - relatively expensive process.
• Used normally small in size, parts with complex geometries
• All types of metals, including steels, stainless steels, and other high
temperature alloys, can be investment cast.
• Examples of parts include complex machinery parts, blades, and other
components for turbine engines, jewelry, and dental fixtures.
IN INVESTMENT CASTING,
a ceramic slurry is applied around a disposable pattern, usually
wax, and allowed to harden to form a disposable casting mold.
• The term disposable means that the pattern is destroyed during its
removal from the mold and that the mold is destroyed to recover
the casting.
• There are two distinct processes for making investment casting
molds
solid investment (solid mold) process and the ceramic shell
process.
• The ceramic shell process has become the predominant technique
for engineering applications, displacing the solid investment
process .
• By 1985, fewer than 20% of non-airfoil investment castings and
practically no airfoil castings (the largest single application of
investment casting) were being made by the solid Investment
process
• 2008 the solid investment process is primarily used to produce
dental, jewelry castings and has only a small role in engineering
applications, mostly for nonferrous alloys.
Pattern Materials
• grouped into waxes and plastics.
• Waxes are more commonly used
• plastic patterns much less
• foamed polystyrene patterns are frequently used in conjunction with
relatively thin ceramic shell molds
Waxes
• preferred base material for most investment casting patterns,
• Waxes are usually modified to improve their properties through the
addition of such materials as resins, plastics, fillers, plasticizers, antioxidants
• The most widely used waxes for patterns are paraffins and microcrystalline
waxes.
• These two are often used in combination because their properties tend to
be complementary.
• Paraffin waxes are available in closely controlled grades with melting points
varying by 2.8 C increments; melting points ranging from 52 to 68 C are the
most common.
• low cost of waxes, ready availability, convenient choice of grades, high
lubricity, and low melt viscosity, accounts for their wide use.
• Paraffins, Ozocerite, Fisher-Tropsch waxes, Polyethylene waxes, Candelilla is
an imported vegetable wax, Carnauba is another imported vegetable wax,
Beeswax is a natural insect wax,