Investment Casting (with Silica Sol as Binder Material) Semi-Open Impeller of Stainless Steel

Shell making is very important during investment casting. The binder materials we choose will influent the finish and accuracy of the final metal castings. The quality of the shell is directly related to the roughness and dimensional tolerance of the final casting. Therefore, it is an important task for the investment casting foundry to choose a suitable manufacturing method for the mold shell.

According to different adhesives, investment casting molds can be divided into water glass adhesive shells, silica sol adhesive shells, ethyl silicate adhesive shells and ethyl silicate-silica sol composite shells. These modeling methods are the most commonly used methods in investment casting.The silica sol investment casting has low roughness, high dimensional accuracy, and long shell-making cycle. This process is widely used in high-temperature heat-resistant alloy castings, heat-resistant steel castings, stainless steel castings, carbon steel castings, low alloy castings, aluminum alloy castings and copper alloy castings.

▶ Available Raw Materials for Investment Casting, Lost Wax Casting Process:

• Carbon Steel:  AISI 1020  - AISI 1060,

• Steel Alloys: ZG20SiMn, ZG30SiMn, ZG30CrMo, ZG35CrMo, ZG35SiMn, ZG35CrMnSi, ZG40Mn, ZG40Cr, ZG42Cr, ZG42CrMo...etc on request.

• Stainless Steel: AISI 304, AISI 304L, AISI 316, AISI 316L, 1.4404, 1.4301 and other stainless steel grade.

• Brass & Copper.

• Other Materials and Standards on request
  

▶ Capabilities of Investment Casting Foundry

• Max Size: 1,000 mm × 800 mm × 500 mm

• Weight Range: 0.5 kg - 100 kg

• Annual Capacity: 2,000 tons

• Bond Materials for Shell Building: Silica Sol, Water Glass and their mixtures.

• Tolerances: On Request.
  

▶ Main Production Procedure

• Patterns & Tooling Design → Metal Die Making → Wax Injection → Slurry Assembly → Shell Building → De-Waxing  → Chemical Composition Analysis → Melting & Pouring → Cleaning, Grinding & Shot Blasting → Post Processing or Packing for Shipment
  

▶ Inspecting Investment Castings

• Spectrographic and manual quantitative analysis

• Metallographic analysis

• Brinell, Rockwell and Vickers hardness inspection

• Mechanical property analysis

• Low and normal temperature impact testing

• Cleanliness inspection

• UT, MT and RT inspection
  

▶ Post-Casting Process

• Deburring & Cleaning

• Shot Blasting / Sand Peening

• Heat Treatment: Normalization, Quench, Tempering, Carburization, Nitriding

• Surface Treatment: Passivation, Anodizing, Electroplating, Hot Zinc Plating, Zinc Plating, Nickel Plating, Polishing, Electro-Polishing, Painting, GeoMet, Zintec.

• Machining: Turning, Milling, Lathing, Drilling, Honing, Grinding.
  

▶ Why You Choose RMC for Custom Investment Castings?

• Full solution from one single supplier ranging customized pattern design to finished castings and secondary process including machining, heat treatment and surface treatment.

• Costdown proposals from our professional engineers based on your unique requirement.

• Short leadtime for prototype, trial casting and any possible technical improvement.

• Bonded Materials: Silica Col, Water Glass and their mixtures.

• Manufacturing flexibility for small orders to mass orders.

• Strong outsourcing manufacturing capabilities.