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Silica Sol Castingis a form of investment casting. The process is very similar, except that the investment is made from silica sol zircon sand mixed with refractory powder. The silica sol zircon grit is very fine (10-20 microns) and can be mixed into a very low viscosity slurry when making molds. The result is a casting method that provides dimensionally accurate castings and an excellent as-cast surface finish. Crucially, silica sol zircon molds can withstand temperatures up to 2000°C, making them useful when casting superalloyed and stainless steels.
Advantages of silica sol investment casting:
Versatile; suitable for casting most metals.
Will allow the production of very complex castings with thin walls.
A smooth surface finish can be achieved without parting lines, so machining and finishing can be reduced or eliminated.
Allows precision casting of unmachinable parts.
Excellent dimensional accuracy
Silica Sol Process
Make a metal mold with the same impressions that will be required for the final mold.
Molten wax is injected into a metal mold to form a pattern, allowed to solidify and then removed. Some intricate wax patterns are made by using adhesive to join several individual patterns together.
The wax is then assembled on the wax tree, many parts can be placed on the tree depending on the size, the weight of the assembly is usually between 0.1 kg and 50 kg.
The tree is then dipped into a silica sol zircon slurry to coat the wax, which is very fine and low viscosity, resulting in an excellent as-cast surface finish. The slurry is coated with a refractory material, and the process is repeated several times until a shell forms around the wax mold.
The drying process is crucial. The shell must be allowed to dry naturally at a constant temperature to bond the silica sol gel and refractory particles, resulting in a strong, high-quality shell mold. Place the wax tree in an oven at about 200 degrees to melt the wax.
After all the wax is removed, the trees are heated to over 1000 degrees in preparation for casting.
The metal is then poured into a hot mold, allowing the alloy to reach the thinnest part of the mold before solidifying.
Die casting is an automated casting process in which a liquid melt is forced into a mold under high pressure (150 to 1200 bar) and high filling speed (up to 540 km/h).
Die casting is an automated casting process in which a liquid melt is forced into a mold under high pressure (150 to 1200 bar) and high filling speed (up to 540 km/h).
(Source: Messe Nuremberg/EUROGUSS)
Die casting is one of the most economical and fastest forming processes. The advantage of this production process is that hundreds of thousands of castings can be produced relatively quickly using only one mold. All components produced are of uniform quality and relatively low unit cost.
Application areas of die casting
Die casting is mainly used for mass production, i.e. for casting many parts of the same type. High casting quality is achieved despite the high pressure used in the manufacturing process. The die casting process is particularly suitable for the production of very thin (up to 1 mm) (light weight) parts.
Most commonly, die-cast components such as wheels, cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, valve bodies and manifolds are manufactured for the automotive industry. The sector accounts for about 84% of the castings produced by German foundries. 3 The use of aluminum components can reduce the weight of the vehicle, thereby reducing fuel consumption. In addition, there are other industries that use die castings:
aerospace
household appliances
furniture
electrical tools
electronic product
mechanical
lighting technology
In the future, foundries will be interested in other industries such as electric vehicles. This offers great potential for light metal castings.
So how does sand casting work? Sand casting, also known as sand casting, is a very popular alternative to die casting and investment casting.
This type of metal casting process is performed when molten metal is poured into a sand mold cavity.
Sand casting has many advantages as a low-volume manufacturing option. These advantages include the ability to cast large parts, complex geometries or parts that require a core.
This metal casting process also has faster lead times and faster turnaround times compared to other casting methods. Finally, when using sand as a tool, companies can save a lot on tool costs.
What are the steps involved in sand casting?
Sand casting is a simple process that can quickly produce parts in small batches. Here's a simple breakdown of how sand-casting works.
step 1. Master Pattern Design
Step 2. Create Matching Platforms and Tools
Step 3. Forming the mold
Step 4. Pouring the metal
Step 5. break out
Step 6. Parts cleaning
Step 7. Additional machining if necessary