The unmatched diversity of metal casting capabilities helps us to provide a broad range of critical components for the world’s most demanding applications such as defense, petrochemical, turbine engine, and space exploration. See below for insight of various types of metal casting services.
Sand Casting
This is the oldest known casting process - Process controls, material options, tolerance capabilities, the ability to produce elaborate parts, broad size ranges – those have all come a very long way. But the metals fundamentals are relatively unchanged. Create a cavity in the shape of the part you want, and pour molten metal into it.
The result of centuries of development is that sand casting is the most versatile, and probably the most widely used, metal casting method.
Design requirements (including shaping and dimensional needs), piece and tooling cost, quantity needed, and even feasibility to manufacture dictate which metalworking processes (including which casting processes) are most suitable when choosing how to manufacture a product.
Product manufactured using sand casting employ techniques that produce shaped parts of nearly any design, including very large parts and those with internal passageways. There may be more optimal casting or metalworking processes for any specific product based on -
- Needed tolerances
- Lead time
- Design intricacy
- Tooling availability
- Volume
The process is referred to as sand casting because the mold that contains the cavity into which metal is poured is made of compressed or compacted sand. The sand contains some other material that encourages it to hold its shape.
Continuos Casting
Continuous casting is a manufacturing process that allows metals and metal alloys to be shaped then solidified without interruption. Metal is poured into a mold and rapidly chilled to ensure a uniform grain structure within the metal. Most often, these shapes are tubes and solids, but can also include squares, rectangles, and other irregular shapes as requested. This method improves quality and is more cost-efficient than other options, such as sand casting.
Continuous casting of steel was first introduced in the 1950s as an alternative method of steel manufacturing. It is now a standard manufacturing method.
Overview of the Continuous Casting Process
The continuous casting process allows a metal or metal alloy to be partially shaped, cooled, and then stretched before it is finally solidified into the shape it is meant to be, often using a sand casting machine. Here is the process:
- Molten metal is ladled or fed into a mold of the shape required.
- Heat is extracted from the metal by placing cooled water around the mold. The metal is given its basic shape (from the mold) and is partially solidified.
- The metal product is withdrawn and cut to the needed length by saws.
- Semi-solid metal is then sent through a guide that will stretch the materialsteel casting foundry to a thickness desired by the customer. The metal continues cooling in this stage
- Fully solidified metal is sent through straighteners to achieve the final dimensions.
Continuous casting can be done vertically or horizontally. The vertical method is the most common, but the horizontal method is starting to gain traction. In the vertical method, the equipment is “stacked” upright and contained on more than one floor of your building. With the horizontal method, the equipment is stretched out all on one level.
Centrifugal Casting
Centrifugal casting refers to several casting techniques which use centrifugal forces induced by the rotation to distribute the molten metal to the outer regions of a circular mould cavity, where it solidifies to create a part. This technology first emerged in the early 1800s, and compared to forgings and fabrications, can be a cost-effective method of creating complicated near net shape parts.
Centrifugal casting has a wide range of applications in the industry and is used to make parts such as bushings, engine cylinder liners, rings, brake drums, water supply lines, sewage pipes, street lamp posts and gas pipes.
How does Centrifugal casting work ?
- Molten metal is poured straight into the mould without any gating mechanism.
- Once within the hollow, the centrifugal forces of the spinning mould propel the molten material to the cavity’s exterior wall.
- After the casting has been set, the mould is removed, opened, and the part removed for post-processing.
- After the necessary amount of molten metal has been poured, the mould is rotated until the part is hardened.
Castings produced by true centrifugal casting have a high density, particularly in the outer portions of the component where centrifugal force is highest. Because centrifugal force constantly reallocates molten metal toward the mould wall during freezing, solidification shrinkage at the cast tube’s outside is not an issue.