Advanced Casting Methodologies: Investment Casting, Centrifugal Casting, Squeeze Casting, Metal Spinning, and Batch Casting

This chapter explores various advanced casting techniques. One such technique is investment casting, a process that came about as a result of the demand for complex geometry components in high-temperature capability materials in the first half of the twentieth century for use in aircraft engines. Such components could not be formed or would be too expensive to produce using the more common processes, such as forging or machining. The industry has developed rapidly since then, encompassing everything from the jewelry market to the aerospace field. Castings from a few grams to several hundred kilograms in weight can be produced using investment casting. Centrifugal casting is a technique in which liquid metal is poured into a rotating mold. The centrifugal force induced by the spinning causes the melt to be thrown against the inner mold wall, and rotation is maintained until the metal solidifies from the outer to the inner diameter of the casting.