LOST WAX INVESTMENT

CASTING
Lab Report

HAFIZ ASAD ZAHID

REGN. NO. 205209
DME-17 SMME
Introduction:
Investment casting is an industrial process based on lost-wax casting, one of the
oldest known metal-forming techniques. The term "lost-wax casting" can also refer
to modern investment casting processes. Investment casting has been used in various
forms for the last 5,000 years. In its earliest forms, beeswax was used to form
patterns necessary for the casting process. Today, more advanced waxes, refractory
materials and specialist alloys are typically used for making patterns. Investment
casting is valued for its ability to produce components with accuracy, repeatability,
versatility and integrity in a variety of metals and high-performance alloys.

Objective:
The objective of this lab was to obtain a thorough understanding of the
comprehensive process of the lost wax investment casting. The lab demonstrated the
complete steps included in the casting procedure in details and also included
different parameters and techniques of a modern investment casting method.
Apparatus:
1. Paraffin Wax: For the preparation of the master mold (wax mold).
2. Citric Acid: Used in wax as binder.
3. Quartz Powder: For the preparation of the mold shell.
4. Die: for making a wax pattern of the desired part.
5. Solder: For soldering the wax patterns on to the sprue.
6. Sodium Silicate: For preparation of slurry mixture.
7. Heater: For extracting the wax out of the prepared shell.
8. Over: For baking the prepared shell up to a desired temperature.
9. Furnace: For melting of casting metal.
10.Ladle: For carrying and pouring of melted metal into the shell.

Procedure:

Process Flow Chart

1. Wax Preparation
First step in investment casting is the preparation of wax which is to be used for the
making of the pattern. For this purpose, paraffin wax is mixed with citric acid
C6H8O7 with a ratio of 52% and 48% respectively. The mixture is heated to 70-80o
C and melted for further process.

2. Pattern Preparation
In the second step, the melted wax (mixture of paraffin wax and citric acid) is
injected into a die and left for several minutes for cooling. The die is designed with
a cavity which exactly resembles shape of the desired part. If the desired part has a
hole in its dimensions, a core is placed inside the die and wax is injected after. This
way the wax pattern has the same shape as the desired part. The core is mostly used
of urea CH4N2O. After the wax pattern is removed from the die, the urea core is
dissolved in water. In some methods, cores made of different kinds of salts are also
used but they are found to be ineffective as they are more likely to leave some pours
on the pattern surface. In addition, some salts available in the market are not easily
soluble in water which make them hard to extract.

3. Preparation Assembly (Sprue and Pattern Tree)

A sprue is made out of the same wax material as the pattern. It is a long rod-like
structure upon which the pattern is soldered. The number of pattern which can be
soldered on the sprue depends on the size of the sprue. Longer sprue means more
number of patterns can be casted. In this lab we made a tree shape pattern with a
total number of four wax pattern attached to the sprue.
 4. Slurry Preparation
In the next step, a mixture of 50% sodium silicate
Na2SiO3 and 50% quartz powder is made. This
mixture is called Slurry and this processes is
called slurry making. The original specific gravity
of sodium silicate is 1.33 1.35 which is increased
to 1.63 1.65 after mixing quartz powder.

5. Slurry Coating
In this step, the tree is coated in slurry mixture. For this, the tree is dipped in the
mixture and kept it dipped for several minutes.

6. Stucco Coating
After slurry coating, a layer of quartz powder is
placed on the shell. This process is called Stucco
Coating. This process was repeated up to 12-15
times until we obtained a shell of 9-10 mm
thickness.
7. Extracting the Wax
To extract the wax from the pattern, it is baked
in an oven up to 100o C which gave us a thin
shell of quartz powder. This step is also called
dewaxing.

8. Baking of Shell
The shell is then baked in an oven up to 800o C. The red hot shell, after removal is
ready for final casting process which is pouring of molten metal. The temperature at
which the shell is baked depends upon the melting temperature of the metal which
needs to casted. Metals with higher melting points require a shell baked at higher
temperatures otherwise the shell would break upon contact with molten metal and
the whole process would have to be repeated.
9. Pouring of Metal
Once the shell is baked to the required temperature, the molten metal is poured into
the shell through the sprue at a constant rate and left for cooling for some time.

Pouring the metal Shakeout

10. Shakeout
Once the metal had been cooled, the shell was then broken/shaken off to extract the
tree. Then each casted part is then machined off of the sprue and the casting process
is complete.

Properties and Considerations of Manufacturing by

Investment Casting:
Investment casting is a manufacturing process that allows the casting of
extremely complex parts, with good surface finish.
Very thin sections can be produced by this process. Metal castings with sections
as narrow as .015in (.4mm) have been manufactured using investment casting.
Investment casting also allows for high dimensional accuracy. Tolerances as low
as 0.003in (.076mm) have been claimed.
 Practically any metal can be investment cast. Parts manufactured by this process
are generally small, but parts weighing up to 75lbs have been found suitable for
this technique.
Parts of the investment process may be automated.
Investment casting is a complicated process and is relatively expensive.

Advantages of Investment Casting:

Complex parts can be manufactured.
High dimensional control.
Good surface finish.
Wax is recovered for reuse.
Minimum machining is required.
Net shape process.

Disadvantages of Investment Casting:

Take more time than other processes.
Expansive than other processes.