Why investment casting
Housings, mounts and mechanism parts with complex geometry are cast in alloy steels and aluminium with controlled, documented processes.
Components
- Mechanism parts
- Mounts
- Housings
- Vehicle and equipment hardware
Materials
Quenched and tempered low-alloy steels, PH stainless steels, aluminium.
Frequently used alloys
| Grade | Type | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| 4140 | Cr-Mo quench-and-temper steel 42CrMo4 type | SAE J404 / AISI 4140 (cast: ASTM A732 Gr. 8Q) |
| 8620 | Ni-Cr-Mo case-hardening steel 21NiCrMo2 type | SAE J404 / AISI 8620 (cast: ASTM A732 Gr. 13Q) |
| CB7Cu-1 | Precipitation-hardening stainless steel, cast 17-4 PH type 17-4 PH® type | ASTM A747/A747M |
| A356.0 | Al-Si7-Mg heat-treatable casting alloy AlSi7Mg0.3 | ASTM B618/B618M (investment castings); AA A356.0 |
Typical requirements
Export-control, security and customer-specific qualification requirements apply and must be clarified before any technical data are exchanged.
- Configuration and change control
- Traceability and records retention
- Export-control compliance by project
Related engineering topics
Documentation
Documentation for investment castings: EN 10204 inspection documents 2.1, 2.2, 3.1 and 3.2, material certificates, dimensional and NDT reports, heat-treatment records and traceability.
Dimensional inspection
Dimensional inspection methods for castings: hand gauges, CMM, optical 3D scanning, form measurement, datum alignment, first article inspection and series control.
Tolerances
Tolerancing of investment castings: ISO 8062-3 casting tolerance grades, VDG P 690, geometrical tolerances to ISO 1101, datum systems, machining allowance, shrinkage and distortion.