Competitive advantages of precision casting technology

Among various casting techniques, investment casting has the most comprehensive competitive advantages: high dimensional accuracy, good surface quality, suitability for complex shapes, applicability to various alloys, and flexible production batch. Because of this, investment casting precision castings have almost covered all fields of industrial production and become an important means of forming metal parts.

However, when faced with the need for forming a part, being able to achieve it in terms of technology does not necessarily mean commercial success. The reason why investment casting can produce high-quality standard castings is due to its unique complex production process, from molding, wax mold, shell, melting casting, cleaning, post-treatment to inspection, with multiple processes and long procedures. At the same time, it also stems from more and higher standards of materials, equipment, and environmental investment, such as high-quality mold and shell materials, high-performance wax presses, and mold and shell making rooms that strictly control environmental temperature and humidity. In this way, it is often not cost-effective compared to other casting methods. That is to say, relying on low-cost competition is not the strong point of investment casting technology.

The development strength of investment casting precision casting is (relatively) high added value. Adding the word 'relative' is to illustrate that high added value is not only found in aviation and military products. In any field, there are products with relatively high added value, as long as the product belongs to the category of 'only investment casting process can do it' or 'using other processes, such as special processing, although it can be done, the cost is much higher than investment casting process'. Such products are bound to achieve high added value. The (relatively) high value-added products produced by investment casting should generally have one or more of the following characteristics: ① the product is a common alloy but has relatively high dimensional accuracy requirements; ② The shape is complex and difficult to achieve through other processes; ③ Small and medium-sized batches, even individual items; ④ Titanium alloys, high-temperature alloys, and other alloys that are difficult to form through casting processes.