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A foundry is a factory where castings are produced by melting metal, pouring liquid metal into a mold, then allowing it to solidify. The general steps involved in casting are patternmaking, molding, melting, pouring, ejection, cleaning, fettling, and inspection. The final casting shape corresponds with the mold it is poured into, so molds are carefully shaped with a replica of the object to be cast. The most common mold material is silica sand, but they can be produced from a number of different materials depending on the casting metal and method being used. There are a variety of casting methods, including but not limited to:

 

• Sand Casting: a process which utilizes non-reusable sand molds to form metal castings. Sand casting is one of the few available processes for metals with high melting temperatures such as steels, nickel, and titanium. Because of its flexibility, heat resistance, and relatively low cost, sand casting is the most widely used casting process.

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• Lost-Foam Casting: a cavity-less method, using a polystyrene foam pattern imbedded in traditional green sand.  The polystyrene foam pattern left in the sand is decomposed by molten metal.  The molten metal replaces the foam pattern and precisely duplicates all of the features of the pattern.

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• Investment Casting: a process in which a wax pattern is coated with a ceramic material. Once the ceramic material is hardened its internal geometry takes the shape of the casting. The wax is melted out and molten metal is poured into the cavity where the wax pattern was. The metal solidifies within the ceramic mold and then the metal casting is broken out. This manufacturing technique is also known as the lost wax process.

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• Die Casting: a process for producing metal parts by forcing molten metal under high pressure into reusable metal dies. The complete cycle of the die casting process is the fastest known for producing precise metal parts. This is in marked contrast to sand casting which requires a new sand mold for each casting. While the permanent mold process uses iron or steel molds instead of sand, it is considerably slower, and not as precise as die casting.

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• Permanent Mold Casting: a process where permanent metal molds are filled with molten metal using gravity or tilt pouring. The mold is clamped shut until the material cools and solidifies into the desired part shape. The metal mold (die) is typically made from steel or cast iron and can be reused. Because the molten metal is poured into the die and not forcibly injected, permanent mold casting is often referred to as gravity die casting. 

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• Ceramic Mold Casting: a process where materials are combined to make a mold which has rubber like consistency. Ceramic mold casting, is an expendable process in which reusable and cheap patterns made of wood, metals, plastic or rubber can be used. Patterns with intricate designs can be used since the molding material supports castings of complicate designs. The Shaw Process and the Unicast Process are the two main processes used in this type of Casting. Ceramic Molding can be used to make various types of tooling such as: Die Casting Dies, Drop Forging Dies, and Extrusion Dies.

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• V-Process Casting: also known as vacuum casting, allows a vacuum to hold very fine sand in the shape of the object to be cast. The benefits of this technology are thin walls, unlimited pattern life, zero draft and tight tolerances.

 

 

Foundry technologies have continued to advance over the years, and basic foundry operations have also evolved and diversified by growing in scale, implementing automation, and adding on-site finishing.

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With these evolving foundry technologies, make sure that your business has the most up-to-date and reliable workers for the job. Laminin Corp is a trusted Foundry Recruiter that selects only the most qualified candidates for your exact casting job. Learn more about our foundry industry recruiting process by contacting us now!