Types of Casting


Casting is a 6000-year-old process. The oldest surviving casting is a copper frog from 3200 BC

Main article: Casting (metalworking)
In metalworking, metal is heated until it becomes liquid and is then poured into a mold. The mold is a hollow cavity that includes the desired shape, but the mold also includes runners and risers that enable the metal to fill the mold. The mold and the metal are then cooled until the metal solidifies. The solidified part (the casting) is then recovered from the mold. Subsequent operations remove excess material caused by the casting process (such as the runners and risers).

Plaster, concrete, or plastic resin
Main article: Resin casting

Raw castings often contain irregularities caused by seams and imperfections in the molds,as well as access ports for pouring material into the molds. The process of cutting, grinding, shaving or sanding away these unwanted bits is called “fettling”. In modern times robotic processes have been developed to perform some of the more repetitive parts of the fettling process, but historically fettlers carried out this arduous work manually, and often in conditions dangerous to their health.

Fettling can add significantly to the cost of the resulting product, and designers of molds seek to minimize it through the shape of the mold, the material being cast, and sometimes by including decorative elements.

Casting process simulation


Casting process simulation was initially developed at universities starting from the early ’70s, mainly in Europe and in the U.S., and is regarded as the most important innovation in casting technology over the last 50 years. Since the late ’80s, commercial programs (such as AutoCAST and MAGMA) are available which make it possible for foundries to gain new insight into what is happening inside the mold or die during the casting process.

Post time: Mar-18-2017
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