Investment casting (also known as lost wax casting) is a fairly old manufacturing process. It is used in several industries to produce precise parts and especially in those industries producing parts with complicated geometries. This post presents an overview of the process, several examples of where robotic automation solutions have been implemented and the names and contacts for the providers of these automated solutions.
The video (really funny by the way) below presents different steps in the investment casting process.
1. Making Wax Models
The first step is to make wax parts that look like the final metal part you want to produce.
2. Pattern Assembly
Wax patterns are then assembled into “trees”. The video below shows how MPI Systems automated pattern assembly using robots.
3. Shell Building
The trees are then dipped into slurry and rotated under falling sand to build shells around the wax parts. This part of the process is well suited for robotic …