Casting process has been a significant part in various aspects of industrial development since the discovery of metals. Other than assisting people to build equipment, casting process has also been instrumental in aiding feeding people, constructing infrastructure, and manufacturing cars and airplanes amongst other things. In general, the casting process is essentially an important aspect of our lives. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the underlying metal casting process including design considerations, material, process selection as well as the economic considerations in casting (Louhenkilpi, 2014).
The first process in the casting process is pattern making. For a company to begin the casting process, it must first design a physical style or model. A computer-assisted design system is usually employed in the process. The system provides the designer with a platform for designing the geometry and dimensions of the mold. A pack of materials such as sand or concrete is then packed carefully around the design. The mold cavity can then be filled once the routine has been removed (Ranjan et al., 2015).
The next process is core making where cores are added to the casting mold. Cores are primarily the solid sets of materials that are placed inside the created mold hole as a way of creating interior areas for casting purposes. For instance, a metal pipe fitting will essentially require a primarily round core to create its hollow interior. After adding the core to the casting mold, molding becomes the next process in line. Under this process, a casting mold can then be developed. Materials such as wax, sand, or metal are usually employed in non-expandable mold casting methods. Consequently, the material is substantially allowed to fill the casting materials and firm up from which the manufacturer removes it from the hole before proceeding with the process of casting a given element (Sommerhofer & Sommerhofer, 2006).
After molding, the next process is melting and pouring. This process requires that the metal is melted accordingly before they are placed on the mold. A crucible is usually used in this process because their materials cannot be melted easily. The metal is heated to high temperatures until it melts. The molten metal is then poured into the casting mold to cool and eventually solidify. After the metal has cooled, the final process is finishing. The process is essential because at some point the metal can fill in breaks in the casting molds. Typically, finishing can be done by buffing, grinding, or sanding. After the desired texture has been accomplished, other post-treatment processes such as electroplating can also be carried out for particular purposes. Far from that, it is equally important to take into account important aspects of the casting process such as the desired shapes and patterns that the manufacturer would wish to acquire by the end of the process. Besides, it is also important to consider the material that is being subjected to casting as well as its underlying characteristics such as its level of expansion (Sommerhofer & Sommerhofer, 2006).
As far as casting process has been at the focal point of development in various aspects of our lives, various economic significances are substantially associated with the process. To begin with, the fact that casting process necessitates the melting of metals, any desired shapes can be obtained from the process. In fact, the most complex shapes can be obtained from the process. In addition to that, casting process has been designed to ensure that any material or element can be cast. Also, it is the substantial idea that complex materials can be modified to produce items of small quantities (Ranjan et al., 2015).
Casting process necessitates equal cooling process in all directions. More importantly, casting process is the best technique of producing any desired shape from a given metal component because of its wide range of suitability. Nonetheless, casting process does not provide any form of restrictions on any size of the material. Far from that, a variety of materials can be cast. Materials such as copper alloy, aluminum alloy, platinum alloy, and platinum alloy amongst other materials can be transformed into the molten state through the process. More importantly, it provides the manufacturer with a high degree of precision in the production of different shapes of materials. Long before the discovery of the process, the underlying essence of relying on processes such as welding was entirely cumbersome and ineffective (Ranjan et al., 2015).
Another economic significance of casting process is the fact that it has a low cost of production in terms of low consumption of energy as well as material consumption amongst other things. It provides the manufacturer with a magnificent platform for producing quality substances. Casting process necessitates the renewal of waste metal materials and putting them into important use. Perhaps, there are other methods of producing materials. However, the casting process is the most suitable way of producing items in large scales. Apart from that, the fact that the process has been highly automated has made it be primarily fast and effective compared to any other method of production of metal substances. Also, items with finer details can easily be obtained from the process if it were to be compared to other processes (Louhenkilpi, 2014).
Thus, to sum up, casting process is an important aspect of industrial development. It not only provides the manufacturer with a good ground for reducing the cost of productions; it also necessitates the production of quality substances and materials. Apart from that, casting process also promotes effective use of waste materials. More importantly, casting process is an economic way of accelerating the industrial processes in the production of various materials. Hence, as far as such discussion platforms for the analysis of casting materials are upheld, it is high time that the technique is upheld in the large-scale production of industrial materials because of its aspects of significances (Sommerhofer & Sommerhofer, 2006).
- Louhenkilpi, S. (2014). Continuous Casting of Steel. Treatise on Process Metallurgy, 373-434. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-096988-6.00007-9
- Ranjan, R., Galloway, J. D., Unal, C., & Fielding, R. (2015). Casting Process Modeling And Validation. doi:10.2172/1178316
- Sommerhofer, H., & Sommerhofer, P. (2006). A New Continuous Casting Process. Proceedings of the International Conference on Continuous Casting of Non-Ferrous Metals Continuous Casting, 368-376. doi:10.1002/9783527607969.ch49
