Additive Manufacturing and Investment Casting Comparison of Superalloys: Aerospace industry

Investment casting is one of the oldest technologies used in the world. Recently, metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been evolving rapidly. Indeed, AM is defined as a process of shaping a part by adding a layer-over-layer. However, AM is limited to the production of parts in small and medium series. This paper consists of a review of the AM versus the Investment casting technology of super alloys such as Nickel and Cobalt based alloys. Moreover, it shows a comparison between processes complexity, advantages, disadvantages, product quality, production cycle time and production costs.