Comparison Between the Investment Casting Process (Lost Wax Casting) and Machining (Turning) in Terms of Dimensional Accuracy and Surface Finish

Parts FormingForming SystemsInvestment casting is an optionalLost wax subject of the Master in IndustrialCasting Engineering at Universitat PolitècnicaDimensional accuracy de Catalunya (UPC). In this subject, different manufacturing processes are studied and analyzed, for example, castingCasting, powder metallurgy, and plastic deformation processes. In this chapter, one laboratory class of the subject is studied, in which the investment castingInvestment casting process is compared to the turningTurning process, focusing on the manufacture of metallic rings. The students are divided into groups of four people. Each group prepares a waxWax tree from previously 3D printed wax patterns. Then, they weigh the tree on a scale, place the tree inside a plastic mold, and fill it with plaster. Then, the waxWax is melted and extracted from the mold in a stove. Later, the mold will be taken to an oven to cure the mold. Finally, molten tin will be poured into the mold to obtain a tin tree. The students are asked different questions regarding surface finish and dimensional accuracy of the manufactured parts, as well as about the main advantages and disadvantages of each process.