Casting
Casting is a manufacturing process where a solid is melted and then heated to proper temperature and is then poured or injected into a mold cavity or mold which allows the metal to hold the proper shape as it cools and solidifies. Simple or complex shapes can be made from any metal that can be melted in a single step.
Cast parts range in size from a fraction of an inch and a fraction of an ounce (such as the individual teeth on a zipper), to over 30 feet and many tons (such as the huge propellers and stern frames of ocean liners). Casting is one of the oldest manufacturing processes. Certain advantages inherent in the metal casting process often form the basis for choosing casting over other shaping processes such as machining, forging, welding, stamping, rolling, or extruding.
Advantages include:
- Intricate shapes both external and internal
- Objects may be cast in a single piece which would otherwise require assembly of several pieces if made by other methods.
- Metal casting is a process highly adaptable to the requirements of mass production.
- Extremely large and heavy metal objects may be cast when they would be difficult or economically impossible to produce otherwise.
- Some engineering properties are obtained more favorably in cast metals
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