Manufacturing – Casting and Molding Process
Learning Objectives
This chapter discusses the design concerns for parts that are designed to be manufactured through metal casting processes. After completing this chapter, readers will be able to:
- Describe and compare metal casting processes.
- Compare expected quality and tolerance outcomes for different casting processes.
- Utilize best practices to design parts for metal casting to avoid defects and reduce costs.
Casting is a manufacturing method that involves pouring molten metal into a mold cavity and allowing it to solidify. The mold cavity is usually made of sand, metal, ceramic, or a combination of these materials. Casting can produce complex shapes that are difficult or impossible to achieve by other methods, such as machining or forging. Casting can also reduce the cost and waste of material, as the excess metal can be recycled. However, casting also has some limitations and challenges, such as defects, dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and environmental impact. Therefore, it is important to design the casting process and the cast parts carefully to optimize the quality and performance of the final product. This chapter will introduce the basic principles of casting, the types of casting processes and materials, and the design for casting best practices that can help engineers and designers to avoid common pitfalls and achieve successful casting outcomes.
