The seminar, held at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, delved into the stages of development that occur once the decision is made to use investment casting for parts production.
DETROIT—TriTech Titanium Parts, LLC President Robert Swenson collaborated with Vadim Pikhovich, technical business development manager at MAGMA Foundry Technologies, to present information on the investment casting process for metals at MAGMA’s Nov. 9, 2023 seminar: Integrating AM And Traditional Metal Casting To Drive Performance. The one-day event was held at the Grohmann Museum on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, TriTech said in a release.
The presentation, titled “Investment Casting: Process, Tooling, and Common Casting Defects,” was primarily created by Swenson and Pikhovich, and presented by Pikhovich. It opened by providing background information on TriTech and its three in-house production methods—investment casting, metal injection molding, and 3D binder jet printing—used to manufacture net shape titanium parts. Also included were the factors the company evaluates to choose which production method is best suited to make each part.
The stages of development that occur once the decision is made to use investment casting for parts production were then presented, and process variables were discussed. Because every investment casting process begins with a wax mold, the presentation featured information on using injected wax patterns or printed wax patterns, which are created with 3D printing. It also featured considerations for each pattern type, as well as the pros and cons of using each method for creating wax patterns.
MAGMA also has a key role in investment casting. Pikhovich explained the importance of the molten metal flow simulation tools (created by MAGMA) used to design the best wax pattern and gating to achieve the highest part yields and lowest internal porosity.
Wax mold development and the making of the ceramic shell for parts were covered in detail. The presentation concluded with a process lead time comparison from the initial CAD design to the finished part using injected wax patterns and printed wax patterns.
“At TriTech, we use traditional investment casting methods and continuously innovate and refine our processes to meet high-quality standards and customer expectations,” said Swenson. “With printed wax patterns, we can fine-tune and modify the part, making customization easy, while cutting production time by several weeks.”
Detroit-based TriTech Titanium Parts specializes in manufacturing precision net shape titanium parts for small-batch and large-volume production orders, as well as prototypes, for industrial, firearms, aerospace, automotive, medical and other markets. Working with a fully domestic supply chain, TriTech delivers custom-made net shape titanium parts “on-time and on-budget,” the company said.