RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE SURFACE QUALITY OF METAL PARTS MADE BY INVESTMENT CASTING.

To manufacture metal parts with complex shapes through Investment Casting (IC) process using wax models, it is necessary to have a complete control over the entire process. A very important aspect is to know the shrinkage value of the wax models. If the master model has a very small scratch or imperfection, this will appear also on the metal part surface. The structure and the mechanical properties of the metal part can be influenced by material porosity which can appear during the casting process. A given set of parameters such as preheating temperature, casting temperature, turbo pressure applied to finish the casting and also the wall thickness contributes to obtain a good surface quality and to material density which influences the part functionality. The objective of this research is to understand the utility of Vacuum Casting (VC) technology comparing with other casting technologies regarding the part surfaces quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]