More than 70 percent of the freight tonnage moved throughout the United States goes on trucks. Without these vehicles and others that rely on fifth-wheel couplings, the economy would come to a standstill. As the trucking industry grows by 3.4 percent annually through 2023, steel investment casting will remain a vital manufacturing process that keeps tractor units safely linked to semi-trailers. What are Fifth-Wheel Couplings? Made using investment casting techniques, fifth-wheel couplings serve as the link between semi-trailers and tractor units, leading trailers, dollies or tow trucks. They join two pieces of rotating equipment while allowing some degree of end…
Investment Casting & Heavy-Duty Truck Parts: What Should You Know?
Each year, heavy-duty commercial vehicles move more than 9.2 billion tons of goods across the nation. The irreplaceable trucking industry is vital to the economy, and custom investment castings keep it moving. By understanding investment casting for truck parts, you’ll gain a better understanding of how not all aftermarket parts are created equally and what to look for in an investment casting manufacturer. What is Investment Casting? Investment casting is a time-proven metal-forming technique used for more than 5,000 years. The technique involves making a wax pattern to create a three-dimensional mold, or investment. Specialists then melt the wax and…
Surge in Truck Demand Requires Expert Investment Castings
After a slump, orders for semi-trucks in the U.S. are rebounding. The increase in sales is a good indicator of the American economy gaining strength. With truck utilization hovering at around 99 percent, transportation companies are purchasing new vehicles to maintain delivery rates. Many companies that make engines and parts are also experiencing a boost in demand. Custom investment casting will be critical to help keep up with this demand and remain competitive. Factors Driving Growth After the 2007 to 2010 economic crisis, the global truck market stabilized in 2013. Forecasters expect growth between 2014 and 2020 to average at…
How Investment Casting Works
In the early days of investment castings, metalworkers used beeswax to create patterns for the molds. Today, a modern investment casting manufacturer uses engineered wax.
Investment Casting Manufacturers Talk Stainless Steel Casting
Steel investment casting is one of the best ways to make complex parts for even the most sensitive applications. Casting is a proven technique used by ancient civilizations that today’s investment casting manufacturers still utilize to produce high quality products at affordable costs. The Steel Investment Casting Process Casting begins with wax that’s injected into a metal mold shaped like the desired finished product. After the wax cools, it’s removed from the mold and dipped into a ceramic slurry to make a mold casing. When investment casting manufacturers bake ceramic mold casing, it gets hard and the wax melts out…
Steel Investment Casting Means Reduced Machining Time & More
Despite the fact that there are several different methods for the manufacturing of stainless steel, investment casting continues to survive the competition and exist in the market. Investment casting is an old metalwork technique and requires longer and more processes when compared to other recent metalworking techniques. Regardless of this, steel investment casting has managed to hold its ground because of its overpowering benefits. Reduction in Machining Time Steel investment casting makes use of moulds that exactly match the parts that are to be manufactured. As a result, the end product of the moulding process is a replica of the…
Technological Advances in Investment Casting
Steel investment casting is a one of the oldest metal-forming techniques, dating back to the times of the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Harappans in India. Original investment casting techniques were performed using beeswax and clay, but today’s investment casting manufacturers use more sophisticated techniques to create smooth, intricate forms in less time. One of the most significant advances in investment casting is the creation of rapid drying chambers. These chambers reduce the time it takes to complete the layering process, which used to take several days. Because the new drying chambers allow the investment casting manufacturer to create layered…
Steel Investment Casting & the Modernization of the Lost Wax Process
Steel investment casting, also called lost-wax casting, uses techniques that date back over five millennia to make complicated metal objects like turbine blades, firearms, golf club heads and implants for hip replacements. Ancient Civilizations Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that ancient civilizations used investment casting to make jewelry, idols and ornaments using beeswax, clay and manually operated bellows. Such cultures – like those in the Egyptian, Aztec, Mayan, Harappan, Mesopotamian and Benin civilizations – often used gold, bronze and copper. In 1100 A.D., Theophilus Presbyter, a monk, created written accounts of the investment casting process he used. Italian artist Benevenuto Vellini…
