O’Fallon Casting has published its first “Investment Casting Design Guide” which is now available for free download on the OFC Website (www.ofalloncasting.com/design guide/).
Investment Casting is a cost effect method for the manufacture of complex, near-net-shape, products but some specialized expertise is required for their design. The Design Guide is a natural offshoot of O’Fallon Casting’s “IC-101” class on the basics for the design of Investment Casting and addresses that need for information of best design practices.
Engineers prefer Investment Casting as it provides them with more freedom and is the most straightforward foundry process for which to design. The Guide provides recommendations for allowances and other considerations that are generally necessary for the successful design of an investment cast product. Basic information on topics such as linear tolerance, fillet radii allowance, and castable hole sizes, etc. are included in the guide.
The Design Guide does not supplant the need for Concurrent Engineering with a foundry. Castings are cost effective in combining features into One-Piece casting designs that reduce the Part Count of an assembly and consultation with a foundry remains the best way to achieve the most affordable configuration of a cast product.
OFC hopes that the information in the O’Fallon Casting “Investment Casting Design Guide” will assist Engineers take better advantage of the strengths of the investment casting process to design more affordable products for their customers.
