How Investment Casting Can Add Value

Investment casting is a well-known technique that not only provides parts and components with excellent quality and integrity but also adds value to a project – this is just one of the reasons why it's such a popular process and why you should consider it as well.

As an investment castings company, we know how important it is for you to add value to your products, so take a look at the ways you can benefit when you choose Dean Group and our processes.

You Can Add Text, Logos and Numbers

One major benefit of investment casting is the capability to add your company name, logo, serial number, and more to the part. The ability to incorporate these elements allows you to have the aesthetic you want on the piece and showcases just how precise investment casting truly is – it's a great method for smaller, complex parts and provides plenty of flexibility too.

From your product ID to your branding, there's little that can't be cast with this process.

Our premium grade investment casting method allows for the manufacturing of up to 30kg-parts at our UK facilities or up to 150kg at our partners in China, and can be subject to further machining operations to enhance its properties, for instance. We also offer a commercial grade investment casting method and an aluminium investment casting (ELITE) process at Dean Group.

Other details, like threads, holes and serrations, can also be cast, so you can rest assured that the final product will meet your exact needs. We can help you decide the best option for your project and offer advice every step of the way as well, so let us know if you'd like more information about our services.

Investment Casting Allows for Repeatability

This process will add value to your project because it allows for consistency and repeatability. In addition, there's virtually no tool wear, meaning this is a hugely reliable and cost-efficient method, and all parts look the same as well.

Not only are they error-free, as we focus crucially on quality and our ability to visualise how a part will look and behave before it's manufactured, but they also have the exact same dimensions and tolerances.

Parts Can Benefit from Secondary Operations

You don't always need secondary operations with investment casting since parts manufacturing via this process are already highly precise and high-quality.

However, there are times where your product can benefit from these additional processes, treatments and finishes, such as annealing and tempering. These operations may affect the speed with which you get your product to market, but they can enhance its properties.

This will depend on the materials your investment castings are made from, and their application since these extra operations ensure the parts can perform well. For example, if you're working with aluminium but need the part to be stronger or harder, you may want it to undergo a heat treatment.

Heat treatments are perfect for enhancing mechanical properties, including ductility, tensile strength and hardness. They can also be used to normalise the grain structure of the product after casting.

You Get Reduced Assembly Work

Our investment casting processes also ensure little to no assembly work, which allows us to offer a quicker turnaround and helps you to get your product to market faster as well. Several parts can be combined into a single casting, showcasing just how flexible, versatile and sophisticated investment castings are.

This isn't only true of simple shapes – in fact, even if you have complex shapes or difficult dimensions, you can rest assured that this technique will save you time and money by allowing the manufacturing of a single piece with the exact specifications you require.

Investment Casting Allows You to Save Money

A big way to add value to your project is to ensure that you're not paying more than you should for your products. Investment casting cuts down production costs by providing minimal material wastage, for instance, and often negates the need for machining.

So, you save money by not needing the extra treatments and because there are fewer people involved in the manufacturing process, labour costs are also reduced.

Products Can Be Evaluated with Non-Destructive Testing

You can be confident that Dean Group and quality go hand-in-hand, and one of the ways this is clear is during testing. The ability to inspect and test the products before our clients receive them means we can better meet their needs and add value to their projects.

We provide a non-destructive testing service, which includes both mechanical and chemical testing, X-ray testing, ultrasonic testing, and more, depending on what your project requires. To make sure the materials are not damaged, we also rely on techniques like microscopy and spectroscopy.

In short, investment casting is a process that can add a lot of value to your project. By choosing this method, you can also benefit from machining and surface treatments whilst saving money and reducing waste. Speak to us for more information about investment casting and what we can do for you.