Investment casting combustion equipment has plays mission-critical roles in the refining, production, power, LNG, biogas, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, and numerous other industries around the world.

The challenge of the process is the overall casting. The connection between each blade and the main body is casted rather than welded , so It has high technical requirements on casting.The entire product must pass the permeability and pressure testing .

TCC has produced the combustion casting parts since 2008 and has developed over thirty kinds of the component of burners parts .

In TCC Casting, our aluminum gravity die casting technique can make quality cast aluminum parts for a range of industries, including Marine, Cars & Trucks, Gas Turbines, Compressors, Pumps, Valves, Medical Equipment, etc.

What is Gravity Die Casting?

Gravity die casting, may also called as permanent mould casting, is a typical die casting technique to creat high quality metal components which have low melting points, such as aluminum and zinc alloys. In gravity die casting process, the molten metal is poured from a ladle into the mould, then fills the mould cavity under the force of gravity and fastly solidified to achieve metal parts. This process gives a better surface finish than sand casting as well as better mechanical properties, both due to rapid solidification.

Unlike other casting methods, gravity die casting is a simple pouring of the molten metal into the mould without any additional pressure applied. And, gravity die casting can use both metal and sand cores, referred to as semi-permanent mould casting, for greater complexity of design. It is the perfect choice for applications that require a solution that’s somewhere in between sand casting and high-pressure die casting. Gravity die casting requires lower mould cost than high pressure die casting, but more durable than sand casting by using a steel mould. The mould is a permanent form that consists of two halves.

Gravity Die Casting Process

Gravity die casting is often a manual process, with the molten metal added with the use of a ladle. However, for some high volume applications it is also possible to use an automated ladle to pour the molten metal. The speed and the direction of the filling can also be controlled by tilting the die.

Apart from the method by which the molten metal is poured into the die cavity, and the gravity die material, the casting process is essentially the same as sand casting. It involves four steps:

• The die is heated and then sprayed with a refractory coating, and closed. The coating both helps control the temperature of the die during manufacture and it also assists in the removal of the casting.
• Molten metal is then manually poured into the die, (although in some cases a machine can be used) and allowed to solidify.
  The die is then opened and the cast parts either removed by hand or in some cases ejector pins are used on the mechanised machines.
• Finally, the scrap, which includes the gate, runners, sprues and flash, is removed from the casting(s). The castings are then processed to remove sharp edges and excess material, then blast cleaned (if required) prior to despatch to the customer.
• Gravity die casting is a natural partner to sand casting, and allows us to offer the customer the most cost effective route for casting manufacture.

Advantages of Gravity Die Casting Process

One of the advantages of gravity die casting process is that it can produce high quality castings with complex shapes, while still maintaining excellent mechanical properties like strength. That makes it very suitable for creat aluminum castings that can not be satisifed by pressure die casting process.

Gravity die casting advantages include:

• suitable for parts in both low and high-volumes.
• suitable for larger, thicker parts that can not be produce by pressure die casting process.
• less investment in mould compared with pressure die casting process.
• produces components with far smoother surfaces than that of sand casting method.
• produces parts with excellent mechanical properties, and T6 heat treatment can also be applied to improve the properties.
• almost no dimensions limitation and complex shapes can be realized. For products with hollow areas, sand cores can be placed into the mould.

Tips on Selecting Gravity Die Casting Process

It is very important to select a suitable casting process for your design. Before making a decision, several factors should be taken into consideration, such as process limitation, production effeciency, investment, dimensional accuracy, surface finish, lead time, etc. Normally, purchasing companies prefer to buy castings from China foundries like TCC casting, due to its mature production process and low production cost.

Sometimes, a designed part is suited to both gravity die casting and pressure die casting processes (differences between gravity die casting and pressure die casting). Gravity die casting is suggested when the order quantity is small because it has lower mould cost. Remember not all the metals can be cast by this process, only metals that have low melting points are suitable. But for thinner parts, pressure die casting process is considered as it is easy to occur defects if choosing gravity die casting process.

If you are familar with aluminum parts, you may also be interested in the forming processes of them, mainly including casting, forging and machining. Casting is a process that allows foundries to create products with complex shapes while light weight. The process begins by creating molds. Then, workers pouring melton aluminum alloy into molds to achieve desired shape.

Benefits of Aluminum Casting Process

Only Aluminum Casting Can Produce Intricately Designed Parts

One of the best reasons why a wide variety of industries and consumers choose aluminum casting is the fact that it allows the manufacturer to produce aluminum parts that have intricate designs. In other words, it’s possible for them to order customized aluminum castings that perfectly suit their production needs.

The Production Process of Aluminum Casting is Faster than Machining

With aluminum casting, you’ll be able to produce parts faster than machining process? Since it allows you to create near-net shapes, you can easily eliminate the process of machining to get your desired results. This implies that with aluminum casting, you’ll be able to produce the finished parts much sooner than you initially expected.

Aluminum Casting is Very Affordable

If you want to obtain top-quality metal products at a much cheaper price, choose aluminum casting process. Since this kind of manufacturing process require less machining, the unit cost is considerably lower compared to other alternatives.

Aluminum Castings are as Strong as Steel Castings

Despite being weighing very little, aluminum castings features the same strength as that of steel castings. Thanks to its superior metallurgical properties, aluminum castings exhibit a higher degree of pressure tightness. In fact, their strength advantage is evident over sand castings and other options.

When is Aluminum Casting Applied?

Manufacturers often use aluminum casting when forging or machining of aluminum alloys cannot be employed. This material that comes with a luminous finish is used in producing different commercial and household goods. To give you an idea about when aluminum casting can be used, below we list out some typical applications of cast aluminum parts:

Construction and Architecture

Since aluminum is known for its outstanding conductivity and its light weight that works well for extended lengths of cable runs, copper has now been replaced by aluminum as the base for electrical transmission lines and power grids. Furthermore, architects use aluminum castings for renovations that include ornamental door framings, rooftop corner pieces, and reinforcement pieces.

Aerospace

Since the combination of aluminum castings’ properties including its light weight and strength make them ideal for the development of vehicles that are both strong and light enough to go beyond the earth’s atmosphere, the aerospace industry has been greatly dependent on them. In fact, commercial transport planes are comprised of 80% aluminum castings. Plus, aluminum is extensively used in the space industry for shuttles as well as for various structures at the international space station.

Appliance and Technology

Aluminum castings are also used for refrigeration applications primarily because of its thermal properties and its light weight that allow easy transport.

Renovation and Restoration

In most cases, restoration projects can present unique challenges because they can be quite difficult to source designs that match the metal elements that need to be replaced. It doesn’t matter if the existing casting needs to be directly copied or a new master pattern needs to be carved – aluminum castings will be perfect for duplicating hard-to-find castings that can help you finish the historical restoration with the components that you need.

Want Investment Casting for your Next Project?

If you are interested in using aluminum gravity die casting or aluminum pressure die casting for your next project, contact TCC Casting!

What is Boat Steering Wheel?

Boat steering wheel is the wheel moves the boat rudder which changes the direction of the vessel. This action is also what a tiller would do. The boat wheel is part of the entire steering system that can contain the pedestal, helm, helm controls, steering cables and other steering system parts. We carry many top-tier and popular brands for boat steering wheels including Schmitt & Ongaro, SeaStar Solutions, Edson, Sea-Dog, Uflex that offer a wide selection of replacement boat steering wheels to fit your boat. As the top leading stainless steel investment casting company, TCC Casting can customize and export boat steering wheels for our customers all over the world.

Material: Marine Grade 316 Stainless Steel

316 stainless steel is a popular chromium, nickel, molybdenum-bearing stainless steel grade. For its good corrosion resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion in chloride environments, type 316 stainless steel is widely used in marine application, thus it is always referred to as marine grade stainless steel.

Compared with 304 stainless steel, molybdenum(Mo) element is added in 316 cast stainless steel boat steering wheel. Molybdenum(Mo) element can strength the molecular structure of boat steering wheel. Besides, Mechanical properties of 316 stainless steel boat steering wheel are better than that of 304 stainless steel boat steering wheel. This can make the life time of 316 investment cast boat steering wheel longer.

Manufacturing Process: Stainless Steel Investment Casting

Stainless steel investment casting is another name of stainless steel lost wax casting. It refers to make stainless steel components in lost wax investment casting process. TCC Casting is professional on stainless steel investment casting process. Main processes for stainless steel investment casting: wax/foam injection, trimming and welding wax trees, sand shell mould-making, dewax, baking the shell mould, casting, heat treating, shot blasting, inspection and packing.

Same as other marine hardwares, boat steering wheel can be produced by stainless steel investment casting process. Stainless steel investment casting process can control a better dimension accurancy and surface finish for boat steering wheels. Usually, no machining is required. Cast tolerance can reach ISO8062 CT5-CT6. Surface roughness of cast boat steering wheel is between Ra3.2 to Ra6.3. Surface finish of cast boat steering wheel can be shot blasted or mirror polished, which is mainly decided by our customers.

Besides boat steering wheel process, stainless steel investment casting process can also be used to make other marine hardwares, such as bruce boat anchor, boat propeller, boat rail base fittings, marine cross bollard, etc.

TCC Casting quotes and produce such stainless steel boat steering wheel or other products according to drawings or samples from customers. If your have such RFQ’s, please contact us. We will offer you our best prices and services.

Aluminum alloys have the advantages of good plasticity, corrosion resistance and lightweight, making them ideal for automotive manufacturing, aerospace, shipbuilding and other fields. Due to the increasing demands of aluminum castings, the aluminum casting industry is rapidly growing in China. At present, the main aluminum casting methods are: pressure die casting and gravity die casting. As the professional aluminum casting company in China, let’s talk about the main differences between pressure die casting and gravity die casting.

Gravity Die Casting

Gravity die casting is a form of die casting that is prefect to creat repeatable high quality components in a range of low temperature metals. It involves a simple pouring of the molten metal into the mould under the force of gravity only and without any additional force applied.

Gravity die casting process can make parts that are net-shaped have tight tolerances. Sometimes, it is also called as permanent mold casting. Different from pressure die casting, pressure die casting is used for parts that are slightly heavier, larger in size, and have higher structural requirements than pressure die casting. For greater complexity of design, both the sand cores and metals could be used.

A unique feature of the gravity die casting method is that it can handle heat treatment of high strength aluminum alloys that pressure die casting still cannot. Suitable for castings requiring complex intricate coring and small production runs.

Pressure Die Casting

In pressure die casting, molten metal is injected into a steel mould under high pressure and high speed, the cooled for solidification to form a solid metal component. Typically, the process itself only takes a few seconds and is a quick reliable and cost-effective manufacturing process with a high degree of precision and repeatability. Different from gravity die casting, the process is automated and the liquid metal or alloy is injected under high force into a hardened steel tool.

The pressure die casting process has the advantage of excellent process repeatability. Generally, the surface finish of pressure die cast parts is achieved from the surface finish of the tool that produces it.

The unique feature of the gravity die casting method is that it can make parts whatever complex or thin the part is. Also, good strength can be obtained after the workforce of high pressure. The only limitation is that it costs higher mould cost compared to gravity die casting, and is not so cost effective if the volume is small.

Gravity Die Casting or Pressure Die Casting for Your Project?

When deciding a die casting method for your design, it is important to analysis the structure of the part, if the part is ratively thin and the quantity is large, then pressure die casting is preferred. But if the part is ratively thick and the quantity is small, it is ideal to consider gravity die casting process. If you are looking for a quality die casting supplier for your project, pls do not hesistate to contact us!

Bruce type anchors are one of the most popular anchors for marine application and are known for their high holding power and self setting capability. For boaters anchoring in a variety of bottom conditions, including sand, mud, rock, and coral, bruce anchor is the boat anchor we recommend most. It has slightly less holding per pound than similar style anchors such as the Delta/Wing but it generally sets more easily. Each bruce anchor includes a small trip line point at the back of the anchor. While not used by most boaters, it offers the option to attach a secondary line to release the anchor in case there is a danger of the anchor getting snagged. Includes a lifetime warranty against breakage.

Bruce anchors are investment cast in stainless steel and made in a one piece, solid construction with no moving parts, this ensures durability and a long life expectancy. TCC Casting is the professional stainless steel casting manufacturer can supply custom service for bruce anchors in different sizes. With investment casting method and mirror polished surface, we can offer high dimensional accuracy and good surface finish.

Material: 316 Stainless Steel

Stainless Type 316 – often referred to as stainless steel marine hardware. Contains 16% chromium, plus the addition of molybdenum. Molybdenum is what makes, Type 316 ideal for applications around saltwater and other high chloride environments. Learning more on the benefits of using 316 stainless steel castings

Casting Process: Investment Casting

Investment casting, also named as precision casting or lost wax casting, is usually adopted to produce stainless steel casting parts for marine application. Bruce anchor, the most common boat achor, is generally designed and produced by investment casting process.

The investment casting process offers many benefits including cost savings, design freedom, close tolerances, better finishes, savings in machining time, reproducibility, and assembly savings.

TCC Casting can cast stainless steel bruce anchors from drawings or samples. With semi-automatic casting process, both the quality and production effeciency are higher than other foundries in China. The casting tolearance controlled in our foundry can be ISO 8062 CT5-CT6 level.

Surface Finish: Mirror Polishing

After investment casting, the surface of bruce boat anchors is a bit dark and rough.To achieve smooth and shinning surface, cast stainless steel bruce anchor are always mirror polished. Mirror polishing is a hand-polishing process involving several polishing steps, so it is slow but the cost is affordable. TCC Casting can provide mirror polishing service to deliver finished products to our customers.

A ship’s hawse pipe is the pipe passing through the bow section of a ship that the anchor rode (chain, line, or both) passes through. The main function of the hawse pipe is to guide the chain from deck level to outside the shell plating. The hawse pipe should be constructed to a size large enough to accommodate the smooth running of the chain and to provide secure stowage of the anchor, permitting it to drop freely when released without jamming or risking damage to the hull structure.

It is made from investment casting process in 316 stainless steel for maximum corrosion resistance and durability. The square hawse pipe can be flush mounted or recessed, and is easily installed using fasteners.

Material: 316 Stainless Steel

Due to its strength, durability, and longevity, stainless steel is one of the most common investment casting materials for marine industry . The alloy of iron, chromium, and carbon has an improved corrosion resistance over regular steel, which, like most ferrous metals, rusts when exposed to water.

316 stainless steel is more commonly known as “marine grade stainless steel” as its enhanced corrosion-resistance properties make it ideal for use throughout the marine industry. The material you typically find being used in restaurants, commercial kitchens, etc. is 304 stainless steel, or “food grade” stainless steel.

Marine-grade stainless steel takes the inherent benefits of standard stainless steel and improves on them through increased levels of chromium and molybdenum. The addition of these elements provides a greater corrosion resistance than many of the other commercially available grades of stainless steel. This level of corrosion-resistance is absolutely essential for hawse pipe in ship. 316 stainless steel also provides incredibly high yield and tensile strength when compared to its weight, making it a truly ideal material for hawse pipe. In summerize, the benefits of 316 marine grade stainless steel are:

• Enhanced corrosion resistance to withstand saltwater
• Chemical-resistant
• Incredible insulating properties
• Durable and hardwearing, yet lightweight
• Non-magnetic
• High stress-to-rupture strength
• Heat-resistant

Why Investment Casting for Stainless Steel Hawse Pipe?

Due to the nature of the process, investment castings can be held to much tighter tolerances than sand castings or forgings. This can be important and can avoid machining or other finishing operations. Investment casting offers near net-shape, thus reducing costly machining time. Investment casting is also capable of more reliable castings with much thinner walls than sand castings. Due to the thinner wall capability, investment castings produce substantially less scrap rates and lighter weight castings. Investment castings, in general, provide a much higher percentage of defect free-castings.

The investment casting or precision casting process is an excellent option for producing dimensionally accurate parts that require superior corrosion resistance for 316 stainless steel hawse pipe. The near net shape that is achieved with the hawse pipe outweigh the costs incurred through the less precise and less efficient process of sand cast. Since many highly corrosion resistant materials are cast on a regular basis, employing investment casting process makes good economic sense.

At TCC Casting, we manufacture thousands of stainless steel investment casting parts each year and have an outstanding track record of doing so in the industries fastest lead times at competitive prices. We also have the ability to provide parts with additional surface treatments such as mirror polishing to enhance corrosion resistance even more and provide parts with superior surface finishes. Our advantages also lie in:

• Low cost, precision, long life tooling
• Ability to cast intricate features with excellent corrosion resistance
• Uniquely-designed quality control system
• Affordable pricing
• Friendly, knowledgeable, and prompt customer service
• Quick and on time delivery

If you have any inquiry on custom hawse pipe or other marine hardwares, pls contact us freely!

Related Posts:

• Stainless Steel Casting for Bruce Boat Anchor
• Stainless Steel Investment Casting of Boat Steering Wheel
• Stainless Steel Casting of Top Cap for Bimini Top

Most people have seen stainless steel castings at some point in their lives. They have likely seen cast stainless steel parts used in a wide variety of products, from kitchenware to medical instruments, yet few realize why so many designers prefer stainless steel castings.

One of the most valuable assets of stainless steel castings is its resistance to corrosion. Lower grades of stainless steel castings can withstand corrosion in water environments and basic atmospheric conditions. And higher grades of stainless steel castings can withstand corrosion caused by acid and alkaline solutions.

Stainless steel castings contain several alloying elements that are in line with the specific composition and grade. We can divide stainless steel castings into several general classes: austenitic stainless steel castings, ferritic stainless steel castings, martensitic stainless steel castings, duplex stainless steel castings, and precipitation hardened stainless steel castings. The distinction between each class is based primarily on the predominant phase present in the stainless steel castings as determined by the major alloying elements.

Effects of Alloying Elements on Stainless Steel Castings

1. Manganese: Adding manganese to stainless steel improves hot working properties and boosts toughness, strength, and hardness.

2. Nickel: Nickel can help produce stainless steel castings that are incredibly ductile, corrosion resistant, and tough at both high and low temperatures.

3. Chromium: Stainless steel parts with higher percentages of chromium have a higher resistance to oxidation than parts with lower percentages of this alloying element.

4. Carbon: Carbon, along with iron, is the major alloying element that is used to make stainless steel. It is also used to increase the hardness and strength of the metal.

5. Copper: This alloying element enhances the corrosion resistance and formability of the stainless steel castings. Copper can also be added to decrease work hardening in grades designed for improved machinability.

Choose Stainless Steel Casting for Your Next Project

We can well understand that alloying elements can have major effects on stainless steel castings. Now that you know the effects that common alloying elements have on stainless steel castings, it’s time to determine the best option for your specific needs. TCC Casting is a leading supplier of quality stainless steel investment castings to major companies throughout the world and can provide you with the exact component you are looking for. Contact us to discuss your next project!

What is Duplex Stainless Steel Casting?

Duplex Stainless Steel Casting is the casting process using duplex stainless steel as the material. Duplex stainless steel is called “duplex” because they have a two-phase microstructure consisting of grains of ferritic and austenitic stainless steel. The picture shows the yellow austenitic phase as “islands” surrounded by the blue ferritic phase. When duplex stainless steel is melted it solidifies from the liquid phase to a completely ferritic structure. As the material cools to room temperature, about half of the ferritic grains transform to austenitic grains (“islands”). The result is a microstructure of roughly 50% austenite and 50% ferrite.

Duplex Stainless Steel Casting Grade-2205

Duplex 2205 Stainless Steel is a nitrogen-enhanced duplex used in stainless steel casting process for applications requiring high strength and excellent corrosion resistance. It is designed to combine improved resistance to stress corrosion cracking, pitting and crevice corrosion. Duplex 2205 provides nearly double the corrosion resistance typical in other austenitic stainless steels.

Chemical Composition of Duplex Stainless Steel 2205

C	Mn	Si	P	S	Cr	Mo	Ni	N
0.03 Max	2 Max	1 Max	0.03 Max	0.02Max	22.0-23.0	3.0-3.5	4.5-6.5	0.14-0.20

Features of Duplex Stainless Steel Casting

Strength: Duplex stainless steel castings are about twice as strong as regular austenitic or ferritic stainless steel castings.

Toughness and ductility: Duplex stainless steel castings have significantly better toughness and ductility than ferritic stainless steel castings; however, they do not reach the excellent values of austenitic stainless steel castings.

Corrosion resistance: As with all stainless steels, corrosion resistance depends mostly on the composition of the stainless steel castings. For chloride pitting and crevice corrosion resistance, their chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen content are most important. Duplex stainless steel casting grades have a range of corrosion resistance, similar to the range for austenitic stainless steel castings, i.e from Type 304 or 316 to 6% molybdenum stainless steel castings.

Stress corrosion cracking resistance: Duplex stainless steels show very good stress corrosion cracking resistance, a property they have “inherited” from the ferritic side. Stress corrosion cracking can be a problem under certain circumstances (chlorides, humidity, elevated temperature) for standard austenitic castings such as Types 304 and 316 stainless steel castings.

Cost: Duplex stainless steel castings have lower nickel and molybdenum contents than their austenitic counterparts of similar corrosion resistance. Due to the lower alloying content, duplex stainless steels can be lower in cost, especially in times of high alloy surcharges. Additionally, it may often be possible to reduce the section thickness of duplex stainless steel, due to its increased yield strength compared to austenitic stainless steel. The combination can lead to significant cost and weight savings compared to a solution in austenitic stainless steels.

TCC Casting for Douplex Stainless Steel Castings

TCC Foundry specializes in the customized production of duplex stainless steel castings. Our manufacturing capability of duplex stainless steel casting weight ranges from 1g to 50kgs. The minimum wall thickness is 2mm. We can supply 2205 duplex stainless steel castings for below applications:

• Chemical process vessels, heat exchangers and piping
• Oil field piping and heat exchangers
• Bleach washers, chip pre-steaming vessels and pulp mill digesters
• Flue gas desulfurization equipment
• Food processing equipment

We maintain positive communication with our customers to assure that we fully understand our customers’ requirements and manufacture products with the desired characteristics in the most cost effective manner. If you need duplex stainless steel casting for your project, pls get in touch with us right now!

Gravity die casting replys on gravity other than high pressure to pour aluminum or zinc alloys which makes more simple for cast products. Here are some of its advantages:

• Parts are taken from mold directly, excellent dimensional accuracy.
• Compared with sand casting, the surface finish of gravity die cast parts is better.
• Mechanical properties, especially tensile strength, are superior to those made in sand casting.
• The wall thickness of parts can be bigger than those made by pressure die casting.
• Sand core parts could be allowed to creat hollow sections of the parts.
• The tooling cost is much lower than pressure die casting.
• Due to fewer production steps and a simpler apparatus, gravity die casting allows for shorter production times and quicker turnaround.
• Less defects are found by gravity die casting than sand casting.

Of course, gravity die casting is not omnipotent, there are also some disadvantages as follows:

• The tooling costs are higher than sand casting
• The thinnest possible wall is between 3 mm and 5 mm thick
• Not all the metals could be made in gravity die casting, for precision stainless steel parts, investment casting is preferred.

Overall, gravity die casting is cost effective and offers a host of advantages over other techniques. It is a good casting method for its excellent mechanical properties, tight tolerances and quick production capabilities.