From CAD to Casting: 5 Design Tips to Optimize Your Part for Investment Casting
That leap from a perfect, dimensionless 3D model on your screen to a solid, high-strength metal part in your hand isn't magic. It's engineering. But here’s the hard truth: a part that looks great in a CAD file might be a nightmare for a foundry to produce. A poorly-designed part can lead to defects like porosity, cracks, or "misruns" (incomplete parts). A well-designed part, on the other hand, is stronger, more reliable, and—most importantly— significantly cheaper to manufacture . This is "Design for Manufacturability" (DFM), and it's the secret to getting the most value from the precision investment casting process. As an investment casting manufacturer in India , we see the same design mistakes over and over. Here are 5 tips to help you design a better, more castable part. 1. The Goldilocks Rule: Uniform Wall Thickness This is the most important rule in all of casting. Too Thin: If a wall is too thin, the molten metal can cool and solidify before it ...