Investment casting has been a long-established method for producing metal parts with smooth surfaces and good dimensional tolerances.
The investment casting process utilizes sacrificial patterns and ceramic shell molds that allow for highly complex casting designs to be achieved. Traditionally these patterns are created by injection molding wax, and as such require the use of metal tooling. The substantial cost and time required to generate wax pattern tooling limits the range of applications for which investment casting is economically competitive.
But manufacturers are looking at the design freedom and cost savings of directly 3D printing master patterns for casting and are moving away from the traditional methods of creating investment casting patterns by CNC-machining molds and injecting wax. Stratasys offers stereolithography 3D printing as a low-cost, high-yield alternative to traditional investment casting processes.
● No high tooling costs
● High casting yield
● Faster production
● Dimensional accuracy and stability of parts
● Robust patterns that can be easily handled and shipped
● Ability to reiterate designs quickly and easily
● Designs that can be printed overnight compared to weeks with CNC machining tooling
Stratasys Stereolithography 3D printers are proven to build high-quality, accurate, and detailed parts with superior surface quality. Built by engineers for engineers, the Neo is ideal for investment casting.
Investment casting master pattern production just got easier and more scalable with this integrated Stereolithography (SLA) solution from Stratasys.
Somos® ShellCast™, our new antimony and phosphorus-free SLA resin for high-precision investment casting, combines with GrabCAD Print Pro ShellGen™ build preparation software and the Neo800+ SLA printer to create an integrated solution for investment casting pattern production.
Together, these innovations simplify build preparation and pattern production, reduce reliance on costly traditional tooling, and enable manufacturers to efficiently produce large, complex and highly accurate master patterns at scale.
Tetrashell™ Lattice is the geometry used by GrabCAD Print Pro ShellGen™ software to create master patterns with strong, isotropic strength, while reducing material use and speeding up production. The lattice structure helps reduce thermal expansion and pressure forces exerted on the ceramic shell during burnout, lowering the risk of shell cracking and helping improve casting yield and reliability.
Welcome to Stratasys, the leading provider of innovative 3D printing solutions. We are proud to present our comprehensive guides for Investment Casting, designed and developed to help you harness the power of 3D printing to transform your production processes and drive innovation.
Build high-quality master patterns with superior surface quality, accuracy and detail.
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Advanced build preperation software, simpliefied for investing casting.
Learn MoreSomos® WaterShed AF (Antimony Free) material is a perfect match for investment casting patterns because it has been specially designed without antimony to address the sensitivities associated with casting certain specialty alloys and to create patterns that produce very little ash when burned out, meeting the requirements for investment casting patterns.
The result is accurate, geometrically complex investment casting patterns, with excellent surface finish and no detectable levels of antimony. These patterns can be used in the workflow traditionally used for investment casting metal parts.
Together with Materialise we’ve developed a new build processor software solution tailored for the Neo SLA 3D printer to improve the user experience, and to streamline the workflow. Seamlessly integrated with Materialise's Lattice module and e-Stage for Resin module, this build processor speeds up file preparation for investment casting master pattern geometries in Materialise Magics, dramatically reducing processing time without sacrificing final part quality.
