Lost foam is not the place where foam is missing. In fact, if you are familiar with the term lost foam, you understand that nothing has gone missing or misplaced. If you are unfamiliar with the term, by definition it is a type of evaporative-pattern casting process that is similar to investment casting except foam is used for the pattern instead of wax (dictionary.com).
We’ve come across many videos and information regarding this important and unique casting technique. Some of this information is housed on our industry’s website and gives an overview of the markets served and casting process. Take a look: according to EPSIndusry.Org,
“The ease and versatility of creating any EPS shape imaginable translates into the ability of the foundry to cast metal parts with the same ease. The lost foam casting technique has been utilized by the automotive, aerospace and manufacturing industries to create precision steel, alloy and composite parts within exact tolerances…
…The lost foam technique is often cheaper than other casting methods in that a foam pattern can be fabricated much more easily than a die or mold and foam is cheaper than wax used in common investment casting. Lost foam casting has the additional benefit of producing an excellent surface finish further reducing production costs. Additionally, the mold used to fabricate the EPS foam casting mold is not subjected to the extreme conditions of direct molding and will therefore produce a greater number of identical foam mold patterns to assure consistent quality of cast parts reducing re-tooling costs. The workability of EPS foam invites the casting of custom single unit parts. The fabricator simply shapes the desired part in easy to work EPS foam rather than enduring the time and expense of creating a die mold or machining a part from billet or stock material.”
Now that the industry has provided us with a quality overview of the casting technique, feel free to visit the YouTube channel designated to the popular videos associated with experiments, how to’, and processes: http://ow.ly/PlgWz
