Some investigations for investment casting applications

The present research work is aimed at the development of spherical disc of ball valve as a cast study for investment casting applications. Three controllable factors of the investment casting process (namely: volume/surface-area (V/A) ratio of components, slurry layer's combination and type of metal) were studied at three levels each by Taguchi's parametric approach and single-response optimization was conducted to identify the main factors controlling surface hardness, dimensional accuracy and surface finish. Castings were produced using Aluminium, Mild steel and Stainless steel at recommended parameters through ceramic shell investment casting process. The micro structure analysis has been used to study the surface morphology. Cooling curve analysis was done to analyse the surface hardness data.