ISO 9001:2015Investment Casting
IQ-Enterprises (IQE) is a premium manufacturing firm, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in China. Established in 2004, IQE supplies high quality and low cost investment casting (lost wax casting) and lost foam casting. Castings are handled with great care to meet required dimensions, surface finish, etc. IQE also offers engineering services and secondary operations, such as: machining, assembly, plating, e-coating, etc.
Communication, Quality, On-Time Delivery: In the US, we handle your project from beginning to end. We communicate design ideas, and convert all standards via bilingual Engineers to help work through all other challenges to make sure we exceed your quality, service and financial goals. Quality, on-time delivery and customer satisfaction is the goal of our service. IQE’s quality management team in China checks the product quality at each stage in the production process to make sure the product meets the specifications before shipping. Based on request, we deliver your product to your dock or may stock your product in North America. ISO 9001-2000 certified.
Investment Casting Samples
Investment casting foundry main equipment list
| Die casting machines | Machining |
|---|---|
|
|
Commonly used investment casting alloys
| Stainless Steel | Carbon steel (ASTM A27) | Alloy steel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| properties | SS 303 | SS 304 | SS 316 | SS 316L | 60-30 | 60-35 | 70-35 | 4130 | 4140 | 8620 |
| Ultimate Tensile Strength, MPa (ksi) | 620 (89.9） | 505 (73.2） | 580 (84.1） | 515 (74.7） | 415 (60.2） | 450 (65.3） | 485 (70.3） | 560 (81.2) | 655 (95) | 530 (76.9) |
| Tensile Yield Strength (ksi) | 240 (34.8） | 215 (31.2） | 290 (42.1） | 205 (29.7） | 205 (29.7） | 240 (34.8） | 250 (36.2） | 460 (66.7) | 415 (60.2) | 385 (55.8) |
| Elongation (% in.2 in.) | 50% | 70% | 50% | 60% | 24% | 24% | 22% | 21.5% | 25.7% | 31.0% |
| Shear Strength (ksi) | 77200 (11200） | 86000 (12500） | 193000 (28000） | 193000 (28000） | 80000 (11600） | 80000 (11600） | 80000 (11600） | |||
| Hardness, Brinell | 123 | 79 | 149 | 217 | 197 | 149 | ||||
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K (BTU-in/hr-ft²-F) | 16.2 (112） | 16.2 (112） | 16.3 (113） | 42.7 (296） | 42.6 (296) | 46.6 (323) | ||||
| Density, g/cc (lb/in³) | 8.00 (0.289） | 8.00 (0.289） | 8.00 (0.289） | 8.00 (0.289） | 7.85 (0.284） | 7.85 (0.284） | 7.85 (0.284） | |||
| Chemical Properties | ||||||||||
| Carbon,C | ≤0.15% | ≤0.08% | ≤0.08% | 0.03% | ≤0.25% | ≤0.3% | ≤0.35% | 0.28-0.33% | 0.38-0.43% | 0.18-0.23% |
| Chromium,Cr | 18.00% | 18.0-20.0% | 16-18% | 17.00% | 0.8-1.0% | 0.8-1.1% | 0.4-0.6% | |||
| Iron, Fe | 69% | 66.635-74% | 61.8-72% | 65.00% | 97.03-98.22% | 96.785-97.77% | 96.895-98.02% | |||
| Manganese, Mn | ≤2.0% | ≤2.0% | ≤2.0% | 2.00% | ≤0.75% | ≤0.7% | ≤0.7% | 0.4-0.6% | 0.75-1.0% | 0.7-0.9% |
| Molybdenum,Mo | ≤0.6% | 2.0-3.0% | 2.50% | 0.15-0.25% | 0.15-0.25% | 0.15-0.25% | ||||
| Nickel, Ni | 9.00% | 8.0-10.5% | 10.0-14.0% | 12.00% | 0.4-0.7% | |||||
| Phosphorus,P | ≤0.2% | ≤0.045% | ≤0.045% | 0.05% | ≤0.05% | ≤0.05% | ≤0.05% | 0.04% | 0.04% | 0.04% |
| Silicon, Si | ≤1.0% | ≤1.0% | ≤1.0% | 1.00% | ≤0.8% | ≤0.8% | ≤0.8% | 0.15-0.3% | 0.15-0.3% | 0.15-0.35% |
| Sulfur,S | ||||||||||
Investment casting technical data and secondary operations
| Investment casting tolerance | 0.003-0.006 per ft (closer at extra cost) |
|---|---|
| Part weight range | 0.01 – 18 lbs |
| Tooling construction | All molds are constructed from Al Alloy. Tooling is produced in-house, outsourced tooling vendors. |
| Die lifetime | 100000 |
| Deburring | belt sanding, grinding machines, brush deburring, filing, sand blast, tumbling, vibration deburring, etc. |
| Investment casting surface roughness (RMS, µin) | 250-150 |
| Minimum draft required | 0.5-1.5 degree |
| Wall thickness range | 0.060″ – 2.5″ |
| Normal lead time | Tooling and sample: 2 weeks – 3 weeks. |
| Secondary operations |
|
Engineering assistance
- CAD model development from your sample;
- Stress analysis, which helps in knowing whether the design is adequate and optimized, and what changes are needed before the physical part is made;
- Some Mechanical and Chemical Lab tests for your prototype part.