Skip to content

RFQ

866.585.2578

ISO 9001:2015
Home > Custom Manufacturing > Investment Casting

Investment 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

Pulley Mount and Pool Cover Guide
Placer Arm
Rail Hex Key
Ratchet Pawl

View More Samples

Investment casting foundry main equipment list

Die casting machines Machining
  • 3 – Electrical furnaces
  • 5 – Wax melting and stirring machine
  • 12 – Wax Injection machines
  • 2 – Dewaxing chamber
  • 2 – Mold heating chamber
  • 5 – abrasive belt machine
  • 2 – sand blast machine
  • 1 – Spectrometer
  • Engine lathes
  • Numerical lathes
  • Milling machines
  • CNC machines

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
  • Heat treatment
  • Machining
  • X-ray
  • Assembly
  • Polished
  • Sand blasting
  • Tumbling
  • Zinc plating
  • Nickel plating
  • E-coating

Engineering assistance

Impact simulation of a cone shaped plastic cushion

Engineering: Based on request, IQE can provide the following services for our customers:

  • 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.

Main products

Automotive parts, Railway spare parts, train components, Automatic pool covers stainless steel parts