Investment Casting Market Is Driven By Growing Decentralized Power Generation Across The Globe

Investment casting is an engineering process which is based on lost-wax casting, one of the oldest and well-known techniques used for the metal forming. Investment casting is also referred as lost-wax casting or precision casting and it is defined as a process of duplicating metal sculpture (usually gold, brass, silver, or bronze) casting from an original sculpture, and this method is often used for intricate works.

Investment casting is being used in numerous forms since more than last 5,000 years. In its most earlier forms, beeswax was utilized to design patterns required for the process of casting. Nowadays, various advanced waxes, specialist alloys, and refractory materials are being used for creating patterns. Investment casting is appreciated owing to its capability to produce components with repeatability, accuracy, integrity, and versatility in a diversity of high-performance alloys and metals.

Investment casting originates its name through the pattern being enclosed with a stubborn material. Various materials that can be used for investment casting such as carbon steel and glass, stainless steel alloys, brass, aluminum, etc. The material is dispensed into a cavity in a refractory material which is a replica of the preferred part and due to stiffness property of stubborn material used, investment casting method can be used to manufacture products with unique surface qualities, which can minimalize the necessity of secondary machinery processing.

Increasing decentralized power generation globally is one of the major aspect propelling global market growth. In addition, the widespread application of investment casting among various industries such as aerospace & military, automotive, etc. is another aspect supporting the revenue growth of the global market.

However, high initial capital investment associated with investment casting is a major aspect which may challenge the global market growth.

The type of investment casting can be categorized as Sodium Silicate Process and Tetraethyl Orthosilicate/ Silica Sol Process. Sodium Silicate Process casting which is also called as water glass casting is originally Russian and this technology which is typically used for stainless steel and steel components. This technique is suitable for more complex designs as compared to the sand casting method. Also, price-wise Sodium Silicate Process is ideal for large sized products as compared to silica sol casting process, however less precise in dimensions. In addition, various benefits associated with the Sodium Silicate process includes lower cost of molding process; intricate designs without draft angles; flexibility regarding production numbers; high accuracy as compared to sand casting; reduced cost price; etc. are influencing its adoption in the agricultural machinery, in offshore industry and for the production of trailers.

The application of investment casting includes automotive, aerospace &military, industrial gas turbines and general industrial. Increasing demand for the aircraft coupled with a rising number of air travelers are some major aspects stimulating the demand for investment castings among the aerospace industry.

North America will be contributing to the significant revenue shares of the investment casting market in upcoming years. This can be attributed to the rapid growth of the manufacturing industry, primarily for industrial gas turbine, aerospace, and defense sectors. Growth of the investment casting market in Asia Pacific is attributed to increasing investment of the government authorities in the aerospace and defense industry. In addition, developing countries such as India and China are well-known as an automotive hub along with the strong presence of major OEM manufacturing companies. This will further fuel the demand for aluminum castings, and ultimately propel growth of the investment casting market in the region.

The major players operating in the global market are Alcoa, Precision Castparts, CIREX, Zollern, Milwaukee Precision Casting, MetalTek, RLM Industries, Impro, Dongying Giayoung, Dongfeng, Ningbo Wanguan, Taizhou Xinyu, and Jiwei.