The demand for investment casting is majorly driven by the growing aerospace and military industry, as there are many different applications and parts of aircraft, helicopters, and jets that are produced through investment casting. These include flight critical and safety components, landing and braking components, and hydraulic fluid system components, all of which are vital to the safety of the aircraft.
Silica sol casting gives the investment castings better dimensional accuracy and surface finish with minimal defects. Hence the cost of the process is higher than that of the water glass casting. Silica sol zircon sand is very expensive, and the preparation needed is also higher, which is also a prime reason for the higher costs.
The silica sol process has comparatively less adoption in foundries due to its higher costs. On an average, the silica sol investment casting used in automotive or industrial component costs around 6.5 USD/kg.
Nevertheless, if the highest casting quality and the low repair rate is the main focus of the end-user, this process can be preferred. Compared to the water glass process, silica sol process can produce extra-large parts weighing 50-100kgs. Hence this process is used for producing larger and heavier parts, like water pumps, impellers, diversion shells, pump bodies, ball valve bodies, and valve plates. At the same time, this process is also widely used to produce extra small parts (2-1000g) that require high dimensional accuracy, like the ones used in ap
The Sodium Silicate Process is slowly becoming more popular in regions such as Asia-Pacific as a result of the ongoing efforts to improve the quality and dimensional accuracy of the components produced.
North America is leading the investment casting market and is likely to continue to hold the top position followed by Asia-Pacific and Europe, respectively. The factors attributable to North America's growth is expanding the manufacturing industry, primarily industrial gas, aerospace & defense applications and the presence of significant defense aircraft and component manufacturers in the region.