Effect of casting methods on castability of pure titanium.

Two types of patterns were tested for castability: 1) polyester mesh pattern (20mm x 22mm with 100 open squares) and 2) 20mm x 20mm wax plates 1.0 and 1.5 mm in thickness. These materials were invested using a pre-arranged commercial phosphate-bonded investment for titanium. Three different types of casting machines were selected: 1) a pressure-type casting machine with separate melting and casting chambers, 2) a pressure-type casting machine with one chamber and 3) a centrifugal-type casting machine at 3000 rpm. Pure titanium (> 99.5%) was cast into the molds at a mold temperature of 100 degrees C. The castability of mesh pattern was evaluated in terms of the number of cast segment, and the cast plate was evaluated using X-ray transparent images by a digital imaging technique. The centrifugal casting method showed the best castability among these three casting methods.