CASTINGS KEEP THE WORLD MOVING  

We depend upon castings for all aspects of modern life.  Without castings there would be no cars, no aeroplanes, no wind energy turbines, pumps and valves are castings as well as many household items, not to mention art castings.

The process involves pouring molten metal (metal that has generally been re-processed from scrap into a raw material) into a mould containing a hollow cavity of the desired shape, which is allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mould to complete the process.  

Casting can enable a complex part to be made in one piece often eliminating machining, assembly and fabrication steps.

A VITAL PART OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Castings are vital for all parts of the modern world and UK foundries supply all sectors including automotive, aerospace, rail, power generation, medical and marine.  The industry is, and always will be, a vital way to re-cycle scrap metals into valuable new components and so is part of the circular economy.  Recycling is what we do.

Castings are produced by foundries who use a range of complex processes depending on the metal, shape, quantity, size etc of the component required.

Here we briefly explain the benefits and opportunities of the most popular casting processes. For more information, please call the Cast Metals Federation on +44 (0)121 601 6397.