Investment Castings (Water Glass Process)

Water glass investment casting uses water glass (sodium silicate) as the shell binder, an environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional ammonium chloride solution used during shell drying and hardening. The process offers low production cost, practical durability, and better dimensional accuracy than ordinary sand casting, making it well suited to medium- and lower-precision parts where cost control matters. It is commonly used for 304 and 316 stainless steel and medium- and low-alloy steel parts, including hardware, valves, pipe fittings, and flanges.

Contact Us
Water Glass Investment Castings
  • Flange ModuleFlange Module
  • Shell Drying LineShell Drying Line
  • Double-Flange Valve CastingDouble-Flange Valve Casting
  • Cast SleeveCast Sleeve
Material Options
  • Stainless steel: 304 / 304L, 316 / 316L, 17-4PH, 410, 420
  • Alloy and carbon steel: WCB, WCC, 45#, 20#, Q235, 35#, 40Cr, 42CrMo, ZG270-500, ZG310-570
  • Special alloys: precipitation-hardening stainless steel (17-4PH, etc.), duplex stainless steel (2205, 2507), copper alloys (aluminum bronze, tin bronze), and nickel-based alloys (including Inconel 600 and select Inconel 625 grades)
Technical Parameters
Dimensional Accuracy CT7-CT9
Wall Thickness >3mm
Surface Roughness Ra6.3-12.5μm
Dimensions 50-500mm
Weight Range 0.1kg-100kg
Processes
  • Tooling design and manufacturing
    • →
  • wax pattern injection and finishing
    • →
  • tree assembly
    • →
  • shell building (slurry coating
    • →
  • stuccoing
    • →
  • hardening, repeated 3 to 5 times)
    • →
  • dewaxing (hot water or steam)
    • →
  • shell firing
    • →
  • melting and pouring
    • →
  • cooling and shell knockout
    • →
  • cleaning (cutoff, grinding, shot blasting)
    • →
  • final inspection and storage
Why Choose HCPC?
Why Choose Huacheng
  • More than 30 years of manufacturing and export experience, with extensive knowledge of international logistics and industry-specific technical standards.
  • Full support from tooling design and sample development through to high-volume production, precision machining, and surface treatment.
  • A strict ISO 9001 quality management system, backed by CMM (coordinate measuring machine) inspection and non-destructive testing (MT, RT, PT).