The WiSys Technology Foundation is seeking commercial partners interested in developing a novel investment casting process that can create a casting shell in as little as one coat.

• Produces a casting shell in as little as one coat, dramatically reducing the equipment needed for process automation


• Reduces four-fold the time needed to make a casting shell (from 24 to six hours), saving significant labor and expense


• Eliminates the need to apply dry refractory grains, which can pose a health hazard


• Shell’s improved ability to retain heat allows pouring of molten metal at lower temperature, providing dramatic energy savings


• Requires less material than conventional methods, and material is 100 percent reusable


• Provides a stable slurry that requires no mixing, unlike conventional slurries


• Slurry can be applied in many ways, including brushing, spraying, dipping, pouring and packing


• Fully compatible with current robotic application technologies

• All types of metal casting, as well as casting of other materials

Investment casting is commonly used to produce high quality metal objects possessing extremely fine detail. Investment casting typically involves creating a thin-walled ceramic shell, or mold, around a pattern of a part; melting or otherwise removing the pattern once the ceramic shell has hardened; filling the ceramic shell with molten metal and letting the metal solidify; and finally conditioning the metal part to finish it.



In this casting process, the step of making the ceramic casting shell is particularly time-consuming. Creation of the shell involves dipping the part’s pattern into a slurry of liquid refractory material, and then, while the coat is still wet, sieving dry refractory grains (e.g., silica) onto the pattern. After the coat air-dries, dipping and sieving are repeated as many as seven times to produce the desired, thin-walled shell.

A Wisconsin researcher has developed a novel colloidal refractory material and method for investment casting that can create a casting shell in as little as one coat. In addition, this process produces a casting shell that retains more heat and hardens faster than traditional investment casting shells.