History of Lost Foam Castings
The first patent for an evaporative-pattern casting process was filed in April 1956, by H.F. Shroyer. He patented the use of foam patterns embedded in traditional green sand for metal casting. In his patent, a pattern was machined from a block of expanded polystyrene (EPS), and supported by bonded sand during pouring. This process is now known as the full mold process.
In 1964, M.C. Flemmings used unbonded sand for the process. The first North American foundry to use evaporative-pattern casting was the Robinson Foundry at Alexander City, Alabama. General motors first product using these processes was the 4.3L, V-6 diesel cylinder head, which were made in 1981 at Massena, New York.
A study found in 1997 that evaporative-pattern casting processes accounted for approximately 140,000 tons of aluminum casting in the United States. The same survey forecast that evaporative-pattern casting processes would account for 29% of the aluminum, and 14% of the ferrous casting markets in the near future.
Non-proprietary terms that have been used to describe similar processes include: cavityless casting, evaporative foam casting, foam vaporization casting, lost pattern casting, the castral process, expanded polystyrene molding, EPC, Evaporative Pattern Casting, LFT, Lost Foam Technology, Expendable Pattern Casting, lostfoam, etc.
Proprietary terms include Styro-cast, foamcast, shellfoamcast, Replicast and Policast.
In 1964, M.C. Flemmings used unbonded sand for the process. The first North American foundry to use evaporative-pattern casting was the Robinson Foundry at Alexander City, Alabama. General motors first product using these processes was the 4.3L, V-6 diesel cylinder head, which were made in 1981 at Massena, New York.
A study found in 1997 that evaporative-pattern casting processes accounted for approximately 140,000 tons of aluminum casting in the United States. The same survey forecast that evaporative-pattern casting processes would account for 29% of the aluminum, and 14% of the ferrous casting markets in the near future.
Non-proprietary terms that have been used to describe similar processes include: cavityless casting, evaporative foam casting, foam vaporization casting, lost pattern casting, the castral process, expanded polystyrene molding, EPC, Evaporative Pattern Casting, LFT, Lost Foam Technology, Expendable Pattern Casting, lostfoam, etc.
Proprietary terms include Styro-cast, foamcast, shellfoamcast, Replicast and Policast.