Barron Receives Industry Award for Cost-Saving Aerospace Castings
Oxford, MI – Investment casting is a process used for making precise and complex metal components and, for many industries, it saves much time and cost in producing their parts. For example, when an aerospace company asked Barron Industries to manufacture an investment casting for an advanced military guidance system, it was able to reduce its costs by a whopping 75 percent. Barron’s superior casting solution has won industry acclaim, winning the Investment Casting Institute’s 2020 Military Award.
The award, presented at the Institute’s 2020 Technical Conference and Expo, recognizes foundries that manufacture parts and components that best illustrate and promote the benefits and flexibility of the investment casting process. Barron Industries was able to turn a four-piece fabricated component into a one-piece investment casting, increasing quality, strength, and design flexibility. In addition, the patterns for the aluminum structure housing are created using 3D printing, greatly reducing production times.
“The former method of manufacture was time-consuming and costly,” said company president and CEO Bruce Barron. “Barron Industries is producing this as a single piece casting at 25% of the original cost of production enabling significant cost savings. Additionally, the investment casting process has provided the customer with a great deal of design flexibility not previously available.”
Originally fabricated from four machined segments, Barron Industries is investment casting this component in A356-T6 a lot from SLA quick cast prototype patterns. Post cast operations include 5-axis machining, radiographic and penetrant inspection to AMS 2175 Grade B, and pressure leak testing.
“Barron’s investment casting solution has been embraced by the customer as an outstanding solution to meet their cost targets and functionality requirements,” said Barron.
Also known as precision casting or lost wax casting, the investment casting process has been used for centuries. Today, this type of casting is being seen as the future by many industries seeking lightweight and complex components. Using ceramic molds, investment casting produces complex high-precision components with an excellent as-cast surface finish, often reducing or even eliminating the need for machining. Meeting the stringent quality requirements of the aerospace industry, Barron is AS9100D and NADCAP accredited.
Founded in 1983, Barron Industries is a unique full-service manufacturer of high-precision Investment Castings, machined components, and complete assemblies. Barron offers complete turnkey product manufacturing of components for Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, Oil and Gas, Nuclear, Medical, and other commercial industries. Capabilities include CAD engineering, rapid prototyping, CNC machining, NDT, plating, painting, assembly, laser etching, and custom packaging. Ferrous and non-ferrous alloys poured include Class II armor, stainless steels, tool steels, aluminum, cobalt, and nickel-based alloys.