When talking about the manufacturing of valves, the thing that has to enter the discussion. Although there are other methods (as well) to produce valves, big names in the industry like Dawang are famous for casting valves.

Why is that the case?

Why not forged valves?

Do you have questions like this? You are ready to know everything about casting valves that’s compulsory for a beginner:

Casting Valve vs. Forged Valve — What’s the Difference?

It’s impossible to start the discussion of valve casting without forged valves. It’s because they both are like rivals. Both are made by heating up the material with which you want to make them but they still are quite distinctive.

What is Casting Valve?

In this process, material is melted and then simply poured immediately into the mold (of shape of valve). After cooling, you’ll get the valve.

What is Forged Valve?

But for forged valves, metal bar (or something) is heated at a great temperature and then crushed and poured into the desired shape using hammer or press. This process makes valves harder and stronger.

You either go for forged valve or casting valve. Hence, we are here to let you know about both of them and their differences so that you can decide which one would be the best for you:

Differences between Forged and Casting Valves

Production with Cost

Forged valves are mostly considered for huge projects like ships that need heavy valves. Due to several reasons like complex processes, forged valves are way more expensive than casting valves. 

Strength

Forged valves are literally meant to be harder and stronger so that they can possess higher durability and strength. When water pressure is at extreme level, casting valves don’t work but they are efficient enough to go well domestically and even commercially (if used in small missions).

Best Manufacturing Methods for Casting Valves

After making up your mind about manufacturing valves using casting process, you must know that there are several types of casting procedures.

From those different methods, the most used ones for casting valves are:

Investment Casting

Investment casting is also known as lost-wax casting because in this method, wax pattern of the desired shape of valve is created to cast the metal into valve. This method is mostly used when higher precision and accuracy are required.

In the process, wax pattern is created and then coated with ceramic shell (kind of). After that, the combination of these two things is heated until wax gets melted and takes the shape of valve and acts like mold. Mostly, experts only prefer it for complex shapes because it’s a bit expensive method.

Die Casting

Die casting is a kind of process in which high pressure is involved to make things work better. Many newbies ignore this because they think that die casting is as expensive as investment casting, but it’s not the truth.

Die casting is actually not as expensive because the mold used in this process is re-useable unlike most of the other casting processes. Non-ferrous metals like aluminum and zinc alloys are usually taken care of by die casting because of their discrete nature.

Sand Casting

The most cheap and commonly-used method of casting valves is sand casting. It’s because sand is made to create the mold in which molten metal (or any other alloy) is poured.

To make things work, sand is mixed with binding agent. Almost every small valve you see in your daily life is made by sand casting because foundry owners don’t want to spend extra bucks for small tasks.

Centrifugal Casting

As mentioned in the name, centrifugal force plays a great role in this process of casting valves. In this process, the mold is connected with a particular that keeps it spinning. Then, molten material is poured into the spinning mold which allows centrifugal force to play its role.

Due to centrifugal force, the material is equally distributed in the round or ring-like mold to create cylindrical or hollow shapes.

Permanent Mold Casting

This process is considered a sibling of die casting and is also known as gravity die casting due to several reasons. One of those reasons is that it also includes reusable mold.

When the molten material is poured into the mold, gravity helps the process and lets the material fill in the empty cavity. Components of huge valves (used in big structures like ships) that require high dimensional accuracy, fine surface finish, and tight tolerances are created using this method.

Valve casting Products have a very beautiful appearance. If we want to engrave a trademark or pattern on the product, you can click here.

Conclusion

Now, you must be ready to leap into the world of valve casting and start your own work. If you still can’t make decision due to any confusion, ask us. If you have done the research and are ready to make a mark in valve casting, tell us which method you would be using and why.