10. Casting

Primary shaping, by definition the production of a solid body from formless material while creating a material cohesion, forms one of the six main groups of production technology according to DIN 8580. It is upstream of all other production processes and creates the precondition for their application. In addition to state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, such as additive manufacturing, classical casting is still the main application of primary shaping processes. In particular, the casting of metals has a long history of development that goes back to the beginnings of human metallurgical activity. Over time, castings often have been and continue to be decisive for the cultural, technological and economic progress of mankind. Although it has been used for more than 5000 years, the casting process, which has been continuously developed through continuous innovation, is still of central importance within the most modern production processes. Last but not least, a wide variety of casting processes as well as casting materials offer unique conditions for manufacturing high-quality components in a very economical manner. The extraordinary range of applications for cast components extends from one-off production in the arts and crafts sector to highly stressed components for the aerospace industry and up to millionfold mass production in the automotive industry. The following chapter gives an overview of common casting materials and the special features of individual variants of these fascinating manufacturing processes.