Casting is considered an ancient manufacturing process by which molten material including plastic or metal is introduced into a mold, allowed to solidify into the mold, and then broken or ejected out in order to make a fabricated part. It is believed that the process of casting was used for making tools and art more than 5000 years ago. 

The very first casting was a copper frog dating that was cast in 3200 b.c.e., in Mesopotamia. Today the process of casting is used all over the world to obtain complex shapes. The process of casting is considered an economical method as compared to other methods that were used to obtain difficult shapes accurately. 

After the introduction of casting, various new techniques were introduced. Some most preferred and affordable techniques that are used to obtain difficult shapes are given below:

• Silica sol investment casting
• Water glass casting
• Carbon steel casting
• Sand casting
• Squeezing die casting
• Lost foam casting process, and many more. 

Benefits of casting: 

Casting has numerous benefits over other manufacturing techniques. A few benefits are listed below:

• Difficult shapes with high accuracy can be produced easily.
• Nonferrous as well as ferrous material can be cast easily.
• Certain alloys, as well as metals, are produced only by casting methods.
• The process of casting is economical and little or no waste (depending on casting) is produced
• Objects of various sizes can be obtained through this process. 

The takeaway: 

Casting offers the perfect design flexibility as compared to other manufacturing techniques that are used to obtain complex shapes.