A method of forming a component having an internal passage defined therein is provided. The method includes positioning a jacketed core with respect to a mold. The jacketed core includes a hollow structure formed at least partially by an additive manufacturing process, and an inner core disposed within the hollow structure. The method also includes introducing a component material in a molten state into a cavity of the mold, and cooling the component material in the cavity to form the component. The inner core is positioned to define the internal passage within the component.

A pair of main molds forming an outer peripheral face of a piston and a pair of side cores forming the pair of cutout recess parts of the piston are prepared, the main mold and the side core are set so as to form a cavity corresponding to the piston, the cavity is charged with molten metal, and when the side core is moved downward and in a direction away from the central axis of the piston so as to carry out mold release from the cutout recess part after the piston within the cavity has solidified, the side core is tilted in a direction in which an upper end thereof approaches the central axis of the piston. Thus, it is possible to release a core smoothly from a cutout recess part without it biting into an inside face of the cutout recess part.

A mold assembly for use in forming a component having an internal passage defined therein is provided. The component is formed from a component material. The mold assembly includes a mold that defines a mold cavity therein. The mold assembly also includes a lattice structure selectively positioned at least partially within the mold cavity. The lattice structure is formed from a first material that is at least partially absorbable by the component material in a molten state. A channel is defined through the lattice structure, and a core is positioned in the channel such that at least a portion of the core extends within the mold cavity and defines the internal passage when the component is formed in the mold assembly.

A composite core die includes a reusable core die; and a disposable core die. The disposable core die is in physical communication with the reusable core die and surfaces of communication between the disposable core die and the reusable core die serve as barriers to prevent the leakage of a slurry that is disposed in the composite core die.

A metal casting method and a plastic injection molding method in which an insert is molded in molten material such that no molten material enters the interior of the insert. At the usage of a wire thread insert as insert this has the advantage that for example in an aluminum cast part thread holes can be produced already as part of the casting process. For this purpose, the present disclosure describes an the casting mold, the insert as well as the casting method.

A pendulum crankshaft for an internal combustion engine includes a pendulum crankshaft having pendulum crank rolling path inserts that are cast into the component during the casting process. The rolling path inserts are positioned in a mold prior to casting. By including the rolling path inserts in the component during the molding process, the need to press the rolling path insert into the component after the component is cast eliminates the resulting stresses that would otherwise result. Machining and subsequent heat treatment are unnecessary. The component can be one or both of the crankshaft pendulum and the pendulum carrier. The rolling path may be formed from a metal such as sintered powdered metal. The flowable material may be a metal such as iron. The resulting component is free of stress regions, such as on the carrier strap, that normally result from methods that involve press-fitting the rolling path insert into the component.

An investment casting process for a hollow component such as a gas turbine blade utilizing a ceramic core (10) that is cast in a flexible mold (24) using a low pressure, vibration assisted casting process. The flexible mold is cast from a master tool (14) machined from soft metal using a relatively low precision machining process, with relatively higher precision surfaces being defined by a precision formed insert (22) incorporated into the master tool. A plurality of identical flexible molds may be formed from a single master tool in order to permit the production of ceramic cores at a desired rate with a desired degree of part-to-part precision.