Principles & History of Lost-wax Casting
失蜡法原理与历史
标签：失蜡法, 熔模铸造, 入门, 工艺概述
失蜡法（投资铸造）是一种用蜡模翻制耐高温型壳、再熔失蜡模并浇注金属的精密成形工艺。其原理是"以蜡代木"：先做出与成品一致的蜡模，外覆耐火材料形成型壳，加热使蜡熔化流出（脱蜡），壳内留下空腔，最后浇入熔融金属。该方法可追溯至公元前 3000 余年的美索不达米亚与黄河流域，至今仍是首饰、小型雕塑与航空零件的主流精密铸造法。按型壳材料分为石膏型（小件/首饰）与陶瓷壳（中大件/雕塑）。
Lost-wax casting (investment casting) is a precision method that builds a refractory mold around a wax model, then melts the wax out to leave a cavity for molten metal. The principle is "substituting wax for wood": a wax pattern identical to the final part is invested in refractory material, the wax is burned or steamed out (dewaxing), and molten metal is poured into the hollow shell. Documented since the 3rd millennium BCE in Mesopotamia and the Yellow River basin, it remains the dominant precision route for jewelry, small sculpture, and aerospace components. Shell materials split into plaster-bonded investment (small/jewelry) and ceramic shell (larger sculpture). ---