Lost-foam casting (LFC) is a type of evaporative-pattern casting process that is similar to investment casting except foam is used for the pattern instead of wax. This process takes advantage of the low boiling point of foam to simplify the investment casting process by removing the need to melt the wax out of the mould.

Full-mould casting is an evaporativepattern casting process which is a combination of sand casting and lost-foam casting. It uses an expanded polystyrene foam pattern which is then surrounded by sand, much like sand casting. The metal is then poured directly into the mould, which vaporizes the foam upon contact.

Foamcast is a hybrid method between lost-foam and investment or lost-wax castings. The expendable pattern is made from Expandable Polystyrene (Thermocole), but unlike lost foam, the pattern is removed from the mould cavity during firing of the ceramic that surrounds the pattern.

In the foamcast process, the polystyrene is fully burnt out before casting, allowing a wide range of alloys to be cast in the mould -- from ultra low carbon stainless steel to nickel based alloys. This is in contrast to the lost foam process whereby liquid metal consumes and replaces the polystyrene pattern, making it unsuitable for the vast majority of steel components (polystyrene is 92 per cent by weight carbon).

Foamcast is more like the investment casting process, where the disposable pattern material is removed from the mould shape before the introduction of the molten metal. The process is developed for steel castings, especially low-carbon steels as pattern removal before pouring eliminates carbon introduction in the metal as Expanded Polystyrene (Thermocole) is mainly comprised of carbon. The process is valuable for large parts.