Compare sand, die, investment, lost foam, and continuous casting techniques.

Answer: Sand casting is characterized by its use of sand molds, which are low cost and easy to set up but can only be used once, resulting in limited dimensional accuracy and surface finish. Die casting offers high dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and suitability for mass production using metal dies but has higher initial tooling costs and is restricted to certain metal alloys. Investment casting boasts excellent dimensional accuracy and surface finish, the ability to cast intricate designs and a wide variety of metal alloys, but is costlier and more time-consuming. Lost foam casting provides good dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and low cost but is not suitable for heavy-duty applications and is limited to certain metal alloys. Finally, continuous casting is efficient and suitable for mass production of semi-finished shapes but is limited to only certain types of metal alloys and long, semi-finished shapes.