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GB2218705A - Investment casting mould - Google Patents

Investment casting mould Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2218705A
GB2218705A GB8909624A GB8909624A GB2218705A GB 2218705 A GB2218705 A GB 2218705A GB 8909624 A GB8909624 A GB 8909624A GB 8909624 A GB8909624 A GB 8909624A GB 2218705 A GB2218705 A GB 2218705A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
slurry
alumina
mould
pattern
firing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB8909624A
Other versions
GB8909624D0 (en
Inventor
Steven Raymond Irwin
Edward Wilford Roberts
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
AE Turbine Components Ltd
University of Leeds
Original Assignee
AE Turbine Components Ltd
University of Leeds
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by AE Turbine Components Ltd, University of Leeds filed Critical AE Turbine Components Ltd
Publication of GB8909624D0 publication Critical patent/GB8909624D0/en
Publication of GB2218705A publication Critical patent/GB2218705A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B22CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
    • B22CFOUNDRY MOULDING
    • B22C1/00Compositions of refractory mould or core materials; Grain structures thereof; Chemical or physical features in the formation or manufacture of moulds
    • B22C1/16Compositions of refractory mould or core materials; Grain structures thereof; Chemical or physical features in the formation or manufacture of moulds characterised by the use of binding agents; Mixtures of binding agents
    • B22C1/165Compositions of refractory mould or core materials; Grain structures thereof; Chemical or physical features in the formation or manufacture of moulds characterised by the use of binding agents; Mixtures of binding agents in the manufacture of multilayered shell moulds
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B22CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
    • B22CFOUNDRY MOULDING
    • B22C9/00Moulds or cores; Moulding processes
    • B22C9/02Sand moulds or like moulds for shaped castings
    • B22C9/04Use of lost patterns

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Mold Materials And Core Materials (AREA)
  • Molds, Cores, And Manufacturing Methods Thereof (AREA)
  • Dental Preparations (AREA)

Description

., et 1.7 05 i- -I- Investment Casting Mould The present invention relates
to a mould and to a method for the manufacture of moulds for investment casting.
In the manufacture of components such as, for example, blades and nozzle guide vanes for gas turbine engines the well known technique of precision investment casting is frequently employed. This technique employs a ceramic shell mould formed around, for example, a wax pattern of the component to be cast. Heretofore, the bulk of such ceramic shell. moulds have normally comprised coarse alumina or aLumino-siLicate particles within a zircon flour matrix bonded with silica.
Generally speaking, known ceramic moulds are adequate for the casting of components with microstructures of equiaxed grains. Where the components are required to be of directionally solidified, columnar grain structure (DS) k or of single crystal structure (SX), however, known mould materials have certain disadvantages.
of The casting procedure for the production of DS and SX cordponents requires that the mould be maintained for several hours above the liquidus temperature of the alloy being cast. Such temperatures may exceed 15000C. At these temperatures the strength and stiffness of the mould may be inadequate to withstand the prolonged metallostatic pressure of the molten alloy without either rupture or unacceptable distortion. This limitation is primarily associated with viscous creep of the siliceous binder p h a s e.
Existing DS and SX shell moulds generally use a zircon flour filler material i.e. crushed zircon sand; a natural mineral which is becoming scarce and consequently increasingly expensive.
An object of the present invention i having improved high temperature resistance than known moulds.
s to provide a mould strength and creep According to a first aspect of the present invention a method for the the manufacture of a ceramic shell mould comprises the steps of making a slurry comprising colloidal silica having alumina flour therein, coating a i :Z pattern of a component to be cast with the slurry, dusting the coated pattern with alumina particles, drying the coated and dusted pattern, dipping the pattern into a slurry for a second time, redusting with alumina particles and drying again, repeating the slurry dipping, dusting and drying stages.at Least one further time, removing the pattern and then firing the shell mould.
For the purpose of this specification a "flour" is defined as a ceramic powder wherein substantially all particles are less than 100 micro metres in diameter.
In a preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention the dried shell mould so formed is fired at a temperature sufficiently high to allow at Least a part of the silica to combine with the alumina flour. to form muLLite (3AL 2 0 3" 2SiO 2) in the matrix binder phase.
The shell may be fired either in a specific firing operation after drying and removal of the pattern or during preheating and "soaking" of the mould prior to the casting operation. Temperatures in excess of 14000C are preferred.
Preferably at Least part of the alumina in the slurry should be in the form generally known as "reactive aLumina". Such alumina has a high specific surface area and a very small particle size. Examples of suitable commerciaLLy available aLumina powders are those of the "RA" series (trademark) produced by British ALcan ALuminium Limited and those by Alcoa under the code CT9 (trade mark). PreferabLy the slurry may contain from 1 to 25 wt% of reactive alumina and up to 70 wt% of other alumina fLour. More preferably the matrix slurry may contain from 10 to 20 wt% of reactive alumina.
The matrix slurry may optionally contain up to 5 wt% of fine titania powder which may act as a catalyst in the formation of mullite in the matrix. It has been found that additions greater than 5 wt% confer no additional practical benefit.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a ceramic shell mould when made by the method of the first aspect.
It has been found that the new mould material possesses greater thermal diffusivity than conventional materials. This is advantageous, especially in the case of DS and SX castings in that it allows more precise control of heat extraction thereby reducing the risk of nucleating stray grains in the so-called "mushy" region ahead of the solidification front.
t, 0 1 C_ - 5 A further advantage conferred by the greatly improved high temperature strength properties of the new material is that thinner shell moulds may be used. This in turn also enhances control of heat extraction during solidification.
Shell moulds of -the present invention synthetic "starting" materials which are available and of relatively high purity naturally occuring minerals such as zircon.
contain only bot h readily compared to In order that the present invention may be more fully understood examples will now be described by way of illustration only.
The accompanying figure shows a graph of creep displacement against time for conventional mould materials and for materials according to the present invention.
Examples
Moulds for testing were prepared by the following method.
A wax pattern was dipped in a slurry of the first composition shown in Table 1 The dipped pattern was then dusted with 80's mesh (B.S.) fused alumina and dried.
The coated pattern was then dipped in a more dilute version of the same slurry and then dusted with 28/48's mesh (B.S.) Tabular Alumina and then dried.
The sample was then dipped in a slurry of the second composition given in Table 1, dusted with 28/48's mesh (B.S.) Tabular ALumina and dried.
This last dipping, dusting and drying sequence was repeated as required.
The final stage in building the shell mould was a slurry dip only followed by drying.
Each sample had seven slurry and six dusting coats.
The wax pattern was removed by a known method.
Some of the moulds were fired at 9600C for 30 minutes. These were designated material "AV'.
Others were fired at 1500 0 C for 2 hours. These were designated material "A2".
rl a 1 - 7 -1; 1 Table 1
Slurry Colloidal 325 s i I i ca a 1 u m i n a suspension 28/48 Reactive Titania alumina alumina 1st Comp 25.4 58.6 - 14.6 1.4 2nd " 20.3 50.7 15.1 12.7 1.2 All the above figures are in weight %. The colloidal silica contained approximately 30 wt% of silica.
Further moulds were made using conventional colloidal silica/zircon flour slurry by conventional current methods and given the same number of slurry and dusting coats as A2 and AV. These moulds were fired at 9600C for 30 minutes. This material was designated "Y.D.S."
Modulus of rupture tests were carried out at 10500C on the prepared samples. The results are given in Table 2 below.
Table 2
Eaterial MOR 10500C Av.ShelC Av.Fail Load /MPa Thickness (mm) 10500C/N Y.D.S. 15.0 4.6 67.5 A2 24.2 4.7 108.9 A2' 30.0 4.7 135.0 As may be seen from Table 2 the strength of the A2 material under equivalent processing conditions is about 60% greater than the Y.D.S material and the A2' material is 100% stronger than the Y.D.S. material.
The important improvement of the A21 material over Y.D.S material is in creep resistance as shown by creep tests in the accompanying figure. Conditions for the tests were; test temperature 14200c; test bars fired at 15000 for approximately 2 hours and soaked at the test temperatures for approximately 6 minutes prior to testing; test bar section was 4.6 x 25.0 mm and a 750g static load was used. The conventional Y.D.S. material failed in under 20 seconds with a displacement of 0.6 mm whereas the A2' material showed steady creep with a displacement of 0.33 mm after 7 minutes. In casting DS and SX components creep resistance of the shell mould is of greater importance.
t h e t h e 1; 1 The thermal diffusivity of the A2 and A21 materials was 4.24 mm 2 sec -1 compared with 1.74 mm 2 sec- 1 for the Y.D.S. material.
Mullite was detected by X-ray diffraction analysis in A21 but not in A2 material.
Examination of the AV material by optical microscopy showed extensive bonding of the Large alumina grains with the matrix which consisted of the small alumina particles bonded with muLLite. In the Y.D.S material, in contrast, there was very Little bonding of the Large alumina particles to the matrix of small zircon particles bonded with silicate glass.
-

Claims (1)

  1. C 1 a i m s
    1.. A method for the manufacture of a ceramic sheLL mould, the method comprising the steps of making a slurry comprising colloidal silica having alumina fLour therein, coating a pattern of a component to be cast the slurry, dusting the coated pattern with a particles, drying the coated and dusted dipping the dried pattern into a slurry for a time. redusting with alumina particles and w i t h alumin patterr second drying again, repeating the slurry dipping, dusting and drying stages at least one further time, removing the pattern and then firing the shell mould.
    2.
    A method according to Claim 1 wherein the mould is fired at a temperature sufficiently high to form mullite in the matrix.
    3. A method according to either Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the firing temperature is above 14000C.
    A method according to any one preceding claim wherein the firing of the mould is carried out as a specific operation.
    i 11 7 - 11 1 5. A method according to any one of Claims- 1 to 3 wherein the firing of the mould is performed during preheating immediately prior to metal casting.
    6. A method according to any one preceding claim wherein at Least a part of the alumina in the slurry is in the form of reactive alumina.
    7. A method according to Claim 6 wherein the slurry contains from 1 to 25 wt% of reactive alumina.
    8. A method according to Claim 7 wherein the slurry contains from 10 to 20 wt% of reactive alumina.
    A meth6d according to any one preceding claim wherein the slurry contains up to 5 wt% of titania.
    10. A ceramic shell mould when made by any one of the method claims from Claim 1 to Claim 9.
    11.
    A method for the manufacture of a ceramic shell mould substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying specification.
    12. A ceramic shell mould substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying specification.
    Published 1989 at The Patent Office. State House, 6673.HighHolborn. London WC1R4TP Further copies maybe obtained from The Patent office. Sales Branch, St Mary Cray. Orpington, Kent BRS 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd. St Mary Cray, Kent, Con. 1/87
GB8909624A 1988-05-19 1989-04-27 Investment casting mould Withdrawn GB2218705A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB888811799A GB8811799D0 (en) 1988-05-19 1988-05-19 Investment casting mould

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB8909624D0 GB8909624D0 (en) 1989-06-14
GB2218705A true GB2218705A (en) 1989-11-22

Family

ID=10637123

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB888811799A Pending GB8811799D0 (en) 1988-05-19 1988-05-19 Investment casting mould
GB8909624A Withdrawn GB2218705A (en) 1988-05-19 1989-04-27 Investment casting mould

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB888811799A Pending GB8811799D0 (en) 1988-05-19 1988-05-19 Investment casting mould

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0343401A3 (en)
GB (2) GB8811799D0 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2253400A (en) * 1991-03-06 1992-09-09 Ae Turbine Components Casting mould

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2297285A (en) * 1995-01-25 1996-07-31 T & N Technology Ltd Investment casting mould

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4664172A (en) * 1984-08-09 1987-05-12 Agency Of Industrial Science And Technology Method for production of investment shell mold for grain-oriented casting of super alloy

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4188450A (en) * 1976-06-23 1980-02-12 General Electric Company Shell investment molds embodying a metastable mullite phase in its physical structure
GB2168060B (en) * 1984-12-04 1988-08-10 Ohara Kk Mold material and process for casting of pure titanium or titanium alloy

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4664172A (en) * 1984-08-09 1987-05-12 Agency Of Industrial Science And Technology Method for production of investment shell mold for grain-oriented casting of super alloy

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2253400A (en) * 1991-03-06 1992-09-09 Ae Turbine Components Casting mould

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB8909624D0 (en) 1989-06-14
GB8811799D0 (en) 1988-06-22
EP0343401A2 (en) 1989-11-29
EP0343401A3 (en) 1990-12-19

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)