Interfacial reaction between zirconium alloy and graphite mold/yttrium oxide ceramic mold

Zirconium alloys are active in the molten state and tend to react with the mold during casting. The casting technology of zirconium is not yet well established; especially in selecting the mold materials, which are difficult to determine. In the present work, the interfacial reactions between zirconium casting and casting mold were studied. The zirconium alloy was melted in a vacuum arc skull furnace and then cast into the graphite mold and ceramic mold, respectively. The zirconium casting samples were characterized using SEM, EDS and XRD with an emphasis on the chemical diffusion of elements. A reaction layer was observed at the casting surface. Chemical analysis shows that chemical elements C, O and Y from the mold are diffused into the molten zirconium, and new phases, such as ZrC, Zr30, YO1.335 and Y6ZrO11, are formed at the surface. In addition, an end product of zirconium valve cast in a yttria mold has a compact structure and good surface quality.

Application of Vacuum Drying to Silica Sol Ceramic Mold

Silica sol ceramic mold was made at room temperature with JN-30 silica sol, silica powder and NH4Cl. It is found that the harden time of silica sol ceramic mold is only 0.5 to 1.5 h under the amount of NH4Cl solution of 7% to 8% with 15% concentration, and less surface cracks occur by using vacuum drying. The proper vacuum drying process parameters： vacuum drying temperature is 80 to 100℃, drying time is 5 h and vacuum is 0.06 to 0.07MPa. The harden mechanics, vacuum drying mechanics and the reason of less surface cracks of silica sol ceramic mold by vacuum drying： were also analyzed in this paper.

Characteristics of interfacial reactions between Ti-6Al-4V alloy and ZrO2 ceramic mold

The interfacial reaction between Ti-6Al-4V alloy and ZrO2 ceramic mold with zirconia sol binder was investigated by keeping the 12 g alloy melt in a vacuum induction furnace for 15 s.The microstructures,element distribution and phase constitution of the interface were identified by optical microscopy(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS)and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The results show that the whole interface reaction layer can be divided into three regions:metal penetration layer,transition layer,and hardened layer according to the structure morphology,which has the characteristics of severe metal penetration,finer lamellar,and coarse oxygen-richαphase,respectively.The erosion of the alloy melt on the ceramic mold promotes the decomposition of zirconia,which leads to the increase of local Zr concentration,greatly increasing the activity coefficient of Ti,aggravating the occurrence of interfacial reaction.Thus,the interfacial reaction shows the characteristics of chain reaction.When the oxygen released by the dissolution of zirconia exceeds the local solid solubility,it precipitates in the form of bubbles,resulting in blowholes at the interface.The result also indicates that the zirconia mold with zirconia sol binder is not suitable for pouring heavy titanium alloy castings.

Influence of the Compacts Homogeneity on the Incidence of Cracks during Thermal Debinding in Ceramic Injection Molding

During thermal debinding in ceramic injection molding, the inhomogeneity of green body is a key origin of cracks. In this study, the impact of low molecular weight binders on the homogeneity of the green body was investigated. Incidence of cracks during thermal debinding indicated that the volume ratio of wax to stearic acid should be out of high viscosity and incompletely wetting region. In these two formulation regions, typical inhomogeneous microstructures were observed. By mercury intrusion method, it was shown that pore size distribution of the debinded compacts was determined by thermal degradation of low molecular weight binders. A particle-rich region model was established to predict the nucleation of cracks caused by solid loading fluctuation. The criterion of cracks nucleation was that local capillary force from solid loading fluctuation was larger than the suction force from the surroundings.

Constitutive model and numerical simulation for injection molding of MgTiO_(3) ceramic parts

In order to predict the powder flow law of the injection molding process of MgTiO3 ceramic parts with complex structures,a constitutive model and numerical simulation method for MgTiO3 ceramic injection molding were established based on the Hunt method.The material parameters of MgTiO3 such as elastic modulus,Poisson ratio,glass transition temperature,thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity were measured.Based on the fitting curve and the material parameters measured,the cross-WLF viscosity model and P-V-T model required for MgTiO3 ceramic injection molding were optimized.Furthermore,the influence of process parameters on mold filling flow and distribution of parts defects was researched.It was found that the gate position,injection speed and melt temperature have greater influence on mold filling flow and the packing process has an obvious effect on parts’defects.On this basis,the MgTiO3 ceramic parts injection molding experiment verification was carried out.By comparing the experimental results with the simulated results,it is found that the deformation error is within 1.5%and the density error is within 1%.Therefore,this research provided theoretical guidance for the engineering application of MgTiO3 ceramic parts fabricated by injection molding.

Injection molding of ultra-fine Si_3N_4 powder for gas-pressure sintering

The ceramic injection molding technique was used in the gas-pressure sintering of ultra-fine Si3N4 powder. The feedstock＇s flowability, debinding rate, defect evolution, and microstructural evolution during production were explored. The results show that the solid volume loading of less than 50vol% and the surfactant mass fraction of 6wt% result in a perfect flowability of feedstock; this feedstock is suitable for injection molding. When the debinding time is 8 h at 40°C, approximately 50% of the wax can be solvent debinded. Defects detected during the preparation are traced to improper injection parameters, mold design, debinding parameters, residual stress, or inhomogeneous composition distribution in the green body. The bulk density, Vickers hardness, and fracture toughness of the gas-pressure-sintered Si3N4 ceramic reach 3.2 g/cm^3, 16.5 GPa, and 7.2 MPa·m^1/2, respectively.

Effects of different backbone binders on the characteristics of zirconia parts using wax-based binder system via ceramic injection molding

In this work,various backbone binders were used in wax-based binder system to formulate zirconia parts by ceramic injection molding (CIM).The effect of different backbone binders on the molding,debinding,and sintering behaviors was investigated.After blending process,the feedstock using multi-polymer components exhibited more homogeneous structure compared with that using the mono-polymer ones due to the synergistic effect of multi-polymers.During solvent debinding,some defects such as 'slumping' and 'peeling' appeared in the parts containing ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA),but they were not found in the parts with other thermal polymers.Also,as for the parts after sintering,the one using low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) as backbone binders presented a more uniform microstructure with finer zirconia grains among all the investigated compositions,and thus obtained the highest flexural strength (～949 MPa) and relative density (～98.9％).

Binder composition and debinding process in PIM of AlN

The thermal degradation behaviors of AlN green specimens were studied by thermogravimetry analysis during the ceramic powder injection molding debinding process. The optimum binder composition and the debinding cycle were demonstrated by observing the TGA and DTA plots of AlN green specimens and analyzing the microstructure at different temperatures. By adding HDPE into the PW EVA binder used in powder injection molding AlN can effectively reduce the mass lose rate in debinding process and improve the shape retention ability. At last, aluminum nitride ceramic with high room temperature thermal conductivity of 162.5?W·m -1 ·K -1 was produced. [