组合型芯在扩张臂熔模铸造模具设计中的应用

通过开设适当的出芯工艺孔 ,利用组合型芯 ,成功地设计出了大型、复杂、不规则熔模铸件模具。与尿素型芯相比 ,使铸件成本降低 5 .3% ,模具制造成本降低 75 %。

Fracture characteristics of notched investment cast TiAl alloy through in situ SEM observation

TiAl alloys were produced by investment casting method combined with induction skull melting （ISM） technique. In situ scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was utilized to study the fracture characteristics and crack propagation of a notched investment cast TiAl specimens in tension under incremental loading conditions. The whole process of crack initiation, propagation and failure during tensile deformation was observed and characterized. The results show that the fracture mechanism was sensitive to not only the microcracks near the notched area but also lamellar orientation to loading axis. The high tensile stress leads to the new microcracks nucleate along lamellar interfaces of grains with favorable orientation when local stress intensity reaches the toughness threshold of the material. Thus, both plasticity and high tensile stress are required to cause notched TiAl failure.

Determination of wax pattern die profile for investment casting of turbine blades

In order to conform to dimensional tolerances, an efficient numerical method, displacement iterative compensation method, based on finite element methodology （FEM） was presented for the wax pattern die profile design of turbine blades. Casting shrinkages at different positions of the blade which was considered nonlinear thermo-mechanical casting deformations were calculated. Based on the displacement iterative compensation method proposed, the optimized wax pattern die profile can be established. For a A356 alloy blade, substantial reduction in dimensional and shape tolerances was achieved with the developed die shape optimization system. Numerical simulation result obtained by the proposed method shows a good agreement with the result measured experimentally. After four times iterations, compared with the CAD model of turbine blade, the total form error decreases to 0.001 978 mm from the orevious 0.515 815 mm.

Microstructural examination and mechanical properties of replicated aluminium composite foams

Open-cell aluminium foams can be produced with the structural replication of dimensional accuracy from polymeric foam patterns through a pressure infiltration casting process.The strength of open-cell foam is much less than that of the closed-cell counterpart,and thereby subjects to mainly functional applications.An improvement in mechanical properties of the foams can be implemented with the addition of ceramic particles.In the present study,the composite foams were produced using AC3A alloy added with varying contents of SiC particles.The resultant foams have ceramic particles embedded in the alloy matrix and on the strut surface.Higher volume fraction of ceramic particles resulted in an increase in the compressive strength,energy absorption and microhardness of the foams.The improvement of these properties is due to the modification of the microstructure of the foams and the increased strength in the node and struts at which the ceramic particles reside.

Infiltration of A6063 aluminium alloy into SiC-B_4C hybrid preforms using vacuum assisted block mould investment casting technique

Production of A6063/SiC-B4C hybrid composite using vacuum assisted block mould investment casting was investigated. Firstly,SiC-B4C hybrid preforms were fabricated in cylindrical shape.The preferred mean particle size of the SiC and B4C powders were 60μm and 55μm respectively.In early experiments,single powder ratio of 85%SiC and 15%B4C was selected to produce the tough preforms.Subsequently,the preforms were placed into the cylindrical shape gypsum bonded block investment moulds and A6063 alloy was infiltrated into the preforms using vacuum assisted（-10 5 Pa）casting machine.Porosity fraction of preforms was determined using Archimedes’test.The fabricated cast specimens were characterized using hardness tests,image analysis and SEM observations and EDX analysis.The result indicates that,by the vacuum assisted block mould investment casting technique,the infiltration of the preforms by molten metal was successfully realized.

Solidification of Be-free Ni-based dental alloy

A novel, Nb- and Si-rich and Be-free Ni-based alloy was cast by two methods of investment casting and continuouscasting to study the microstructure evolution during solidification and its mechanical properties. The solidification of the alloy startedwith the primary crystallization of FCC-γ, followed by a binary eutectic reaction, with the formation of a heterogeneous constituent：FCC-γ＋G-phase, which replaced the low-melting eutectic （FCC-γ＋NiBe） in the Be-bearing alloys. AlNi6Si3 and γ′ formed during theterminal stages of solidification by investment casting, while the formation of AlNi6Si3 was suppressed by continuous casting. TheScheil solidification model agreed very well with the experimental results.