CA1042191A - Forming a cladding sheet to a convex/concave substrate - Google Patents

Forming a cladding sheet to a convex/concave substrate

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Publication number
CA1042191A
CA1042191A CA240,220A CA240220A CA1042191A CA 1042191 A CA1042191 A CA 1042191A CA 240220 A CA240220 A CA 240220A CA 1042191 A CA1042191 A CA 1042191A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
substrate
cladding
sheet cladding
sheet
concave
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.)
Expired
Application number
CA240,220A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
William F. Schilling
Adrian M. Beltran
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.)
General Electric Co
Original Assignee
General Electric Co
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 General Electric Co filed Critical General Electric Co
Priority to CA240,220A priority Critical patent/CA1042191A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1042191A publication Critical patent/CA1042191A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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  • Pressure Welding/Diffusion-Bonding (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A sheet cladding is closely preformed to a convex-concave substrate by a method including the steps of rough forming the sheet cladding about the substrate so that the sheet cladding closely abuts the convex surface of the substrate while being spaced from the concave surface of the substrate. The sheet cladding, assembled to the substrate, is placed into a rubbery mold which is thereafter sealed and cold isostatic pressure is applied thereto so that the portion of the cladding sheet opposite the concave surface is deformed into the concave surface thereby stretching the sheet cladding to form a tight skin over the substrate.

Description

This invention relates, in general, to forming asheet cladding about a concave-convex substrate. In particular, this invention relates to turbo-machine buckets, blades and airfoils and a method of preforming a protective sheet cladding thereto.
The surface stability of superalloys looms as a significant problem for advanced industrial and aircraft gas turbines. Highly corrosive environments are generated by the combustion of heavy fuel oils; and, when this is coupled with higher firing temperatures and longer main-tenance intervals, some very strict limitations arise inmaterials selection. The application of an oxidation and hot corrosion-resistant sheet cladding alloy to a high-strength bucket substrate represents one solution to the surface stability problem.
U.S. Patent No. 3904 101 assigned to the assignee of the present invention for "Method of Bonding a Sheet Cladding to a Concave-Convex Substrate" issued September 9th, 1975 in the names of Beltran and Dybas discloses a method of diffusion bonding a sheet cladding to a concave-convex substrate.
In that method, prior to vacuum brazing and diffusion bonding the sheet cladding is preformed to the substrate. If the concave-convex substrate is a turbine bucket, each bucket is likely to have a slightly different configuration making a conventional forming operation nearly impossible. Hand-forming the sheet cladding to the substrate may not provide the requisite accuracy necessary to provide a smooth sheet cladding over the substrate since excess sheet cladding may tend to form wrinkles and other defects. Other mechanical metal-forming techniques such as forging, roll bonding and swaging are not readily amenable to the fab-- 1 _ ~ "

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104;~191 rication of complex geometric shapes to the accuracy required in the aforementioned diffusion bonding pro-ce~sing of sheet claddings. The method of the present invention provides the necessary accuracy for preforming a sheet cladding to a convex-concave substrate in pre-paration for bonding the sheet cladding to the substrate.
The application of isostatic pressure has enough built-in flexibility to compensate for part dimensional variations Moreover, the usefulnes6 of the present invention is not limited to the method of the aforementioned patent ap-plication and may be applied as a preliminary step to any bonding method where it is required to preform the sheet cladding to a convex-concave substrate, e.g., U.S. Patent 3,699,642 issued October 24, 1972 to Lange.
The application of cold isostatic pressure is a known process in the art of compaction and densifying of metal oxide powders and there are commercially avail-able devices for applying the cold isostatic pressure.
~owever, the use of cold isostatic pressure for conforming a sheet cladding to a convex-concave substrate in the method hereinafter described is believed to be unique.
I-ostatic pressure, which is equal in all directions, imparts uniform pressure to the sheet cladding. Other known prior art processes rely on uni- or bi-axial pressure which may cau~e tearing of the sheet cladding. ~he use of isostatic pressure is important since more corrosion-resistant sheet cladding alloys have limited ductility (formability~ and therefore are more prone to tearing failure in the forming operation.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an accurate method of preforming a sheet cladding to a conYeX- -concave substrate.
- 2 -1~)4;~191 It is another object of the invention to provide a method of accurately preforming a sheet cladding to a concave-convex substrate prior to bonding the cladding to the substrate in order to lessen the occurrence of defects in the sheet cladding.
The method of the present invention is carried out by the rough forming an annealed and pre-cut sheet cladding to a convex-concave substrate so that the sheet cladding clo~ely abuts the convex surface of the substrate while the sheet cladding is spaced from the concave surface of the substrate. The sheet cladding is spot-welded, at one edge, at the convex surface of the substrate; then the cladding is wrapped about the substrate and the other edge of the sheet cladding is welded to the one edge to form a longitudinal seam on the convex surface. The assembled sheet cladding and substrate is inserted into a rubbery mold and are thereafter sealed in a rubbery sleeve. Appli-cation of cold isostatic pressure to the assembly causes the heretofore undeformed portion of the sheet cladding, spaced from the concave surface, to deform into the concave surface, to deform into the concave surface thereby stretching the cladding sheet around the substrate to form a close-fitting outer skin.
The novel features believed characteristic of the presont invention are set forth in the appended claims.
The invention itself, however, together with further ob~ects and advantages thereof, may best be understood with reference to the ollowing de~cription, taken in connection with the appended drawings.
FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a clad convex-concave substrate inserted in a rubbery mold and sleeve, the latter which is shown in cross section. The dotted line represents .

: .

11~)4;~191 the substrate and the diagnol dotted and solid represent the curvature of the substrate and clad respectively.
FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the cladding she~ and substrate after the step of rough forming the cladding sheet to the substrate.
FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the rubbery sleeve and mold without the clad-substrate therein; and, FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the cladding sheet and substrate after the steps of th~ present invention are carried out.
m e method of the present invention i8 directed to preforming a sheet cladding to a substrate having convex-concave surfaces An example of such a substrate is found in turbo-machine buckets, blades and airfoils.
The purpose of the sheet cladding is to protect the substrate which may be a high-strength alloy having poor corrosion-resistant qualities. The sheet cladding must `~
be accurately preformed to the bucket prior to diffusion bonding to ensure an accurate defect-free outer surface.
The present method contemplates annealing and cleaning the shoet cladding material to achieve maximum ductility and surface cleanliness prior to applying the cladding to the substrate The substrate is precleaned since the cladding is formed on tho buc~et and therefore need not be removed after forming In addition, no lubricants are used and therefore necessary surface cleanliness for later processing is maintained. After annealing~ a blank i~ cut from the h--t cladding material. The blank shape is such that it ~ ~ -approximates the unfolded outer surface of the substrate.
In the case of an airfoil, the blank may not completoly match the unfolded surface sinco the airfoil surface is not ~ruled", i.e.~ when unfolded, the surface will not lie in a - - : . . -,: . :

104;~191 single plane.
After cuttin~, the blank is rough formed on an actual substrate as shown in Figure 2. One preferred method comprises the steps of spot-welding one edge of the blank to the convex side of the substrate and wrapping the blank around the ~ubstrate and thereafter joining the other edge of the blank to the one edge to form an over-lapping joint or seam on the convex surface of the substrate.
In the case where the substrate is an airfoil, the leading and trailing edges are sharply defined in the cladding blanX as it is wrapped. Alternatively, a butt joint may be formed where both edges of the blank are fastened to the convex substrate side. Another alternative is to pre-weld the edges of the blank together and form a cylinder which i8 then slid over the substrate in which case the blank edges are welded to themselves. Any seam which is formed i8 preferably on the convex side of the substrate since this is the area of minimal stress and service abuse and furthermore, the location of least deformation during cold isostatic pressing according to the present method so the possibility of tearing failure of the cladding blank is minimized. Also~ it should be noted that any convonient method of joining the blank edges may be employed such as brazing as an alternative to spot welding Referring to Pigure 2, the cladding blank will closely abut the sub-strate convex surface and furthermore the joining seam will also abut thereto. The portion of the cladding blank opposite the concave surface is spaced from the concave surface for rea~ons which will become apparent.
.,~,.
The assembled sheet cladding blank and substrate are then inserted into a split rubbery mold (Figures 1 and 3).
Tho mold may be formed of neoprene rubber and has an in-1gl4~L91 terior surface which nearly matches the actual substrate with the exception that additional space has been provided at the concave surface for the presence of the under-formed sheet cladding.
As shown in Figure l, the mold with the clad substrate in place is inserted into a rubbery sleeve or bag (neo-prene rubber) and steel top and bottom plates are clamped to each end of the sleeve to provide a leak-tight condition with hose-clamp fixtures. The purpose of the sealing is to prevent leakage of the cold isostatic pressurizing media (an oil and water emulsion) into the mold and there-by establish a pressure differential whereas the rubber mold prevents tearing of the rubber sleeve due to sub-strate-clad sharp edges, However, the mold it-~elf is porous enough to accept air from between the blank and substrate as pressure is applied, m e sealed sleeve (bag) is then placed in a cold isostatic pres~ing unit and the unit is pre~surized, The isostatic pressure exceeds the room temperature yield strength of the blank cladding based on the thickness of the cladding multiplied by the height (from bucket root to tip) of the concave surface to be clad, Cold isostatic pressing units are available from Autoclave Engineers Corporation, ~uring the pressurizing operation, the sheet cladding which is present opposite the concave surface i8 p~shed or deformed into contact with the concave surface of the substrate (Figure 4), The convex side of the clad substrate undergoes minimal change since there is little opportunity for movem-nt, After a suitable time the cold isostatic pressing unit is depressurized and the cladding substrate assembly may then be procegged for diffUgion bonding or other known bonding processes, It is possible - , . .. . . ..
- . . . i . : .
- . ~ . . .-- - . .......... .
... , . . . ; . , . . . . - .. :. - : , 104~151 to substitute hot isostatic pressing for cold isostatic pressing but application of heat would not be beneficial and moreover could af~ect the mold material.
For purposes of an airfoil, the overlapping seam may be later machined away (after diffusion bonding) to provide a smooth convex surface.
A A blank of.01 inch thick Ni-50 Cr (Inconel Alloy 671) 4 inches wide by about 6 inches long in the as-rolled condition (about 20% cold w~rk) was annealed at 2300 F
for 30 minutes in dry hydrogen. The substrate was an airfoil and the blank was cut from the sheet cladding to resemble the unfolded outer surface of the airfoil allowing for 10 to 15% elongation The blank was lightly abraded and then washed with isopropyl alcohol as a final cleaning step. The airfoil surface bad been chemically etched, ~ -nickel plated (thickness 0005") and given a vacuum diffusion treatment at 2250F for 1 hour to ensure good adhension of the plated layer. The blank was then hand-formed about the airfoil and the leading and trailing edges were sharply defined. The cladding seam was located on the convex side about 1 inch from the traling edge.
The cladding was spotwelded to the airfoil surface and an overlap seam e~tablished by overlapping the remaining cladding edge ovor the spot-weldod edge and spot-welding it in place. The clad/airfoil assembly was then placed in a split neoprene mold and sealed in a neoprene bag.
The aJsembly wo~ then placed in a cold isostatic prossure unit~ and, the unit was sealed and pressurized to 14 KSI
hydrostat~c pressure using a water/oil emulsion as the pressurizing media. As ~oon as the 14 KSI pressure was reached, the unit was depressurized for a total cycle time of about two minutes. The clad/airfoil assembly was re-r~
_ 7 - ~ -' ~:
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moved from the uni~ and the rubber mold stripped away.
In addition, it has been found that the minimum isostatic pressure neces$ary is the room temperature yield stress of the cladding alloy, multiplied by the clad thickness, multiplied by the length of the concave surface from bucket root to tip. Pressures as low as 4 KSI have been used in the method.
Other examples of alloys that are useful as sheet A cladding are Hastelloy X~ FeCrAIY (2541), HS 188, and 304 stainless steel.
Cladd ing blanX length varies from one cladding alloy ~
to another. The main reason for this is that alloy ~ -ductility varies and hence the amount of material (length of sheet) which is located adjacent the concave surface, the area where nearly all the strain (deformation) occurs, determines the amount of deformation the sheet alloy will experience. In general, it is desirable to incorporate a maximum amount of deformation during ¢IP forming since leading and trailing edge detail will improve with in-creasing strain.
Other types of materials are possible for use as molds such as bu-na-N rubber and polyurethane.
While thore is de-cribod what i8 considered, at present, to be th- preferred embodiment of the invention, it is, of course~ understood that various cther modifications may be mad- th-rein. It is intended to claim all such modifica-tions a~ fall within the true epirit and scope of the pre~ent invention.

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Claims (5)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A method of preforming a sheet cladding to a substrate having a concave-convex surface, the method comprising the steps of:
a. rough forming the sheet cladding to the substrate so that the sheet cladding closely abuts the convex surface of the substrate while the sheet cladding opposite the concave surface of the substrate is spaced from the concave surface including:
i fastening one edge of the sheet cladding to the convex surface of the substrate;
ii. joining the other edge of the sheet cladding to the one edge of the sheet cladding to define a seam on the convex surface of the substrate;
2. The method recited in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
a. annealing the sheet cladding; and, b. cutting the sheet cladding into a blank to approxi-mate the unfolded outer surface of the substrate prior to the rough forming step.
3. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
a. placing the sheet cladding and substrate assembly into a sealed rubbery mold including:
i. inserting the rubbery mold into a rubbery sleeve;
ii. sealing each end of the rubbery sleeve with an end plate and clamp, and, b. applying isostatic pressure to the mold to deform the sheet cladding into contact with the substrate concave surface.
4. The method recited in claim 3 wherein the iso tatic pressure is cold isostatic pressure exceeding the room temperature yield strength of the sheet cladding based on the thickness of the cladding multiplied by the height of the concave surface to be clad.
5. A method of forming a sheet cladding to an airfoil substrate having a concave-convex surface, the method comprising the steps of:
a. rough forming the sheet cladding to the substrate so that the sheet cladding closely abuts the convex surface including:
i. fastening one edge of the sheet cladding to the convex surface of the substrate;
ii joining the other edge of the sheet cladding to the one edge of the sheet cladding to define a seam on the convex surface of the substrate;

b. placing the sheet cladding and substrate assembly into a sealed rubbery mold; and, c. applying isostatic pressure to the mold and assembly to deform the sheet cladding to the substrate concave surface wherein the isostatic pressure exceeds the room tem-perature yield strength of the sheet cladding based on the thickness of the cladding sheet multiplied by the height of the concave surface to be clad.
CA240,220A 1975-11-20 1975-11-20 Forming a cladding sheet to a convex/concave substrate Expired CA1042191A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA240,220A CA1042191A (en) 1975-11-20 1975-11-20 Forming a cladding sheet to a convex/concave substrate

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA240,220A CA1042191A (en) 1975-11-20 1975-11-20 Forming a cladding sheet to a convex/concave substrate

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1042191A true CA1042191A (en) 1978-11-14

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
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Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1042191A (en)

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