EP1502679B1 - Méthode de coulée à solidification directionnelle pour la production de pièces métalliques à structure orientée voire monocristallines - Google Patents

Méthode de coulée à solidification directionnelle pour la production de pièces métalliques à structure orientée voire monocristallines Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1502679B1
EP1502679B1 EP20030405567 EP03405567A EP1502679B1 EP 1502679 B1 EP1502679 B1 EP 1502679B1 EP 20030405567 EP20030405567 EP 20030405567 EP 03405567 A EP03405567 A EP 03405567A EP 1502679 B1 EP1502679 B1 EP 1502679B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
casting
chamber
single crystal
directionally solidified
shell
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 - Lifetime
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EP20030405567
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP1502679A1 (fr
Inventor
Martin Balliel
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General Electric Technology GmbH
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Alstom Technology AG
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
    • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
    • B22D27/00—Treating the metal in the mould while it is molten or ductile ; Pressure or vacuum casting
    • B22D27/04—Influencing the temperature of the metal, e.g. by heating or cooling the mould
    • B22D27/045—Directionally solidified castings

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method for casting a directionally solidified article according to the independent claim.
  • the invention proceeds from a process for producing a directionally solidified casting and from an apparatus for carrying out the process as is described, for example, in US-A-3,532,155 .
  • the process described serves to produce the guide vanes and rotor blades of gas turbines and makes use of a furnace which can be evacuated.
  • This furnace has two chambers which are separated from one another by a water-cooled wall and are arranged one above the other, the upper chamber of which is designed so that it can be heated and has a pivotable melting crucible for receiving material to be cast, for example a nickel base alloy.
  • the lower chamber which is connected to this heating chamber by an opening in the water-cooled wall, is designed so that it can be cooled and has walls through which water flows.
  • a driving rod which passes through the bottom of this cooling chamber and through the opening in the water-cooled wall bears a cooling plate through which water flows and which forms the base of a casting mould located in the heating chamber.
  • a further process for producing a directionally solidified casting is disclosed in US-A-3,763,926 .
  • a casting mould filled with a molten alloy is gradually and continuously immersed into a tin bath heated to approximately 260°C. This achieves a particularly rapid removal of heat from the casting mould.
  • the directionally solidified casting formed by this process is distinguished by a microstructure which has a low level of inhomogeneities.
  • it is possible using this process it is possible using this process to achieve ⁇ values which are almost twice as high as when using the process according to US-A-3,532,155 .
  • this process requires a particularly accurate temperature control.
  • the wall thickness of the casting mould has to be made larger than in the process according to US-A-3,532,155 .
  • US-A-5,168,916 discloses a foundry installation designed for the fabrication of metal parts with an oriented structure, the installation being of a type comprising a casting chamber communicating with a lock for the introduction and extraction of a mould, via a first opening sealable by a first airtight gate apparatus for casting and for cooling the mould placed in the chamber.
  • the installation includes, in addition, a mould preheating and degassing chamber communicating with the lock via a second opening sealable by a second airtight gate.
  • US-A-5,921,310 discloses a process which serves to produce a directionally solidified casting and uses an alloy located in a casting mould.
  • the casting mould is guided from a heating chamber into a cooling chamber.
  • the heating chamber is here at a temperature above the liquidus temperature of the alloy, and the cooling chamber is at a temperature below the solidus temperature of the alloy.
  • the heating chamber and the cooling chamber are separated from one another by a baffle, aligned transversely to the guidance direction, having an opening for the casting mould.
  • a solidification front is formed, beneath which the directionally solidified casting is formed.
  • the part of the casting mould which is guided into the cooling chamber is cooled with a flow of inert gas.
  • This process is substantially more economical than simply casting one component per mould in a conventional gas cooling equipment, as substantially more components are cast in a given time period and a series of components can be cast with a high degree of automation.
  • this process provides a substantially improved metallurgical quality, as single components with shell mould around them are cast as separate moulds and therefore do not shadow each other from radiation from the heaters in the heating chamber and in the cooling chamber from cooling gas jets coming from the nozzles arranged below the baffle and for outgoing radiation from the moulds into the cooling chamber.
  • the articles within the shell mould are positioned in a row so that the shorter extensions face each other with a minimum distance of about the shorter extension and the longer extensions are aligned parallel to each other.
  • FIG. 1 shows in diagrammatic representation a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the process according to the present invention.
  • the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 has a vacuum chamber 2 which can be evacuated by means of a vacuum system 1.
  • the vacuum chamber 2 accommodates two chambers 4, 5 which are separated from one another by a baffle (radiation and gas flow shield) 3, which may be extended with flexible fingers or brushes 21, and are arranged one above the other, and a pivotable melting crucible 6 for receiving an alloy, for example a nickel base superalloy.
  • baffle radiation and gas flow shield
  • the upper one 4 of the two chambers is designed so that it can be heated.
  • This device contains a cavity with orifices or nozzles 8, which point inwardly onto a casting mould 12, as well as a system for generating gas flows 9.
  • the gas flows emerging from the orifices or nozzles 8 are predominantly centripetally guided.
  • a driving rod 10 passing for example through the bottom of the cooling chamber 5 bears a cooling plate 11, through which water may flow if appropriate and which forms the base of a casting shell mould 12.
  • the cooling chamber 5 could as well be a Liquid Metal Cooling (LMC)-Bath as known from US-B1-6,311,760 or US-A-3,763,926 , furthermore the cooling chamber 5 could as well be a vacuum chamber with water-cooled walls as known from US-A-3,532,155 or a fluidized bed as known from US-A1-2002/0170698 .
  • LMC Liquid Metal Cooling
  • the casting shell mould 12 has a thin-walled part 13, for example 10 mm thick, made of ceramic, which can accommodate at its bottom end towards the cooling plate 11 one or several single crystal seeds promoting the formation of single crystal articles and/or a helix initiator.
  • the casting shell mould 12 By being lifted off from the cooling plate 11 or being put down on the cooling plate 11, the casting shell mould 12 can be opened or closed, respectively.
  • the casting shell mould 12 At its upper end, the casting shell mould 12 is open and can be filled with molten alloy 15 from the melting crucible 6 by means of a filling device 14 inserted into the heating chamber 4. Electric heating elements 16 surrounding the casting shell mould 12 in the heating chamber 4 keep that part of the alloy which is located in the part of the casting shell mould 12 on the heating chamber 4 side above its liquidus temperature.
  • the cooling chamber 5 is connected to the inlet of a vacuum system 17 for removing the inflowing gas from the vacuum chamber 2 and for cooling and purifying the gas removed.
  • the inert gas flows emerging from the orifices or nozzles 8 impinge on the surface of the ceramic part 13 and are led away downwards along the surface. In the process, they remove heat q from the casting shell mould 12 and thus also from the already directionally solidified part of the casting shell mould content.
  • the inert gas blown into the cooling chamber 5 can be removed from the vacuum chamber 2 by the vacuum system 17, cooled, filtered and, once it has been compressed to a few bar, fed to pipelines 18 which are operatively connected to the orifices or nozzles 8.
  • An exemplary embodiment of the present invention consists of a serial loading mechanism to feed a series of individual shell moulds 12 with a cooling plate 11 with only one to a maximum number of three cast components into a preheating chamber 22 which is arranged separately from the heating chamber 4.
  • the preheating chamber 22 may be individually evacuated or at reduced pressure with inert gas to preheat the individual shell moulds 12.
  • both chambers, the preheating chamber 22 and the heating chamber 4 are connected directly with each other by temporarily opening a segment of the heater element 16 or through an opening within the heater element 16.
  • the shell mould 12 with the cooling plate 11 is then loaded sideways from the preheating chamber 22 into the heating chamber 4 of the casting furnace.
  • the heating chamber 4 is under vacuum or reduced pressure with inert gas.
  • the shell moulds 12 are filled with liquid metal 15 from the crucible 6 with filling device 14.
  • the article is then cast by withdrawing the individual shell mould 12 into the cooling chamber 5 which is connected to the heating chamber 4 through the opening 7 and baffle 3 which may be extended with flexible fingers or brushes 21.
  • the shell mould 12 is unloaded from the cooling chamber 5 into a separate cool-down chamber 23 which may be evacuated or filled at a given time at reduced or ambient pressure with inert gas.
  • the gas accelerates the cool-down and may allow a shorter throughput time, if the casting of shell moulds 12 is faster than the cool-down in vacuum or at reduced pressure with inert gas.
  • the separate cool-down chamber 23 allows a substantial increase in productivity as without the cool-down chamber 23 a subsequent shell mould has to wait for a sufficient cool-down of the preceding mould, e.g. upon venting with air to prevent oxidation of the cast article and, if the heating chamber 4 cannot be sealed airtight from the cooling chamber 5, also to prevent oxidation of the heating elements 16.
  • a subsequent mould has to wait until the cooling chamber 5 is vented and re-evacuated, or until re-evacuated or washed with inert gas to remove oxygen and filled with inert gas at reduced pressure.
  • the moulds 12 are then unloaded to a final cool-down and storage area (not shown in Fig. 1 ). All mentioned steps are repeated automatically with a series of individual shell moulds 12 one after the other to increase productivity of the casting furnace.
  • This process provides a substantially improved metallurgical quality of the components, as single components with shell mould 12 around them are cast as separate moulds 12 and therefore do not shadow each other from radiation from the heating elements 16 in the heating chamber 4, from cooling gas jets below the baffle 3 in the cooling chamber 5, and for outgoing radiation from the mould 12 into the cooling chamber 5.
  • the process according to the present invention is substantially more economical than simply casting one component per mould 12 in a conventional gas cooling equipment, as substantially more components are cast in a given time period and a series of components can be cast with a high degree of automation. This means a substantially increased productivity and reduced casting cost as:
  • shell moulds 12 for casting two or even three components at one time increases the economy of the process by reducing the number of shell moulds 12 required for a given amount of components, while the metallurgical quality of the components would be still acceptable.
  • the cast articles have generally two principal extensions perpendicular to the withdrawal direction, a longer extension in one direction and shorter extension in a second direction, then the cast articles within the shell mould 12 are positioned in a row so that the shorter extensions face each other with a minimum distance of about the shorter extension and the longer extensions are aligned parallel to each other. Again, this minimizes the negative shadowing effect.
  • the heating chamber 4 and baffle 3 are in the shape of a slot 24, e.g. with a small width sufficient for one shell mould 12, with a length to accommodate several moulds 12 and with a similar height as in the conventional gas cooling process.
  • Several shell moulds 12 are withdrawn concurrently from the heating chamber 4 into the cooling chamber 5 in a motion combining the vertical direction and the direction sideways along the length of the slot 24.
  • the baffle 3 which may be extended with flexible fingers or brushes (as indicated within Fig. 1 , not shown in Fig.
  • a conveyor belt can be used (not shown in Fig. 2 ).
  • the several moulds 12 with the cooling plates 11 can be mounted directly on the conveyor belt, which couples the withdrawal speed for the several moulds 12, or can be mounted via driving rods 10, which serve to vary as a function of time the withdrawal speed given by the speed and inclination of the conveyor belt.
  • the vertical movement range of such driving rods 10 is selected to allow a desired withdrawal speed variation, e.g. half the height of a shell mold 12.
  • This embodiment of the invention provides a further increase of productivity as even more moulds 12 are cast in a given time period, while still providing an improved metallurgical quality, as the components with shell mould 12 around them do not shadow each other.
  • the shadowing effect can be avoided by aligning the articles in a row so that the shorter extensions face each other with a minimum distance of about the shorter extension and the longer extensions are parallel to each other.
  • This advantage more than compensates the relatively small decrease in metallurgical quality caused by the positioning of the nozzles 8 and a baffle 3 only from the sides of the slot 24, and not all around a single mould 12.
  • a plurality of slots 24 can be operated at the same time.
  • the plurality of slots 24 can be loaded from the same preheating chamber 22 and unloaded to the same cool-down chamber 23.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)

Claims (13)

  1. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) avec un four de coulée comprenant une chambre de chauffage (4) comportant au moins un élément de chauffage (16), une chambre de refroidissement (5), une chicane de séparation (3) entre la chambre de chauffage et la chambre de refroidissement (4, 5), le procédé comprenant l'étape d'utilisation d'un moule en coquille (12) pour deux ou trois pièces coulées, les pièces coulées présentant deux extensions principales perpendiculaires à la direction d'extraction, une extension plus grande dans une direction et une extension plus courte dans une deuxième direction, et de positionnement des pièces coulées à l'intérieur du moule en coquille (12) en une rangée d'une manière telle que les extensions plus courtes soient mutuellement opposées l'une à l'autre avec une distance minimum d'environ l'extension plus courte et que les extensions plus longues soient alignées parallèlement les unes aux autres, et comprenant en outre les étapes suivantes:
    (a) préchauffer le moule en coquille (12) avec une plaque de refroidissement (11) à l'intérieur d'une chambre de préchauffage séparée (22),
    (b) connecter directement la chambre de préchauffage (22) avec la chambre de chauffage (4) en ouvrant temporairement un segment de l'élément de chauffage (16) pour le passage du moule en coquille (12), ou à travers une ouverture à l'intérieur de l'élément de chauffage (16),
    (c) charger latéralement le moule en coquille préchauffé (12) avec la plaque de refroidissement (11) dans la chambre de chauffage (4) du four de coulée,
    (d) remplir le moule en coquille (12) avec du métal liquide (15),
    (e) retirer le moule en coquille (12) hors de la chambre de chauffage (4) à travers la chicane de séparation (3) vers la chambre de refroidissement (5), provoquant ainsi la solidification directionnelle du métal liquide (15) formant la pièce coulée, et
    (f) décharger le moule en coquille (12) vers une chambre de refroidissement séparée (23).
  2. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon la revendication 1, comprenant en outre l'étape de répétition des étapes (a) à (f) automatiquement avec une série de moules en coquille individuels (12) à la suite l'un de l'autre.
  3. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 ou 2, comprenant en outre l'étape d'extraction de plusieurs moules (12) simultanément l'un après l'autre hors de la chambre de chauffage (4), qui a la forme d'une fente (24) en un mouvement combinant la direction verticale et la direction latérale le long de la longueur de la fente (24) vers la chambre de refroidissement (5).
  4. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon la revendication 3, comprenant en outre l'étape d'extraction desdits plusieurs moules (12) avec les plaques de refroidissement (11) au moyen d'une bande transporteuse, lesdits plusieurs moules (12) avec les plaques de refroidissement (11) étant connectés directement ou via des barres d'entraînement (10) à la bande transporteuse.
  5. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon la revendication 3 ou 4, comprenant en outre l'étape d'utilisation de plusieurs fentes (24) en même temps.
  6. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon la revendication 5, comprenant en outre l'étape de chargement des moules en coquille préchauffés (12) vers la pluralité de fentes (24) à partir de la même chambre de préchauffage (22).
  7. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon la revendication 5 ou 6, comprenant en outre l'étape de déchargement des moules en coquille (12) à partir de la pluralité de fentes (24) vers la même chambre de refroidissement (23).
  8. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, dans lequel on envoie, pendant l'extraction des moules en coquille (12), un gaz inerte en direction du moule en coquille (12) à travers des tuyères à gaz (8) agencées en dessous de la chicane de séparation (3).
  9. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 8, dans lequel on extrait les moules en coquille (12) hors de la chambre de chauffage (4) à travers la chicane (3) vers une chambre de refroidissement sous vide (5).
  10. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 8, dans lequel on extrait les moules en coquille (12) hors de la chambre de chauffage (4) à travers la chicane (3) vers une chambre de refroidissement (5) qui est remplie de métal liquide ou qui est un lit fluidisé.
  11. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 10, comprenant en outre l'étape de préchauffage du moule en coquille (12) à l'intérieur de la chambre de préchauffage (22), qui est mise sous vide ou qui est remplie de gaz inerte sous une pression réduite.
  12. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 11, comprenant en outre l'étape de déchargement du moule en coquille (12) vers une chambre de refroidissement (24), qui est mise sous vide ou qui est remplie de gaz inerte ou d'air à une pression réduite ou à la pression ambiante.
  13. Procédé pour la coulée d'une pièce à solidification directionnelle (DS) ou monocristalline (SX) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 12, comprenant en outre l'étape de fabrication de composants de turbine tels que des ailettes ou des pales de turbine à gaz.
EP20030405567 2003-07-30 2003-07-30 Méthode de coulée à solidification directionnelle pour la production de pièces métalliques à structure orientée voire monocristallines Expired - Lifetime EP1502679B1 (fr)

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EP20030405567 EP1502679B1 (fr) 2003-07-30 2003-07-30 Méthode de coulée à solidification directionnelle pour la production de pièces métalliques à structure orientée voire monocristallines

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EP20030405567 EP1502679B1 (fr) 2003-07-30 2003-07-30 Méthode de coulée à solidification directionnelle pour la production de pièces métalliques à structure orientée voire monocristallines

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Cited By (1)

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CN109434081A (zh) * 2018-11-07 2019-03-08 深圳市万泽中南研究院有限公司 单晶铸件的定向凝固装置、方法及铸造设备

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US8752610B2 (en) 2009-08-09 2014-06-17 Rolls-Royce Corporation System, method, and apparatus for directional divergence between part motion and crystallization
US20200086383A1 (en) * 2018-09-14 2020-03-19 United Technologies Corporation Continuous casting apparatus and method

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CN109434081A (zh) * 2018-11-07 2019-03-08 深圳市万泽中南研究院有限公司 单晶铸件的定向凝固装置、方法及铸造设备

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