JP2007313553A - Hot-isotropic pressure pressing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hot-isotropic pressure pressing apparatus where channeling of gas is hardly caused in a treatment chamber, and also, overheating of a motor for fan driving can be prevented. <P>SOLUTION: The hot-isotropic pressure pressing apparatus comprises: a high pressure vessel 2; a bulkhead chamber forming body 3 at the inside thereof; a heat insulating structure 4 at the inside thereof; a treatment chamber forming body 5 at the inside thereof. In the bulkhead chamber forming body, the inside and outside are made to communicate with each other at either the upper end or lower end, the other is provided with a passage 20 making the inside and outside communicate with each other and a first fan 33 for performing discharge to the passage or suction from the passage by forward/reverse rotation. In the treatment chamber forming body, the inside and outside are made to communicate with each other at either the upper end or the lower end, and the other is provided with a second fan 29 for ventilation, and the rotary axis of the first fan and the rotary axis of the second fan are arranged so as to be coincident with the central axis of the treatment chamber forming body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hot isostatic pressing apparatus that performs diffusion bonding of different materials, for example, in an inert gas atmosphere of high temperature and pressure.

The hot isostatic pressing method (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “HIP method”) is performed in a cast product by processing at a temperature higher than the recrystallization temperature of the object to be processed in a high-pressure gas atmosphere of several tens to several hundreds of MPa. As a technique for eliminating residual pores in sintered products such as ceramics, effects such as improvement of mechanical characteristics, reduction of variation in characteristics, and improvement of yield have been confirmed, and they have been widely used industrially.
The structure of a normal hot isostatic pressing device (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “HIP device”) used for such a purpose is arranged inside a vertical cylindrical high-pressure vessel 101 as shown in FIG. A resistance wire heating type electric furnace is housed. Inside the high-pressure vessel 101, resistance wire heating type heaters 102, 102, 102 are arranged in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction so as to surround the processing chamber 103. This is because heat distribution over the entire vertical direction is ensured by ensuring that the temperature distribution of the upper part is high and the lower part is low due to intense natural convection of high-pressure gas. In addition, the natural convection of the gas also causes the heat for heating and raising the temperature of the processing chamber 103 to be excessively dissipated outside the system. Therefore, the bottomed cylindrical heat insulating structure 104 can efficiently suppress this. A structure that surrounds the processing chamber 103 and the heaters 102, 102, 102 is often adopted as an optimum method. The heat transmitted to the high pressure vessel 101 through the heat insulating structure 104 is removed by the cooling water flowing through the water cooling jacket portion 105.

The normal processing in the HIP method is to first perform evacuation and gas replacement to remove the air inside the HIP apparatus, and subsequently perform a temperature rise and pressure increase step, a step of maintaining the temperature and pressure in a predetermined state, and a removal step. It consists of the process of performing temperature reduction and pressure reduction for the purpose. In the HIP method, the processing time (cycle time) of these entire processes is long, so that the processing capacity of expensive high-pressure vessels is reduced, resulting in an increase in processing cost. It was a big issue in industrial production.
In particular, since the cooling is slow, the time taken by the cooling process in the cycle time is considered to be a problem, and rapid cooling technology has improved to improve this, and now the HIP whose processing chamber diameter exceeds 1 m has been developed. It is common to perform rapid cooling in equipment.

  As a method of rapid cooling, a method using natural convection caused by a density difference caused by a temperature difference of gas (Patent Document 1) and a fan or a pump installed in a high-pressure vessel to add to the natural convection of gas. A method for generating forced convection is proposed (Patent Document 2). However, in these methods, there is a concern that the upper side of the inside of the processing chamber is hotter and temperature distribution is likely to occur, and in order to improve this problem, two independently controllable fans are provided, There has also been proposed an apparatus that can individually perform soaking and cooling rate control (Patent Document 3, FIG. 1).

When two independently controllable fans are installed, two motors are required for individual control. For such motor installation and fan connection, in addition to the method of arranging two motors side by side in the lower part of the high-pressure vessel disclosed in Patent Document 3, and directly connecting the fan to each drive shaft, The method proposed by the present inventors in Patent Document 4 is to arrange the fan for promoting the circulation flow in the upper part in the high-pressure vessel and the gas stirring fan in the lower part in the high-pressure vessel, and to directly connect them to the drive shaft of the motor. Is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,087 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-34638 JP 2000-501780 gazette JP 2003-290987 A

  The hot isostatic pressing apparatus is a vertical cylindrical electric furnace, and the gas flow in the processing chamber is preferably axisymmetric. However, since the invention disclosed in Patent Document 3 is a system in which two fans are directly connected to the drive shaft of a motor arranged side by side, the rotation center of one of the fans must be arranged off the axis. On the other hand, there is a problem that the flow of gas in the processing chamber does not become axially symmetric, so that drift is likely to occur. Such a drift of gas in the processing chamber generates a temperature distribution in the processing chamber, and the temperature distribution due to the difference in the place where the processing target is placed is not guaranteed to maintain the processing target at a uniform temperature. Quality control is not easy, and it is not preferable from the viewpoint of ensuring safety that prevents local overheating in the high-pressure vessel.

In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 4, it can be expected that the gas flow in the processing chamber is axisymmetric. In the method disclosed herein, a stirring fan is disposed on the top of the heat insulating structure, and a motor for rotating the fan is accommodated in or suspended from the upper lid of the high-pressure vessel. However, the upper part of the high-pressure vessel may become a high temperature of 200 to 300 ° C. depending on processing conditions. In that case, means for preventing damage to the motor, for example, means for housing the motor in a water-cooled container, etc. There is a problem that the structure of the upper lid becomes complicated.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hot isostatic pressing device that is unlikely to cause a gas drift in a processing chamber and can prevent overheating of a fan driving motor.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means.
That is, the hot isostatic pressing apparatus according to the present invention is a hot isostatic pressing apparatus for accommodating a processing object and processing the processing object with a high-temperature and high-pressure inert gas. A container, an isolation chamber forming body accommodated in the high pressure vessel with an outer surface thereof spaced from the inner surface of the high pressure vessel, and a heat insulation in which an outer surface thereof is disposed at an interval from the inner surface of the isolation chamber forming body. And a processing chamber forming body having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the heat insulating structure and arranged with a central axis in the vertical direction, and the isolation chamber forming body has one of an upper end and a lower end. Or a first passage that communicates the inside and the outside to one of the two, and a second passage that communicates the inside and the outside to the other of the upper end or the lower end and the second passage by switching forward and backward in the rotational direction. Discharging or suctioning from the second passage The processing chamber forming body is provided with a third passage in which one of the upper end and the lower end is opened or communicated with the one inside and outside, and the other of the upper end and the lower end is for ventilation. A second fan rotatable independently of the first fan is provided, and the rotation axes of the first fan and the second fan are both center axes of the processing chamber forming body. Arranged to match.

The first fan is provided at a lower portion of the isolation chamber forming body, and a drive hole of the first fan and the first fan is provided with a through hole penetrating in an axial direction. The drive shafts of the two fans pass through the through holes in a rotatable manner.
Preferably, the high-pressure vessel is provided with a lower space separated from the isolation chamber forming body in the lower part of the interior, and the first fan driving motor and the second fan driving motor are arranged in the lower space. Is done.
Preferably, the first fan is a centrifugal fan, and the second fan is an axial fan.

  The first fan is either meshed with a gear attached to a drive shaft of the first fan and a shaft of the first fan driving motor, connected by a sprocket and a chain, or connected by a pulley and a belt. Driven by.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hot isostatic pressing device that is unlikely to cause gas drift in the processing chamber and that can prevent overheating of the fan driving motor.

1 is a front sectional view of a hot isostatic pressing device 1 according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of a stirring device 7 and a cooling stirring device 8, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a stirring fan 29, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of the cooling fan 33, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along arrow AA in FIG.
1 and 2, a hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 includes a high-pressure vessel 2, an isolation cylinder 3, a heat insulating structure 4, a processing chamber forming body 5, a heater 6, a stirring device 7, a cooling stirring device 8, and the like. .
The high-pressure vessel 2 includes a pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9, an upper lid 10 that closes the upper end of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9, and a lower lid 11 that closes the lower end of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9. The high-pressure vessel 2 is provided with seal rings 12 and 12 at a fitting portion between the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 and the upper lid 10 and a fitting portion between the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 and the lower lid 11 and can withstand a pressure of 100 MPa or more. it can. A jacket 13 for circulating cooling water is provided on the outer periphery of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9. An argon gas introduction path 14 and a liquid argon introduction path 15 that communicate the inside and outside of the high-pressure vessel 2 are provided inside the lower lid 11.

The isolation cylinder 3 includes a cylindrical portion 16 having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9, a bottom plate 17 provided substantially horizontally so as to partition the inside of the cylindrical portion 16 vertically below the cylindrical portion 16, and a lower plate 17 It consists of a lid cover 18. The upper end of the cylindrical portion 16 is open, and the lower end is closed by a lower lid cover 18. Further, a plurality of first lower passages 19 and 19 are provided in a portion of the cylindrical portion 16 joined to the lower lid cover 18 so as to communicate the inside and outside of the isolation cylinder 3.
The bottom plate 17 is provided with a circular hole 20 penetrating through the center.
The isolation cylinder 3 refers to an isolation chamber forming body in the present invention.

The heat insulating structure 4 has a cylindrical shape with an upper bottom, and a lower cylindrical open end is detachably supported by the bottom plate 17. A plurality of second lower passages 21, 21 are provided at the lower end of the heat insulating structure 4 to communicate the inside and outside of the heat insulating structure 4.
The processing chamber forming body 5 includes a rectifying cylinder 22, shelves 23a to 23d, a casing 24, and the like.
The rectifying cylinder 22 is a cylinder having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the heat insulating structure 4, and is accommodated inside the heat insulating structure 4 with an appropriate gap between the upper end and the upper inner surface of the heat insulating structure 4. Is done. The upper end of the rectifying cylinder 22 is opened and the lower end is continuous with the casing 24. The rectifying cylinder 22 supports four shelf plates 23a to 23d that are horizontally arranged at substantially equal intervals from the lower end upward in the inside thereof. The rectifying cylinder 22 may be configured to include a plurality of passages that provide a lid and communicate the inside and outside of the rectifying cylinder 22 instead of opening the upper end.

In the following description, the space inside the rectifying cylinder 22 is referred to as a “processing chamber 25”.
The shelf boards 23a to 23d are for placing a processing object W on which a hot isostatic pressing process (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “HIP process”) is performed. Each of the shelf plates 23a to 23d is provided with a plurality of holes 26a, ..., 26a, 26b, ..., 26b, 26c, ..., 26c, 26d, ..., 26d penetrating vertically. Is configured to be able to move in the vertical direction without hindrance.
The casing 24 includes a casing main body 43 and a fan outer frame portion 28. The casing main body 43 has a cylindrical shape that is arranged below the rectifying cylinder 22 and extends from the rectifying cylinder 22, and has a substantially circular fan hole 27 in the middle in the vertical direction. 28 is divided into upper and lower parts. The center of the fan hole 27 substantially coincides with the axial center of the flow straightening cylinder 22, that is, the axial center of the processing chamber forming body 5. In addition, a plurality of third lower passages 32 and 32 that communicate the inside and the outside of the casing 24 are provided immediately below the fan outer frame portion 28 on the peripheral side surface of the casing body 43. The lower end of the casing body 43 is joined to the bottom plate 17.

In this embodiment, the processing chamber forming body 5 is composed of the rectifying cylinder 22, the shelf plates 23a to 23d, the casing 24, and the like. However, the processing chamber forming body is not limited to this mode. Any material that forms the chamber 25 may be used. For example, the shelf boards 23a to 23d may not be included.
The heater 6 is provided inside the casing 24.
The stirring device 7 includes a stirring fan 29 and a motor 30 that drives the stirring fan 29. As shown in FIG. 3, the stirring fan 29 is a general axial-flow type propeller fan having inclined blades, and the blades 48,..., 48 are rotating shafts in front view (FIG. 3A). It is inclined 45 degrees with respect to. The agitation fan 29 shown in FIG. 3 is obtained by inclining a plate material and joining it to the boss 49, so that it is easy to manufacture and inexpensive to manufacture. In particular, for example, when the HIP treatment is performed at a high temperature of around 1200 ° C., it is common to use a refractory metal such as molybdenum or a high nickel alloy such as a nickel-based superalloy. Since it is not easy, it is preferable that the structure be simple as shown in FIG.

The stirring fan 29 is disposed in the fan hole 27 so that the center of rotation substantially coincides with the axis of the processing chamber forming body 5. The stirring fan 29 is for ventilating the processing chamber 23, and it is important to increase the air volume rather than the so-called head difference, and at the same time, miniaturization is required, so an axial flow type fan is used. It is preferable to do.
The stirring fan 29 is driven by being directly connected to the shaft 31 of the motor 30 disposed below. A part of the motor 30 is housed and fixed in the lower lid 11.
The cooling and stirring device 8 includes a cooling fan 33 and a motor 34 that drives the cooling fan 33. The cooling fan 33 is disposed above the hole 20 so as to be close to the bottom plate 17. 4 and 5, the cooling fan 33 is a centrifugal flow (radial) type fan in which each surface of the blades 35,..., 35 is parallel to the rotation axis, and the blades 35,. As shown in FIG. 5, 35 extends outwardly from the outer periphery of the central boss 36 by being inclined 45 degrees to the normal line. The upper ends of the wings 35,..., 35 are joined to an upper disc 37 joined to the boss 36 perpendicular to the axis, and the lower ends of the wings 35,. The wings 35,..., 35 are not joined to the boss 36. The lower disk 38 is provided with a circular hole, and a gap formed between the lower disk 38 and the boss 36 is formed between the suction port when the stirring fan 29 is rotating forward and the discharge port when rotating backward. Become.

  The cooling fan 33 is provided below the boss 36 with a cooling fan drive shaft 39 that penetrates the lower lid cover 18 rotatably. The cooling fan drive shaft 39 is supported by a bearing 40 fixed to the lower lid cover 18, and a driven gear 41 is fixed to the lower end of the cooling fan drive shaft 39. A through hole 42 is provided at the center of the boss 36, the cooling fan drive shaft 39 and the driven gear 41, and the shaft 31 of the motor 30 for rotating the stirring fan 29 passes through the through hole 42. A motor 34 for driving the cooling fan 33 is housed and fixed in the lower lid 11 along with the motor 30. A drive gear 44 is attached to the shaft of the motor 34, and the drive gear 44 is engaged with a driven gear 42 integrated with a cooling fan drive shaft 39 to rotate the cooling fan 33.

  By configuring the agitation device 7 and the cooling agitation device 8 as described above, the rotation centers of the agitation fan 29 and the cooling fan 33 can be made to coincide with each other, and both of these rotation centers are set in the processing chamber. It becomes possible to arrange | position to the axial center of the formation body 5. FIG. Therefore, in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1, the flow of argon gas in the processing chamber 25 by the forced convection inside and outside the processing chamber 25 created by the stirring fan 29 and the cooling fan 33 is centered on the processing chamber forming body 5. The symmetric temperature distribution can be reduced. As a result, it can be expected that the difference in temperature change during the temperature holding depending on the placement position of the processing object W and the cooling degree in the cooling process are eliminated.

  In general, the high-pressure vessel of the hot isostatic pressing apparatus is characterized in that a gas having a low temperature tends to stay in the vicinity of the lower lid when the temperature becomes high. By arranging the motors 30 and 34 for rotating the fan 33, it can be expected to prevent the motor 30 from being heated excessively. The space in which the motor 30 is installed is separated from the casing 24 and the isolation tube 3 by the lower lid cover 18 and high temperature gas does not circulate, so that the inside of the processing chamber 25 is maintained at a relatively low temperature even when the temperature is high, Any of the motors 30 and 34 is less damaged or not damaged by overheating.

  In addition to the gear meshing mechanism as described above, the transmission of power between the cooling fan 33 and the motor 34 in the cooling and stirring device 8 includes the pulleys 45 and 46 and the belt 47 as shown in FIG. Or a drive mechanism in which the pulleys 45 and 46 and the belt 47 are replaced with sprockets and chains. In the gear meshing mechanism, the ratio of the diameters of the gears 41 and 44 is determined by the speed increase or reduction ratio, so that the installation interval between the two motors 30 and 34 is limited. In the drive mechanism using the belt 47 and the drive mechanism using the sprocket and the chain, the installation interval between the motors 30 and 34 can be determined relatively freely. Drive mechanisms using sprockets and chains are recommended because they are all made of metal and are less susceptible to damage in high temperature environments.

Next, the HIP processing of the nickel-base superalloy material performed under the processing conditions of a temperature of about 1200 ° C. and a pressure of about 100 MPa by the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the HIP process, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing changes in temperature and pressure of the HIP process, and FIGS. 9 to 12 are diagrams showing the movement of argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus 1 in the HIP process. .
First, the upper lid 10 and the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 are integrally moved upward, then the heat insulating structure 4 is moved upward, and the processing object W is placed on the respective shelf plates 23a to 23d of the processing chamber 25. The The heat insulating structure 4 is lowered onto the bottom plate 17, the upper lid 10 and the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 are lowered, and are integrated with the lower lid 11 so that they can withstand high pressure and sealed as a pressure vessel (# 11). ).

  Subsequently, the air in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 is exhausted by a vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the argon gas introduction path 14 (exhaust process, # 12). When a vacuum gauge (not shown) attached to the vacuum line to the high-pressure vessel 2 or the vacuum pump falls below a predetermined pressure, the evacuation operation is terminated, and the pressure is reduced to about 1 MPa in an argon gas curdle (cylinder assembly) (not shown). The argon gas thus injected is injected into the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 via the argon gas introduction path 14. When the pressure in the hot isostatic press apparatus 1 becomes substantially equal to the supply pressure of the argon gas, the supply of the argon gas is stopped, and the argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus 1 is supplied from the argon gas introduction path 14. Release to the outside. Such an operation is performed twice or three times to replace the residual air in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 with argon gas (replacement step, # 13).

Next, the supply pressure of the argon gas from the curdle is set to about 10 MPa, and the argon gas is injected into the hot isostatic pressing device 1 from the argon gas introduction path 14 (differential pressure injection process, # 14).
When the argon gas injection proceeds and the pressure in the hot isostatic press device 1 becomes substantially equal to the supply pressure of the argon gas and the pressure increase in the hot isostatic press device 1 stops, the heater 6 is energized. While heating the inside of the processing chamber 25 is started, argon gas whose pressure has been increased by a compressor (not shown) is supplied into the hot isostatic press device 1 from the argon gas inlet 50 through the argon gas introduction path 14. (Temperature raising step, # 15). Further, the motors 30 and 34 are activated to rotate the stirring fan 29 and the cooling fan 33. In the temperature raising / pressurizing step (# 15), the cooling fan 33 is reversely rotated (FIG. 5A).

  Referring to FIG. 9, the argon gas supplied from the argon gas inlet 50 into the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 passes through the first lower passages 19, 19 between the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 and the cylindrical portion 16. It enters and rises, reverses by the upper lid 10, and falls between the cylindrical portion 16 and the heat insulating structure 4. The descending argon gas passes from the second lower passages 21 and 21 through the third lower passages 32 and 32, is sucked into the stirring fan 29, and enters the processing chamber 25. The argon gas that has entered the processing chamber 25 is heated by the heater 6 to form an upward argon gas flow by natural convection due to the buoyancy of the argon gas itself and forced convection by the stirring fan 29 to form the processing object W. Heat. The argon gas rising in the processing chamber 25 hits the upper bottom of the heat insulating structure 4 and descends between the flow straightening cylinder 22 and the heat insulating structure 4. The descended argon gas strikes the bottom plate 17 in the vicinity of the lower end of the heat insulating structure 4 and flows inward through the third passages 32 and 32, and is sucked by the stirring fan 29 and enters the processing chamber 25. In the temperature raising / pressurizing step (# 15), the argon gas injected into the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 circulates between the processing chamber 25 and the rectifying cylinder 22 and the heat insulating structure 4 to obtain a soaking state. make it happen.

The agitation fan 29 is only required to promote natural convection, and the pressure loss on the discharge side is not large. Therefore, the use of an axial flow type fan that easily obtains a large discharge flow rate is suitable.
In this temperature raising / pressurizing step (# 15), the cooling fan 33 suppresses heat radiation due to natural convection caused by the density difference between the high-temperature argon gas in the processing chamber 25 and the low-temperature argon gas outside the isolation tube 3. In order to achieve this, it is operated so as to reversely rotate and antagonize this natural convection (see FIG. 5A). For this reason, the cooling fan 33 is a centrifugal flow (radial) type in which the direction of the discharge flow is reversed by switching between forward and reverse rotations, and a head difference greater than the head difference due to the gas density serving as the driving force for natural convection can be generated. It is recommended to use this fan.

Each of the shelf plates 23a to 23d is provided with a large number of holes 26a, ..., 26a, 26b, ..., 26b, 26c, ..., 26c, 26d, ..., 26d. Is smoothly performed without being hindered by the shelf plates 23a to 23d, and the processing object W is efficiently heated.
When the pressure in the hot isostatic pressing device 1 reaches a predetermined pressure (100 MPa), the supply of argon gas to the hot isostatic pressing device 1 is stopped. Further, when the temperature of the processing chamber 25 reaches a predetermined temperature (1200 ° C.), the temperature rise is stopped and the temperature is switched to the temperature holding by turning on and off the heater 6 (temperature pressure holding step, # 16).

  Also in this step (# 16), the stirring fan 29 and the cooling fan 33 continue to rotate. In the heat insulating structure 4 and the processing chamber 25, the argon gas forms a circulating flow as shown in FIG. 10 to prevent the occurrence of temperature distribution. The cooling fan 33 that is rotated in the reverse direction prevents the argon gas from entering the casing 24 from the hole 20 via the first lower passages 19 and 19, and the argon gas between the cylindrical portion 16 and the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9. And the temperature in the processing chamber 25 is prevented from lowering due to the argon gas being rapidly cooled between them. In this way, by rotating the cooling fan 33 in the reverse direction, the argon gas circulates only inside the heat insulating structure 4 so that heat transfer to the inner surface of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 having a relatively low temperature is suppressed, and less heat is generated. High temperature can be maintained with loss.

After maintaining the pressure in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 and the temperature of the processing chamber 25 for a predetermined time, cooling is performed. The cooling process is performed in at least three stages depending on the temperature.
The first cooling is started by completely stopping the heating by the heater 6 from the step (# 16) in which the high temperature and high pressure were maintained until then and circulating the cooling water through the jacket 13. Stirring fan 29 and cooling fan 33 continue the operation of the previous step (# 16). Therefore, the argon gas confined in the hot isostatic pressing device 1 and circulating inside the heat insulating structure 4 is not directly cooled by the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 cooled by the cooling water, but mainly by the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion. 9 and the cylindrical portion 16 and between the cylindrical portion 16 and the heat insulating structure 4 are cooled by natural cooling by radiation and local convection (natural cooling, # 17). In natural cooling (# 17), since the inside of the processing chamber 25 is at a high temperature, a sufficient cooling rate can be obtained even by such indirect cooling of the argon gas.

When the temperature of the processing chamber 25 reaches around 800 ° C. (the pressure at this time is about 80 MPa) at which the cooling rate due to natural cooling decreases, forced (convection) cooling is started (# 18). That is, the cooling fan 33 is rotated forward (see FIG. 5B), and the argon gas is positively passed through the hole 20 of the bottom plate 17 that has been substantially closed so that the argon gas does not pass through. The argon gas is efficiently cooled by the cooling water flowing through the inside.
In this cooling stage, as shown in FIG. 11, a part of the argon gas descending between the rectifying cylinder 22 and the heat insulating structure 4 passes through the second lower passages 21 and 21, and the heat insulating structure 4. And the cylindrical portion 16 are raised, and cooled directly by the inner surface of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 while descending between the cylindrical portion 16 and the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9. The cooled argon gas is sucked into the casing 24 from the hole 20 of the bottom plate 17 by the cooling fan 33 rotating in the forward direction, discharged by the stirring fan 29, and processed from the holes 26a,. It flows in and cools the processing object W.

In addition, at the lower end portion of the heat insulating structure 4, the argon gas is passed through the second lower passages 21 and 21 against the suction pressure of the stirring fan 29, and is raised between the heat insulating structure 4 and the cylindrical portion 16. As the cooling fan 33, it is preferable to use a centrifugal fan that can efficiently suck and discharge gas even with a large head difference, as shown in FIGS.
Now, when the cooling fan 33 rotates in the forward direction, argon gas passes between the cylindrical portion 16 and the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9, and the heat removal from the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 is significantly larger than in the case of natural convection. Thus, the cooling of the argon gas once blunted by the temperature drop in the processing chamber 25 is promoted, and the cooling rate of the processing object W can be increased. The cooling speed is achieved by controlling the rotational speed of the cooling fan 33. However, it is practical to program the cooling speed in advance and control the rotational speed of the cooling fan 33 according to this. As for the thermal uniformity, the target is usually about ± 5 ° C., but when the management width is out of the control range, the rotation speed of the stirring fan 29 is increased to increase the amount of argon gas to be circulated.

When the temperature in the processing chamber 25 is around 300 ° C., the cooling rate is extremely reduced only by heat removal by the inner surface of the pressure-resistant cylindrical portion 9 that has been cooled to about 100 ° C. by water, so as shown in FIG. Liquid argon is injected into the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 from the liquid argon inlet 52 via the liquid argon introduction path 15 to promote the cooling of the processing object W (liquid argon injection step, # 19). .
The injected liquid argon evaporates inside the hot isostatic pressing device 1, and at that time, the vaporization latent heat is taken away from the surroundings to lower the temperature. The argon gas whose temperature has been lowered is sent into the processing chamber 25 by the cooling fan 33 and the stirring fan 29 to cool the processing object W. The liquid argon inlet 52 opens to the suction side when the cooling fan 33 rotates forward.

Thus, by evaporating liquid argon and cooling the inside of the processing chamber 25 with the heat of vaporization, the time required for cooling from around 300 ° C. to around 100 ° C. can be greatly shortened. Further, since both the stirring fan 29 and the cooling fan 33 are arranged with their rotation centers aligned with the axis of the processing chamber forming body 5, the argon gas in the processing chamber 25 is axially symmetric and has a small temperature distribution. Thus, the influence (variation) on the cooling due to the placement position of the processing object W can be reduced to a negligible level.
The final stage of cooling is performed by discharging high-pressure argon gas in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 to the outside from the argon gas introduction path 14 (discharge step, # 20). Due to the release of the high-pressure argon gas, the argon gas in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 rapidly expands in a heat-insulating state and the temperature decreases. Due to the cooling effect due to such adiabatic expansion, the temperature of the object to be processed W is taken out (# 21) at the time when the release of the argon gas proceeds and the pressure in the hot isostatic pressing device 1 decreases to near atmospheric pressure. It can be reduced to the extent possible.

The hot isostatic pressing apparatus can be configured as shown in FIG. 13 or FIG.
In FIG. 13, the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1B includes a fan outer frame portion 28 having a fan hole 27 and a stirring fan 29 at the upper end of the processing chamber forming body 5B. Therefore, the driving motor 30 has a long shaft 31B, and the stirring fan 29 is directly attached to the long shaft 31B. The long shaft 31 </ b> B passes through a through hole 42 that penetrates the cooling fan 33 and the cooling fan drive shaft 39, and in the same manner as the hot isostatic pressing device 1, the rotation direction and the rotation direction of the cooling fan 33. The stirring fan 29 is driven regardless of the presence or absence. Moreover, the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1B is different from the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 in that the heat insulating structure 4 is not provided. You may provide the heat insulation structure 4 in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1B in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1B.

In other configurations, for example, the isolation cylinder 3 includes the cylindrical portion 16, the bottom plate 17, and the lower lid cover 18, the processing chamber forming body 5B includes the rectifying cylinder 22, the shelf plates 23a to 23d, the casing 24B, and the like. Each element constituting the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1B includes the stirring fan 29 and the driving motor 30 and the cooling stirring apparatus 8 including the cooling fan 33 and the driving motor 34. These are substantially the same as the constituent elements having the same numbers in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the movement of argon gas in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1B in the HIP process. FIG. 14 (a) shows the movement of argon gas in the temperature raising / pressurizing step (# 15), FIG. 14 (b) shows the movement of argon gas in the temperature / pressure holding step (# 16) and natural cooling (# 17), and FIG. 14 (c) shows the movement of argon gas in the forced cooling (# 18) and liquid argon injection step (# 19). The operation conditions and the like of each step in the HIP process by the hot isostatic press apparatus 1B are substantially the same as the HIP process in the hot isostatic press apparatus 1.

In FIG. 15, the hot isostatic pressing device 1C includes a fan outer frame portion 28C having a fan hole 27C and a stirring fan 29 at the upper end of the processing chamber forming body 5C, and a hot tube at the upper end of the isolation cylinder 3C. The top plate 53C is provided with a circular hole 20C corresponding to the bottom plate 17 of the isotropic pressure press 1 and penetrating in the center, and a cooling fan 33 is provided.
The agitating fan 29 is integrated with an agitating fan drive shaft 54C that extends long, and the agitating fan drive shaft 54C has a bearing at the lower end thereof with its axis aligned with the axis of the processing chamber forming body 5C. 40 is rotatably attached to the lower lid cover 18. A driven gear 55C is attached to the lower end of the stirring fan drive shaft 54C, and a through hole 56C penetrates the shafts of the stirring fan 29, the stirring fan drive shaft 54C, and the driven gear 55C.

The driven gear 55C is meshed with a drive gear 57C fixed to the shaft of the motor 30C partially accommodated in the lower lid 11. The stirring fan 29 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 30C being transmitted by the drive gear 57C and the driven gear 55C.
The cooling fan 33 is driven by a motor 34 </ b> C that is partly housed and fixed in the lower lid 11. The shaft 58C of the motor 34C passes through the through-hole 56C in a freely rotatable manner, and the cooling fan 33 directly attached to the upper end of the shaft 34C is attached in the forward direction or the reverse direction independently of the rotation of the stirring fan drive shaft 54C. Rotate.

In the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 </ b> C, a lower plate 59 </ b> C for supporting the processing chamber forming body 5 </ b> C is provided below the cylindrical portion 16. The lower plate 59C is provided with a flow path 60C that communicates the inside and outside of the processing chamber forming body 5C.
The configurations other than those described above in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1C are substantially the same as the constituent elements having the same numbers in the hot isostatic pressing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 described above. .
In the HIP process using the hot isostatic pressing devices 1, 1B, 1C, the drift of the argon gas in the process chamber 25 is reduced as much as possible to eliminate variations in the HIP process caused by the difference in the place where the processing object W is placed. In addition, overheating of the driving motors 30 and 34 of the stirring fan 29 and the cooling fan 33 can be prevented to extend their useful life and reduce the burden of maintenance work. In addition, (1) a problem that the cycle time has been prolonged, in particular, a problem that a cooling time becomes long in a temperature range of 300 ° C. or lower, and (2) a temperature at the upper and lower portions in the processing chamber during the cooling process. The problem of occurrence of distribution (temperature difference) is solved, and the processing object W can be taken out of the HIP device in a short cooling time, and the occupation time of the HIP device can be shortened.

  In particular, in recent years, the size of the processing object W has increased, and it has been predicted that an ultra-large HIP apparatus having a processing chamber diameter exceeding 2 m has been installed. The stirring apparatus described above in such a large-sized HIP apparatus 7 and the cooling stirring device 8 can be combined to enable HIP processing in a short time. In addition, the processing cost can be expected to be reduced by increasing the size and shortening the cycle time, and it can be easily applied to many products, for example, aluminum alloy castings for automobiles, to which HIP processing has not been applied so far. The field of application of HIP processing to industrial production has been expanded, and it is extremely large that contributes to industrial development.

In the above-described embodiment, nitrogen gas (liquefied nitrogen) or helium gas (liquefied helium) can be used as the pressurizing gas and the liquefied gas at the time of cooling.
In addition, each configuration or overall structure, shape, size, number, material, and the like of the hot isostatic press devices 1, 1B, 1C and the hot isostatic press devices 1, 1B, 1C are within the meaning of the present invention. Can be changed accordingly.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in a hot isostatic pressing apparatus that performs diffusion bonding of different materials, for example, in an inert gas atmosphere at high temperature and high pressure.

It is front sectional drawing of the hot isostatic press apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is front sectional drawing of a stirring apparatus and a cooling stirring apparatus. It is a schematic diagram of a stirring fan. It is front sectional drawing of the fan for cooling. It is AA arrow sectional drawing in FIG. It is front sectional drawing of the cooling and stirring apparatus using a pulley and a belt. It is a flowchart of a HIP process. It is a figure which shows the temperature and pressure change of a HIP process. It is a figure which shows the motion of the argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus in a HIP process. It is a figure which shows the motion of the argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus in a HIP process. It is a figure which shows the motion of the argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus in a HIP process. It is a figure which shows the motion of the argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus in a HIP process. It is front sectional drawing of the hot isostatic press apparatus in other embodiment. It is front sectional drawing of the hot isostatic press apparatus in other embodiment. It is a figure which shows the motion of the argon gas in the hot isostatic press apparatus in a HIP process. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional hot isostatic pressing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1B, 1C Hot isostatic press 2 High pressure vessel 3 Isolation chamber forming body (isolation tube)
4 Heat-insulating structure 5 Processing chamber forming body 19 (at one of the upper end or the lower end of the isolation chamber forming body) passage (first lower passage)
20, 20C Second passage (hole)
29 Second fan (stirring fan)
30 Second fan driving motor (motor)
31 Drive shaft (shaft) of the second fan
31B Second fan drive shaft (long shaft)
32B, 32C Third passage (third lower passage)
33 First fan (for cooling) fan 34 First fan driving motor (motor)
39 First Fan Drive Shaft (Cooling Fan Drive Shaft)
42 Through-hole W Object to be treated

Claims (5)

A hot isostatic pressing device for accommodating a processing object and processing the processing object with a high-temperature and high-pressure inert gas,
A high pressure vessel;
An isolation chamber forming body whose outer surface is spaced from the inner surface of the high-pressure vessel and accommodated in the high-pressure vessel;
A heat insulating structure whose outer surface is disposed with an interval from the inner surface of the isolation chamber forming body; and
A processing chamber forming body having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the heat insulating structure and disposed with the central axis in the vertical direction;
The isolation chamber forming body is:
One of the upper end or the lower end is opened, or a first passage is provided for communicating the inside and outside with the one,
And a second passage that communicates the inside and the outside with the other of the upper end and the lower end, and a first fan that discharges toward or sucks from the second passage by forward / reverse switching of the rotation direction. And
The processing chamber forming body includes:
A third passage is provided in which one of the upper end or the lower end is opened or the inside communicates with the one;
And a second fan that is rotatable independently of the first fan for ventilation is provided on the other of the upper end and the lower end,
The hot isostatic press apparatus is characterized in that the first fan and the second fan are arranged such that the rotation axes of both the first fan and the second fan coincide with the central axis of the processing chamber forming body. The first fan is provided at a lower portion of the isolation chamber forming body;
The first fan and the drive shaft of the first fan are provided with a through hole penetrating in the axial direction,
The hot isostatic pressing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drive shaft of the second fan is rotatably penetrated through the through hole. The high-pressure vessel is provided with a lower space that is isolated from the isolation chamber forming body below the interior thereof,
The hot isostatic pressing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first fan driving motor and the second fan driving motor are arranged in the lower space. The first fan is a centrifugal fan;
The hot isostatic press apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second fan is an axial flow type fan. The first fan is
The motor is driven by meshing of a gear attached to a drive shaft of the first fan and a shaft of the first fan driving motor, connection by a sprocket and a chain, or connection by a pulley and a belt. The hot isostatic pressing apparatus described in 1.

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