Claims
- 1. A method for determining whether a metal or metal alloy article has inclusions, comprising:
providing a cast metal or metal alloy article made using a casting mold comprising ytterbium as an N-ray imaging agent in an amount sufficient for imaging inclusions; and determining whether the article has inclusions by N-ray imaging.
- 2. The method according to claim 1 where the N-ray imaging agent is ytterbia.
- 3. A method for casting a metal or metal alloy article, comprising:
providing a casting mold comprising an N-ray imaging agent which includes a material selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof; and casting a metal or metal alloy article using the casting mold.
- 4. The method according to claim 3 where the N-ray imaging agent includes a material selected from the group consisting of samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 5. The method according to claim 3 where the N-ray imaging agent includes gadolinium.
- 6. The method according to claim 5 where the N-ray imaging agent is gadolinia.
- 7. The method according to claim 3 where the casting mold includes a facecoat having a refractory material selected from the group consisting of yttria, zirconia, alumina, calcia, silica, zirconia, titania, tungsten, physical mixtures thereof, and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 8. A method for determining whether a metal or metal alloy article has inclusions, comprising:
providing a cast metal or metal alloy article made using a casting mold comprising an imaging agent in amounts sufficient for imaging inclusions; and determining whether the article has inclusions by N-ray analysis using a film image recorder.
- 9. The method according to claim 8 where the film image recorder is a camera.
- 10. The method according to claim 8 where the film image recorder is a light-emitting fluorescent screen.
- 11. The method according to claim 8 where determining whether the article has inclusions by N-ray analysis comprises using neutrons selected from the group consisting of fast, epithermal, thermal and cold neutrons, or combinations thereof.
- 12. The method according to claim 11 where the neutrons are cold neutrons.
- 13. The method according to claim 11 where the neutrons are epithermal neutrons.
- 14. The method according to claim 8 where the imaging agent is selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof, and chemical mixtures thereof, and the mold includes a facecoat refractory material selected from the group consisting of yttria, zirconia, alumina, calcia, silica, zircon, titania, tungsten, physical mixtures thereof, and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 15. A method for real time detection of inclusions in a metal or metal alloy article, comprising:
providing a cast metal or metal alloy article made using a casting mold comprising an imaging agent in amounts sufficient for imaging inclusions; and determining whether the article has inclusions by real time N-ray analysis.
- 16. The method according to claim 15 where determining comprises analyzing N-ray images produced in real time using an image displaying device.
- 17. The method according to claim 16 where the image displaying device is a light-emitting fluorescent screen.
- 18. A method for real time detection of inclusions in a metal or metal alloy article, comprising:
casting a metal or metal alloy article using a mold having a facecoat comprising an imaging agent distributed substantially uniformly throughout in amounts sufficient for imaging inclusions; and analyzing the article for inclusions by real time N-ray analysis.
- 19. The method according to claim 18 where the mold is an investment casting mold, and the imaging agent is distributed substantially uniformly in at least a facecoat layer.
- 20. The method according to claim 18 where the step of analyzing further comprises X-ray analysis.
- 21. The method according to claim 18 where the imaging agent includes a material selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 22. The method according to claim 21 where the imaging agent is a metal salt, a metal oxide, an intermetallic, a boride, or mixtures thereof.
- 23. The method according to claim 18 where the article comprises a titanium or a titanium alloy, the facecoat comprises yttria or zirconia, and the imaging agent is gadolinia.
- 24. A method for real time detection of inclusions in a metal or metal alloy article, comprising:
forming an aqueous or non-aqueous facecoat slurry comprising an inclusion imaging agent; applying the facecoat slurry to a pattern to form a mold facecoat comprising the imaging agent distributed substantially uniformly throughout in amounts sufficient for imaging inclusions; serially applying plural backup layers to the pattern to form a mold for investment casting; casting a metal article using the mold; and analyzing the article for inclusions using real time N-ray analysis.
- 25. The method according to claim 24 where analyzing further comprises X-ray analysis.
- 26. The method according to claim 24 where the imaging agent includes a material selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 27. The method according to claim 26 where the article comprises a titanium or a titanium alloy and the facecoat further comprises a refractory material selected from the group consisting of yttria, zirconia, alumina, calcia, silica, zircon, titania, tungsten, physical mixtures thereof, and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 28. The method according to claim 24 where at least a portion of the metal or metal alloy article has a thickness of greater than about 2 inches.
- 29. The method according to claim 24 where at least a portion of the metal or metal alloy article has a thickness of greater than about 1 inch, the imaging agent is gadolinia, and alpha case in the article is less than or equal to that when the facecoat is yttria.
- 30. A method for real-time detection of inclusions in a titanium or titanium alloy article produced by investment casting, comprising:
forming an aqueous or non-aqueous investment casting facecoat slurry comprising an intimate mixture of a mold-forming material selected from the group consisting of yttria, zirconia, alumina, calcia, silica, zircon, titania, tungsten, physical mixtures thereof, and chemical mixtures thereof, and an imaging agent in an amount sufficient to allow imaging of inclusions in the article, the imaging agent including a material selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof; applying the slurry to a pattern to form a mold facecoat comprising the intimate mixture of the mold-forming material and the imaging agent distributed substantially uniformly throughout in amounts sufficient for imaging inclusions wherein a linear attenuation coefficient of the article and a linear attenuation coefficient of the imaging agent are sufficiently different to allow imaging of the inclusion throughout the article by real time N-ray analysis; serially applying plural backup layers to the pattern and thereafter firing the pattern to form a mold for investment casting; casting a titanium or titanium alloy article using the mold; and analyzing the article for mold inclusions by real time N-ray analysis.
- 31. The method according to claim 30 where analyzing further comprises X-ray analysis.
- 32. The method according to claim 30 where at least one backup layer also comprises an imaging agent
- 33. The method according to claim 30 where the mold-forming material is yttria and the imaging agent is gadolinia.
- 34. The method according to claim 30 where the facecoat comprises yttria cocalcined with gadolinia.
- 35. The method according to claim 30 where the facecoat comprises a refractory material and plural imaging agents.
- 36. A method for detecting inclusions in investment castings, comprising:
placing a solution of at least one imaging agent inside a cavity of an investment casting mold; allowing the solution to remain in the cavity for a sufficient period of time to infiltrate at least the facecoat of the mold; removing the solution from the cavity; casting a metal or metal alloy article using the mold; and analyzing the article for mold inclusions by N-ray imaging.
- 37. The method according to claim 40 where the imaging agent is selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof.
- 38. The method according to claim 36 where the imaging agent comprises gadolinium, the metal or metal alloy is titanium or a titanium alloy, and the facecoat comprises yttria.
- 39. The method according to claim 36 and further comprising analyzing the article for inclusions by X-ray imaging.
- 40. The method according to claim 36 where the solution comprises plural imaging agents.
- 41. The method according to claim 36 and further comprising placing the mold in a chamber and reducing the pressure in the chamber to facilitate solution infiltrating the mold.
- 42. A method for detecting inclusions in investment castings, comprising
forming an investment casting mold facecoat about a pattern; infiltrating at least a portion of the facecoat using an aqueous or non-aqueous solution of at least one imaging agent comprising a material selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, indium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof; casting a metal or metal alloy article using an investment casting mold having the facecoat; and analyzing the article for inclusions by N-ray imaging.
- 43. The method according to claim 42 and further including
forming plural mold backup layers about the pattern; and infiltrating at least one of the plural mold backup layers with the solution of the imaging agent.
- 44. The method according to claim 42 where infiltrating comprises immersing at least a portion of the pattern having the facecoat into an aqueous or non-aqueous solution comprising the imaging agent for a period of time sufficient to infiltrate the facecoat with imaging agent.
- 45. The method according to claim 42 where analyzing the article comprises using moderated neutrons.
- 46. The method according to claim 42 where analyzing comprises real time analysis.
- 47. A method for determining whether a metal or metal alloy article has inclusions in real time, comprising:
providing a cast metal or metal alloy article made using a casting mold comprising an N-ray imaging agent in an amount sufficient for imaging inclusions; and determining whether the article has inclusions by real time N-ray imaging using neutrons selected from the group consisting of fast, epithermal, thermal and cold neutrons.
- 48. The method according to claim 47 where the imaging agent comprises an intimate mixture of a refractory material and the imaging agent.
- 49. The method according to claim 47 where the casting mold is infiltrated using solutions of imaging agents.
- 50. The method according to claim 47 where the mold comprises a mold-forming material selected from the group consisting of yttria, zirconia, alumina, calcia, silica, zircon, titania, tungsten, physical mixtures thereof, and chemical mixtures thereof, and the imaging agent is selected from the group consisting of lithium, boron, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, iridium, physical mixtures thereof and chemical mixtures thereof.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of applicants' prior application Ser. No. 09/327,038, filed Jun. 7, 1999, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/212,116, filed Dec. 15, 1998, which claimed priority from provisional application No. 60/069,597, filed on Dec. 15, 1997. Applicants' prior applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60069597 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Continuations (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10128980 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Child |
10283209 |
Oct 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09602671 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10128980 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09212116 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
09327038 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09327038 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Child |
09602671 |
Jun 2000 |
US |