Patent Application
20090102095
The present invention relates to correcting and setting the shape of cast components. It is particularly, though not exclusively, concerned with correcting the shape of brittle, expensive components that require a high level of precision.
A gas turbine engine, as shown in
Typically the blades of the low pressure turbine 26 are cast from nickel alloys. Casting does not always result in a perfectly formed component and thus some correction of the shape is required. This can be performed relatively easily and cheaply by mechanical plastic deformation. However, there is a requirement to replace nickel alloys with intermetallics such as titanium aluminide alloys to reduce the weight of the low pressure turbine without compromising the strength of the blades. Gamma titanium aluminide (γ-TiAl) is a desirable alloy for low pressure turbine blades. However, it is a relatively brittle material and therefore cannot be deformed using mechanical plastic deformation.
One disadvantage of this alloy is that low pressure turbine blades cast from intermetallics such as γ-TiAl must either suffer very low yield, due to the blade being imperfectly shaped, or must be cast oversize and then machined to the desired shape. In either case this is expensive, time consuming and wasteful.
The present invention seeks to provide a method of forming a perfectly shaped component that seeks to address the aforementioned problems.
Accordingly the present invention provides a method of forming a component comprising the steps of casting a component; placing the component adjacent a mould surface; and creep deforming the component during the application of heat and pressure to conform at least a part thereof to the mould surface.
Preferably the component comprises titanium aluminide alloy, forms of silicide based on niobium or molybdenum, or ceramic.
Preferably the applied pressure comprises isostatic pressure. More preferably the hot isostatic pressure is applied via a secondary particulate material.
Preferably the component and mould surface are wrapped in a foil to prevent infiltration between the component and mould surface by the secondary particulate material. More preferably the foil is yttria coated.
Preferably the component is a turbine blade for a gas turbine engine. More preferably the component is a low pressure turbine blade.
Preferably the creep mould is ceramic. More preferably the creep mould comprises yttria face coated alumina or silica.
Preferably the component is cast in a net-shape mould.
The present invention will be more fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The method of the present invention is described with reference to the first embodiment shown in
In a second step of the method of the present invention, the turbine blade 34, having a pressure surface 36 and a suction surface 38, is placed onto a creep mould 40 having a mould surface 42 that defines the desired shape of the pressure surface 36 of the turbine blade 34. The pressure surface 36 of the blade 34 is placed against, but does not exactly conform to, the mould surface 42 of the creep mould 40, as is shown in
The creep mould 40 is preferably a ceramic component so that it is unaffected by the heat supplied thereto in a later step of the method. Preferably, the ceramic is yttria face coated alumina or silica, which is similar to the material used to form casting moulds.
In a third step of the method, the arrangement 44, comprising the turbine blade 34, the creep mould 40 and the foil 43, is placed inside a canister comprising a deformable wall inside a hot isostatic pressure (HIP) chamber. Between the deformable wall and the arrangement 44 inside is a solid particulate material that can transfer heat and isostatic pressure from supply means located externally of the deformable wall to the arrangement 44. The foil wrapping 43 prevents the solid particulate material infiltrating the gap between the turbine blade 34 and the creep mould 40. Typically the isostatic pressure is applied to the deformable wall by argon gas impingement, which can also be heated, but other known methods can be used with equal felicity.
In a fourth step of the method, heat and isostatic pressure are applied to the canister inside the HIP chamber to consolidate the component and close all porosities. During the application of heat and isostatic pressure in the HIP chamber the turbine blade 34 also deforms through the mechanism of creep. Since the creep mould 40 retains its shape throughout the HIP process, the turbine blade 34 deforms under its own weight so that its pressure surface 36 conforms to the shape of the mould surface 42 of the creep mould 40 as shown in
Hence, this method provides a turbine blade 34 that is fully consolidated and has the desired shape. This substantially reduces or eliminates the waste associated with a need to scrap imperfectly shaped blades 34 or to cast an oversize component and machine away waste material until the desired shape and size is obtained.
A typical turbine blade 34 is around 400 mm long, indicated by arrows y in
A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The arrangement 50, comprising the turbine blade 34 and the first and second creep moulds 40, 46, is placed inside a canister within a HIP chamber as described with respect to the first embodiment. Heat and isostatic pressure are applied to the canister inside the HIP chamber, preferably by heated argon gas, to consolidate the blade 34 and to close the porosities. The combined weight of the blade 34 and the second (upper) creep mould 46 also causes the turbine blade 34 to creep. The first and second creep moulds 40, 46 constrain the blade 34 to deform during creep to conform to the shape of the adjacent creep mould. Hence, the turbine blade 34 creeps to the shape shown in
The arrangement 50 can be removed from the canister and the HIP chamber and the turbine blade 34 extracted from between the creep moulds 40, 46. Further processing may be required as discussed in relation to the first embodiment.
Although the method of the present invention has been described with respect to the shape correction and setting of a turbine blade 34, it may be applied to other components of a gas turbine engine, for example low pressure turbine stators and high pressure compressor stators and blades.
Although the canister has been described with a deformable wall surrounding a solid particulate material for transferring the heat and isostatic pressure, other known methods of HIP treating a component could be employed. For example, direct application of heat and isostatic pressure to a sealed foil assembly, although this has been found to be less efficacious than the indirect method described above.
Although the isostatic pressure applied to the deformable wall is described as via argon gas impingement, which can also be heated, other known methods can be used with equal felicity.
Although creep setting of intermetallics such as γ-TiAl has been described, the method of the present invention can also be used with other brittle materials such as ceramics and forms of silicide based on niobium or molybdenum. Such materials could be used for components in hotter parts of a gas turbine engine or in other applications.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0719873.2 | Oct 2007 | GB | national |
