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SkyLight: Innovations in titanium investment casting of lightweight structural components for aero engines

Projektbeschreibung

Grenzen überschreiten und innovativ sein, um eine neue Ära des Gießens zu begründen

Es ist an der Zeit, sich auf einen Wandel der Geisteshaltung im Metallguss- und Fertigungssektor vorzubereiten. Forschende stellen sich den langjährigen Herausforderungen des Feingussverfahrens. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt SkyLight ist bestrebt, Grenzen zu sprengen und die Branche in unerforschte Bereiche zu führen. Das Projekt soll konkret eine beispiellose geometrische Komplexität hervorbringen, die Fehlerquote um 50 % senken, die Steifigkeit optimieren und Gewichtseinsparungen von 15 bis 30 % bewerkstelligen. Die das Projekt koordinierende Abteilung AMRC Castings der angesehenen Universität Sheffield wird einen riesigen Ofen für den Guss von Titanbauteilen für die Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie installieren und damit ihre Position als führendes Unternehmen in diesem Bereich weiter festigen.

Ziel

Project SkyLight is proposed by AMRC Castings (which evolved out of Castings Technology International). AMRC Castings, a department of the University of Sheffield (USFD), is part of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult. AMRC Castings’ mission is to develop and disseminate casting technology to the benefit of the cast metal and manufacturing sectors.
Based on the Topic Description, and on AMRC Castings’ long experience of similar projects, we believe that project SkyLight would enable the investment casting process to deliver greater geometrical complexity, reduce defects by 50%, optimise stiffness, and deliver weight saving of 15% to 30% and cost saving of 30% compared to conventionally fabricated multi-piece assemblies, along with significant environmental benefits for both the manufacturing and the use phase of the component.
AMRC Castings helped Sulzer to achieve an improvement in pump absorbed efficiency - saving 10% on the power demand. AMRC Castings’ Patternless® process helped Rolls-Royce reduce the time from CAD model to prototypes from 6 months to 6 weeks, and developed more accurate naval propellers for the VT Group that are seen as setting a new standard for others to follow. AMRC Castings’ MEGAshell® process enables ceramic moulds with dimensions of up to 2m3 to be manufactured so that heavy section valve castings weighing several tonnes can be manufactured 34% lighter than the sand cast equivalent and reducing machining costs by over 50%.
This year, AMRC Castings is installing what is believed to be the largest furnace for casting titanium aerospace components in Western Europe - a 1000kg titanium melter - to complement its existing state-of-the-art casting facilities.
AMRC Castings has participated in 21 EU-funded collaborative research projects including 8 projects as coordinator - including research projects such as FASTCAST and events to achieve the greater participation of the castings sector in EU-funded research programmes.

Koordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
Netto-EU-Beitrag
€ 801 040,25
Adresse
FIRTH COURT WESTERN BANK
S10 2TN Sheffield
Vereinigtes Königreich

Auf der Karte ansehen

Region
Yorkshire and the Humber South Yorkshire Sheffield
Aktivitätstyp
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Gesamtkosten
€ 801 040,25