Titanium investment casting is an essential technology used in the production of complex components used in the manufacture of aircraft engines. Many of the designs which enable more efficient operation are bound by limitations in the manufacturing process.
The European metal casting industry faces demands for lighter components with lower total costs of use and with enhanced mechanical properties, surface finish, and dimensional accuracy, all of which are necessary to improve product performance. Simultaneously, they face continuously increasing competition from foundries and machine shops in low labour cost countries. Precision casting is often seen as a craft process and, as such, is not perfectly understood. Around 5%-16% of complex aerospace castings are scrapped as a result of failure or inconsistency of the manufacturing process.
The project aims to address these challenges enabling increased complexity of design and reduced waste during the manufacturing process; resulting in more efficient design, reduced cost by reducing waste and increased environmental benefits by both reduced weight and increased efficiency in operation.
The project has successfully identified three key outputs from the activities undertaken. These are as follows:
• Demonstrated the potential of two new casting alloys in the aerospace arena and has demonstrated their potential benefit for use in components where strength is key to the design. Such alloys have the potential for weight savings on such components.
• Determined the limitations and demonstrated the ability for inspection of a complex casting using conventional and new ultrasonic techniques for identification and accurate location of sub-surface defects. This will allow for a higher confidence in the products supplied, reduced cost and increased material utilisation.
• Developed and demonstrated the ability to further stabilise mould-metal reaction to reduce the formation of alpha case by 50%. Such coatings will massively reduce the environmental impact of the chemical machining operation, increase the utilisation of material and have beneficial associated cost savings.
