Unit-V Investment Casting of Superalloys

Investment Casting of Superalloys
Investment Casting of Superalloy

Superalloys
UNIT-I: Introduction to superalloys
Guide to selection of superalloys, wrought superalloys, Heat Resistant alloys. Physical Metallurgy:-
Microstructure of wrought Heat-Resisting Alloys, Microstructure of Ni-base & Co-base heat-resistant
casting alloys. Temperature and Time-dependent Transformation. Application to Heat Treatment of High
Temperature Alloys.
UNIT-II: Relationship of properties to microstructure in superalloys.
Fracture properties of superalloys. High temperature corrosion and use of castings for protection. Effect of
Physical Metallurgy and process variables on the microstructure of wrought superalloys. Process and
Metallurgical factors affecting on superalloys and other high temperature materials.
UNIT-III: Melting Process
Melting of Superalloys; Principles and practices of Vacuum Induction Melting and Vacuum Arc melting.
UNIT-IV: Forming Methods
Forming and Fabrication of superalloys; Recent developments in P/M of superalloys-Production of
components by Hot-Isostatic Pressing.
UNIT-V: Casting Methods
Improving turbine blade performance by solidification control-the development of single crystal turbine
blades. Quality of superalloys castings; Heat Treating of Heat resistant alloys
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Superalloys: Source book; Mathew J. Donachie. Jr. Editor; 1984.
2. The Superalloys: Edited Chester T. Sims and William C Haagel; 1972
REFERENCE:
1. High Temperature MATERIALS - Campbell IE, John Wiley and Sons Inc.;1956
2. The Superalloys: Fundamentals and Applications - Roger C. Reed
3. Superalloys: A Technical Guide - Elihu F. Bradley - 1988 - 280 pages
4. Super alloys: A Technical Guide, Mathew J. Donachie, Stephen J. Donachie
Investment Casting or “Lost Wax Casting” Process enables us to produce Near-Net Shapes of complex shaped
components.
Development of Investment Casting technology
 Enabled us to achieve excellent creep and rupture strengths at elevated temperatures
 Close down / Narrow down the difference in fatigue strength and ductility when compared to its wrought
counterpart of similar composition.
 The influence of grain size difference will still be there in achievement of fatigue properties, although casting
defects are minimized/eliminated by improved casting process and Hipping.
Steps Involved in Casting Process:
1. Availability of a die
2. Pattern Making
3. Clustering
4. Mould/Shell Making
5. Waxing
6. Vacuum Melting and Casting
7. Thermal Processing
Fig: Schematic illustration of the investment casting process

2. Pattern Making
3. Clustering/Assembly
5. Waxing
 The first step in the investment casting process is to

produce an exact replica or pattern of the part in wax,
plastic or a combination thereof.
 Pattern dimensions must compensate for wax, mould,

and metal shrinkage during processing.
 If the product contains internal passages, a preformed

ceramic core is inserted in the die cavity, around
which the pattern material is injected.
 Except for large or complex castings, a number of

patterns may be assembled in a cluster and held in the Fig: Basic steps in the investment casting process
position in order to channel the molten metal into the
various mould cavities.
2. Pattern Making
3. Clustering/Assembly
5. Waxing
 Design and positioning of the runners and gating is

critical to achieving sound, metallurgically acceptable
castings.
 The mould are produced by first immersing the

pattern assembly in an aqueous ceramic slurry.
 A dry, granular ceramic stucco is applied immediately

after dipping to strengthen the shell. These steps are
repeated several times to develop a rigid shell.
 After slow, thorough drying, the wax is melted out of

the shell and the mould is fired to increase
Fig: Basic steps in the investment casting process
substantially its strength for handling and storage.
 An insulating blanket is tailored to the mould

configuration to minimise heat loss during the casting
operation and to control solidification.
Fig: The major steps involved in the production of superalloy remelt metal.
Fig: A flow diagram encompassing the major steps involved in the production of gas turbine components.
1. Availability of a die:
 A die assembly should consist primarily of two or more split segments which upon their assemblage will produce a
dimensionally accurate replica of the component inside the die pocket.
 There will be an injection port in the die through which the molten wax will flow to fill the void inside the die.
 Die can be made of die steel or any other alloy.
 Die surface should be accurately finished to the exact dimension of the superalloy component to be investment cast.
2. Pattern Making:
 Wax patterns are made by injecting semi-molten pattern wax into the pattern die using wax injection machine.
 This machine injects wax at a controlled temperature.
 The injection nozzle mates with the injection hole in the die and wax is injected.
 After a suitable dwell time (3 to 5 min) when the wax is solidified, the injection nozzle withdrawn and die is split
open to remove wax patterns.
2. Pattern Making:
Typical specification:
o Wax used: Near Melting Point
o Injection Pressure: 1.5 – 2.22 MPa
o Wax suction time: 12 seconds
o Dwell time: 3 min
o Injection temperature: 75ºC
 Pattern dimension should take care of metal shrinkage during solidification and Hipping.
3. Clustering:
 For complex casting, patterns are assembled in a cluster of 2 or more patterns.
 Clustering will consist of (a) Individual wax patterns joined together with pouring cup and in-gates using solder Fe.
 Pouring cup acts as a Feeder Gating is also provided either Top gates or Bottom gating.
4. Mould/Shell Making:
 The ceramic shells are prepared by dipping the clusters into a aqueous ceramic slurry, then after draining the excess
slurry carefully.
 The wet clusters are stuccoed with coarse refractory particles in a sand drainer.
 The coating is then dried under controlled humidity and temperature to prevent cracking of the shell.
 The process of dipping and stuccoing is repeated several times until sufficient thickness is achieved.
 A shell thickness of 6 – 8 mm is achieved.
 Material used
 Binder : Colloidal silica (30% silica content)
 Flour : -200 # Zircon Powder
 Stucco : Zircon sand for first coat, mullite for coats
 No. of coats :6–7
 Thickness : Minimum 6 mm
5. Dewaxing:
 After completion of the shell drying wax, is removed using steam de-waxing auto-claves.
 A steam pressure of 100 psi is used.
 During steam de-waxing, the pattern wax melts quickly before bulk of pattern is heated.
 This prevents cracking of ceramic shell due to thermal expansion of the pattern.
 After de-waxing, the shells are heated to 1000ºC to burn off remaining wax and sinter the shell to give them
sufficient strength.
 For handling: An insulating blanket is tailored to the mould configuration to minimize heat loss during the casting
operation and to control solidification
Steps in Investment Casting of Superalloys
6. Vacuum Melting and Casting:
 The vacuum casting furnace has an induction melting coil in the melting chamber and a mould chamber with a
moving platen.
 The required amount of alloy charge is introduced through a locking device and is melted rapidly to a pre-
determined temperature usually 85 – 165ºC, above the liquidus temperature.
 Zirconia crucibles are commonly employed.
 When superheat condition is satisfied, the pre-heated mould (870 - 1260ºC) is rapidly transferred from the pre-heat
furnace to the lower chamber and evacuated.
 The molten alloy is poured into the pre-heated mould and is then transferred to the mould chamber and then form
the mould chamber.
 After the casting is cooled the ceramic shell is broken carefully and removed from the casting.
 The castings are separated either by using abrasive cut-off saw or electric discharge saw.
 Directionally solidified single or polycrystalline castings are produced in especially designed equipment.
 A unique feature of the furnace is a heater that surrounds the mould, maintaining it at a temperature above the
liquidus of the alloy being cast.
 The gradient within the open-bottomed mould is achieved by placement on a water-cooled Cu chill; the mould is
withdrawn from the heater at a rate of 10-38 cm/h.
 To maintain the continuity of the grain structure, it is common to progressive variations in the withdrawal rate.
7. Thermal Processing: It consists of Hipping and heat treatment.
Hipping: Hot Isostatic Pressing.
 Microstructure is eliminated by the simultaneous application of gas pressure and high temperature.
 In practice, highest possible temperature is chosen consistent with avoiding incipient melting.
 For most superalloy: Temperature range : 1200 – 1220ºC

Pressure : 15Ksi (103 MPa).
Time :4h
 For IN 738 Ni-based superalloy castings: Temperature range : 1200ºC

Pressure : 1021 atm
Time : 3.75 – 4.50 h
 Superalloy containing Hf, MP is depressed

Lower temperature is selected : (1185ºC)
Higher pressure : 174 MPa
 High strength alloy MAR-M-247 and IN-792, Hf do not respond to the lower pressure in reasonable cycle time.
 Hipping reduces scatters in rupture properties substantially and improves fatigue property.
Heat Treatment :
 On cast products, scatter of properties are noticed at different cross-sections owing to variations in cooling and
presence of segregation and the microstructure of as-cast condition.
 Resolution by heat treatment enables us to minimize scatter in properties and an acceptable microstructure.
Fig: A schematic showing differences between

equiaxed casting (including fine grain techniques) and
directional solidification (including single crystal
variations), for the ceramic shell and casting furnace.
The Casting Process:
 Most superalloys are cast in vacuum to avoid the oxidation of reactive elements in their compositions.
 Some Co-based superalloys are cast in air using induction or indirect arc rollover furnaces.
 The vacuum casting of equiaxed-grain products is usually done in a furnace divided into 2 major chambers, each held under
vacuum and separated by a large door or valve.
 The upper chamber contains an induction-heated re-usable ceramic crucible in which the alloy is melted.
 Zirconia crucibles are commonly employed, single-use silica liners may be specified when alloy cleanliness is especially critical.
 The pre-weighed charge is introduced through a lock device and is melted rapidly to a pre-determined temperature, usually 85 to
165ºC above the liquidus temperature.
 Precise optical measurement of this temperature is crucial.
 Metal temperature during casting is much more critical than mould temperature in controlling grain size and orientation.
 It also strongly affects the presence and location of micro-shrinkage.
 When the superheat condition is satisfied, the pre-heated mould is rapidly transferred from the pre-heat furnace to the lower
chamber, which is then evacuated.
 The mould is raised to the casting position, and the molten superalloy is quickly poured into cavity: Speed and Reproducibility
are essential in order to achieve good fill without cold shuts and other related imperfections.
 Precise mould positioning and pour rates also are imperative.
 For maximum consistency, melting and casting are programmed closed-loop furnace control.
 The filled mould is lowered an d removed from the furnace.

The Casting Process:
 Shrinkage during solidification is minimized in part by maintaining a head of molten metal to feed the casting , this is achieved by
adding an exothermic material immediately after mould removal from the furnace.
 Because of thermal expansion differences, the shell mould usually fractures upon cooling, facilitating its removal by mechanical or
hydraulic means.
 Before grit- and sand-blasting operations, the individual castings are separated from the cluster y abrasive cut-off.
 After shell removal, the cluster is checked by one of several commercially available emission or X-ray fluorescence instruments to
verify the alloy identification.
 A major portion of the casting cost is in the finishing operations, which remain labour intensive.
 Superficial surface defects are blended out abrasively within specified limits and the castings may require mechanical straightening
operations before an d after heat treatment to satisfy dimensional requirements.
Control of Casting Microstructure:
 The solidification of investment cast superalloy components is precisely controlled so that the microstructure, which ultimately
determines mechanical properties, remain consistent.
 e.g. Once the process for a particular component has been defined, the production of these components does not deviate from the
agreed-upon steps for the entire production run, which may last years without proper approval.
 If steps are changed, it must be show n that the new steps do not cause a degradation in the properties of the components.
 To control the solidification of equiaxed-grain castings, the investment caster has several tools at his disposal: face-coats that
encourage grain nucleation, pour temperature of the metal, preheat temperature of the shell, shell thickness, part orientation, part
spacing, gating locations, insulation to wrap the shells, pouring speed and shell agitation.
 However, the investment caster , must first fill the shell cavity, prevent hot tears or other cracks and minimize porosity.
 If the first 2 objectives can be met, the investment caster has some freedom to produce the desired structure.
 If the desired structure still cannot be made, other more complex techniques may be employed, including changing the thermal
conductivity of the shell.
Dendrites:
 Dendrites are probably the most visible microstructural feature in superalloy castings.
 Primary and secondary dendrite arm spacings are controlled by the cooling rate .
 As the dendrite arm spacing is reduced, segregation in the dendrite core and inter-dendritic regions is also reduced, thereby
benefitting mechanical properties.
Carbides:
 Conventional equiaxed- grain Ni-based superalloys typically have 0.05 to 0.2 wt% C, while Co-based superalloys contains up to
about 1% C.
 Both Ni-based and Co-based superalloy systems may use C to increase grain-boundary strength.
 Co-based superalloy require more because internal carbides are one of the primary strengthening mechanisms.
 Carbide morphology is controlled by solidification or composition.
 e.g. By increasing the cooling rate, more discrete blocky-type MC carbides are formed in IN 713 C and this often result in an
improvement of at least 2 times to LCF properties.
 If it is not possible to influence the cooling rate of a casting significantly, adding small amounts of Mg, Ca, Ce or other Rare-Earth
elements acting as nucleating agents will assist in carbide shape control.
Eutectic Segregation:
 By the very nature of Solidification , segregation is introduced into the component.
 Important segregants of interest in cast superalloys are eutectics , which often are found in inter-dendritic or inter-granular regions.
 In Ni-based superalloys, eutectic pools are the last constituents to solidify and have a cellular appearance.
 The composition of the eutectic pools varies, but they typically contain excess γ’, carbides, borides and low MP phases.
 Control of the eutectic pool is done primarily through composition .
 However, it has been shown that while the volume fraction of eutectic remained constant near 0.1% Vol% in IN 713, the size of
eutectic pool increased from 11 to 19 μm as the cooling rate decreased from 0.56 to 0.036 ºC/s.
 In Co-based superalloys, the eutectic typically from lamellar γ and M23C6 pools or colonies. Heat treatment between 1150 to 1230ºC
for 4 h resolutions these eutectic colonies, redistributing much of the C.
Porosity:
 It is important to minimize the porosity in castings because the pores serve as initiation sites for fracture, especially fatigue cracks.
 There are 3 primary sources of porosity in superalloy investment castings: undissolved gas, micro-shrinkage caused y poor feeding
between dendrites and macro-shrinkage cause by inadequate gating.
 Undissolved gas is gas that has come out of solution but, with today’s vacuum technology , it is seldom experienced.
 Usually made up of O2, N2, or H2, this gas can form spherical voids up to 2 or more times the diameter of the dendrite arm spacing.
 Gas porosity can be essentially eliminated by maintaining a vacuum during remelting and casting.
Porosity:
 Micro-shrinkage (micro-porosity) is inherent to castings that experience dendritic solidification.
 The pores are spherical, but they typically have a diameter less than the dendrite spacing.
 Micro-shrinkage forms just ahead of the advancing solidus interface because liquid metal feeding is impeded y the tortuous path
through and around the secondary dendrite arms (a fluid flow problem).
 The 2 to 6% shrinkage experienced upon solidification by superalloy castings makes macro-shrinkage (Solidification shrinkage) a
problem/
 This type of porosity tends to be confined within the thickest section of the casting, where the last solidification takes place.
 The investment caster can control solidification shrinkage to a great extent by gating or feeding those areas that are the last to
solidify.
 With complex geometries and the desire to produce net-shape casting , the size and placement of gating is based on experience,
which necessitates experimentation before the process can be defined.
 Modelling software is changing this practice. Modelling of solidification process of simple casting considering the thermal
properties of the metal and shell is made.
 The areas of solidification shrinkage can be predicted
 Once the shrinkage areas are located, various gating schemes can be evaluated until the shrink within the part is pulled into the
gate.
 As a consequence, reducing the overall time it takes to design gating configurations.

Grain Size:
 The control of grain size is an important means for developing and maintaining both physical and mechanical properties.
 Generally, a No. of randomly oriented equiaxed grains in a given cross-section is preferred to provide consistent properties, but often
this is difficult to achieve in thin sections.
 To meet this objectives, mould face-coats nucleants, mould and metal temperature and other parameters are chosen to accelerate
grain nucleation and solidification.
 Finer grain-size generally improves tensile, fatigue, and creep properties at low-to –intermediate temperatures.
 The finer grain size produced by relatively rapid solidification is accompanied by a finer distribution of γ’ particles and a tendency to
form blocky carbide particles.
 The blocky carbide morphology is preferred to script-type carbides produced by slow solidification rates, particularly for a fatigue
sensitive environment (Carbide particles do not contribute to superalloy properties)
 As the service temperature increases, they impart important grain-boundary strengthening, provided that continuous films or
necklaces are avoided.
 For high temperature rupture performance, slower solidification and cooling rates are preferred to coarsen both the grain size during
solidification and γ’ precipitated during cooling.
 This aspect benefit high temperature strength through a reduction in grain boundary content, while many properties are expected
scatter due to crystallographic orientation effects.
 In turbine blade the desired microstructure is difficult to achieve because the thin airfoils operating at the highest temperature should
have coarse grains and heavier–section root attachment area being less rupture dependent, should have a fine-grain microstructure.
 In this situation conventional practice fails, a gate or gutter along the airfoils edges may be employed, through which metal is caused
to flow, creating deliberate hot spots to retard the local solidification rates.
Attributes of effective Casting Engineering:
The general methods of achieving a sound vacuum investment casting:
 Ensure that the last area to solidify is in the gating outside the finished casting.
 Lower solidification rate can be achieved by increasing mould and metal temperature generally to produce a more
sound casting.
 Micro-shrinkage in castings is a natural phenomenon relating to contraction of alloys on solidification.
 For castings that will be subjected to high stresses in service, the micro-shrinkage is forced to the centreline of the
casting so that closure by HIPPING is feasible.
 Centreline shrinkage will occur when the mould temperature stays below the solidus of the alloy causing inward
movement of solidification front.
 Grain Size control is important.
 A number of randomly oriented equiaxed grains in a given cross-section is preferred to provide consistent properties
but often this is difficult to achieve in thin sections.
 To meet this objectives, the mould face nucleant, mould and metal temperature and other parameters are chosen to
accelerate grain nucleation and solidification.
Typical Heat treatment schedule for IN 738 cast Turbine Airfoil Blade:
 Solutionizing: Temperature : 1121ºC

Time : 2 ± 0.25 h
Environment : Vacuum, Ar gas fan quenched
Cooling rate : <70 ºC/min
 Ageing: Temperature range : 843ºC

Time : 24 h
Environment : Vacuum
 Casting Defects: Commonly occurring casting defects in superalloys

o Inclusions – Cracks
o Hot tears – Undesirable phases in the microstructure These constitute crack-like
o Cold shuts  separation of metals
 Non-metallic inclusions are readily detectable and represent primary causes of rejection especially in this sections.
 These can be observed after polishing under 250X, or 500X magnifications.
 During alloy manufacture, most superalloys are filtered through reticulated ceramic foam containing 10 – 20
cells/inch.
 Hot tears are created when the casting is plastically strained by the mould at high temperatures causing recently
solidified metal to separate. Tears are usually surface connected.
 Cold shuts occurs when two advancing fronts of liquid metal meet and do not bond metallurgically because of a thin
oxide film at the interface and solidification of the metal locally.
 There are several undesirable phases that may occur in superalloy castings.
 These include TCP {σ, Laves, δ (A2B)} phases which are observed in the last regions to solidify.
 η – phase {Ni3(Ti, Nb, Ta)} may be found in heavy section castings such as in hubs of integral turbine wheels.
 It is very brittle and no strain tolerance.
 It can be avoided by alloy chemistry control and foundry practice.
 Also, grain size variations like in this airfoil section very fine (ASTM 3 – 5).
 Local creep-rupture performance is significantly reduced
 Columnar grains emanating from airfoil leading and trailing edges, affect thermal fatigue properties
 Therefore, adjusted casting parameters and gating arrangement..

 Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP):
 HIP subjects a cast component to both elevated -temperature and

isostatic gas pressure in an autoclave.
 The most widely used pressurizing gas is Ar.
 For progressing of castings , Ar is applied at pressures between 103

and 206 MPa, with 103 MPa being the most common.
 Process temperature of 1200 to 1220ºC are common for

polycrystalline superalloy castings.
 When castings are hot isostatically pressed, the simultaneous

application of heat and pressure virtually eliminates internal voids and
micro-porosity through a combination of plastic deformation , creep Fig: Improvement on high-cycle fatigue strength
and diffusion. of Rene 80 (Ni-based superalloy) by elimination
of micro-porosity through HIP process.
 The elimination of internal defects leads to improved non-destructive
testing ratings, increased mechanical properties and reduced data
scatter.
 HIP has become an integral part of the manufacturing process for high-integrity aero-space castings.
 The growth of HIP has paralleled the introduction of advanced Ni-based superalloys and increasing complex casting designs,
both of which tend to increase levels of micro-porosity.
 In addition, to optimize the mechanical properties, turbine engine manufacturers have become more stringent in allowances for
micro-porosity.
 The requirement for reduced porosity levels and increased mechanical properties has been achieved in many cases through use of
HIP.
Fig: Effect of HIP on stress-rupture properties of cast IN 738. Test material was HIPed at 1205ºC and 103 MPa for 4 h. (a)
760ºC and 586 MPa and (b) 980ºC and 152 MPa
Co-based Superalloy Casting:
 Co-based superalloys have excellent high temperature properties upto 815ºC.
 Development of Co-based superalloys have not kept pace with Ni-based superalloys.
 However, there are 20 Co-based superalloys that commercially used today
 Co-based superalloys are easy to work with in foundry for the following reasons:
 Good Fluidity
 Freedom from dissolved gas defects
 Low alloy loss due to oxidation
 However, they have poor machining qualities.
 Melting Practice  VIM and VAR/ESR

 VIM/ESR : e.g. HS – 21, HS – 25
 VIM/VAR : e.g. MAR-M 302, MAR-M 509, Air Resist 215 (containing Ti, Al, Ta, Zr)
 Air melting practice  to be done preferably under Ar should over melt surface.
 Prefixed ceramic crucibles used are Al2O3, ZrO2, MgO
 SiO2  Not recommended due to Si pick up
 Casting of Co-based superalloys:

 Mould Temperature : 760 - 1150ºC.
 Metal Pouring Temperature : 1425 - 1595ºC.
Defects in Co-based Superalloy Casting:
 Mould cavity filling with metal should be complete without creation of any undesirable solidification shrinkage or a
hot tear.
 Hot tears are common with higher C (>0.4 wt%) Co-based superalloys (large freezing range) can be avoided with
alloy chemistry adjustments, slower cooling rates from casting temperature, moulds in selected areas with insulating
materials and use of less rigid mould materials.
 Most widely used Co-based superalloys:

 FSX – 414 used in all heavy duty turbine at nozzle casting.
 HS – 188 as sheet metal for combustion liner.

Directionally Solidified Casting of Superalloys
Fig: Three methods of casting turbine blades:

(a) conventional casting with ceramic mould;
(b) directional solidification;
(c) single-crystal blade
Fig: Directionally solidification process for the single-crystal production

 Helical Constriction above starter
block acts as a filter and allows a
simple grain to pass through.
 Depending upon helix geometry, a

single grain with a favoured
orientation with a favoured
orientation with fill the shell cavity.
Fig:
Fig: Schematic of the selection process used to
(a) Schematic of typical directional solidification (DS) practice,
produce CGDS or SCDS turbine airfoils
(b) schematic cutaway showing cooling and metal growth in a columnar grain DS process,
(c) schematic of methods used in single-crystal DS process.
(1) Use of helical mould section,
(2) (2) use of a right-angle mould section, and (3) seeding
Directionally Solidified Casting:
 Why DS Process?
 Directionally solidified columnar grained (CG) and single crystal (SC) superalloys are superior to
conventionally cast superalloys for two basic reasons:
I. Alignment or elimination in the case of SG superalloys, of grain boundaries perpendicular to the stress axis
enhances elevated-temperature. Creep ductility by eliminating grain boundaries as failure initiation sites. This
permits enhancements of solution heat treatment temperature that increases alloy strength.
II. DS process provides preferred low-modulus <001> texture or orientation parallel to the solidification
direction which results in a significant enhancement of thermal fatigue resistance over CG alloys.
 Both CG and SC castings are made by the same basic process allowing solidification to occur in a controlled
thermal gradient parallel to the casting axis.
Growing Directionally Solidified Single crystal:
 A single crystal casting can be obtained by inclusion of a helical constriction above the starter block in the set up
shown.
 This permits only a single grains to pass through and fill the shell cavity as the solidification front proceeds.
 It is possible to use a seed crystal of the desired alloy in which case helix and starter block will not be required.
 It is positioned in such a way that its orientation will be repeated in the alloy that fills the mould cavity.
 The seed sits on the chill and the temperature at the top of the seed is controlled so that the seed crystal does not melt
completely.
 Single crystal castings must be produced with a <001> orientation with a tolerance of ±15º.
 Single crystal turbine

airfoils usually are cast
with <001> orientation
parallel to the airfoil axis.
Fig: Directional solidification

permits selection of any crystal
orientation
Fig: Evolution of creep strain with time for the superalloy Mar-M200 under
loading of 206MPa and 982 ◦C, in the conventionally cast (equiaxed) state, the
directionally solidified (columnar) state and the single-crystal form
Advantage of Directionally Solidified Single crystal grain:
 Over DS multigrain castings is that in the former, grain boundary strengtheners such as B, Zr, Hf are not required.
 These elements significantly reduce the MP in the alloy; their elimination , therefore , allows 38-95ºC higher solution heat
treatment temperatures of single crystals.
 The higher solution temperature (1260 -1320ºC) of Ni-based superalloys allows more strengtheners in the alloy since all the γ’ can
be solutioned.
 This greater utilisation of finer γ’ has resulted in a 10-38ºC improvement in creep strength capability of the SC alloys over the
best multigrain DS or equiaxed grained turbine airfoil superalloys.

Unit-V Investment Casting of Superalloys

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Unit-V Investment Casting of Superalloys

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Investment Casting of Superalloys

Investment Casting of Superalloy

Development of Investment Casting technology

 Enabled us to achieve excellent creep and rupture strengths at elevated temperatures

Steps Involved in Casting Process:

Fig: Schematic illustration of the investment casting process

 The first step in the investment casting process is to

 Pattern dimensions must compensate for wax, mould,

 If the product contains internal passages, a preformed

 Except for large or complex castings, a number of

 Design and positioning of the runners and gating is

 The mould are produced by first immersing the

 A dry, granular ceramic stucco is applied immediately

 After slow, thorough drying, the wax is melted out of

 An insulating blanket is tailored to the mould

 Die can be made of die steel or any other alloy.

 This machine injects wax at a controlled temperature.

 For complex casting, patterns are assembled in a cluster of 2 or more patterns.

 A shell thickness of 6 – 8 mm is achieved.

 A steam pressure of 100 psi is used.

 Zirconia crucibles are commonly employed.

 For most superalloy: Temperature range : 1200 – 1220ºC

 For IN 738 Ni-based superalloy castings: Temperature range : 1200ºC

 Superalloy containing Hf, MP is depressed

Fig: A schematic showing differences between

 Precise optical measurement of this temperature is crucial.

 It also strongly affects the presence and location of micro-shrinkage.

 Precise mould positioning and pour rates also are imperative.

 The filled mould is lowered an d removed from the furnace.

 Carbide morphology is controlled by solidification or composition.

 By the very nature of Solidification , segregation is introduced into the component.

 Control of the eutectic pool is done primarily through composition .

 Micro-shrinkage (micro-porosity) is inherent to castings that experience dendritic solidification.

 The areas of solidification shrinkage can be predicted

 As a consequence, reducing the overall time it takes to design gating configurations.

The general methods of achieving a sound vacuum investment casting:

 Micro-shrinkage in castings is a natural phenomenon relating to contraction of alloys on solidification.

 Grain Size control is important.

 Solutionizing: Temperature : 1121ºC

 Ageing: Temperature range : 843ºC

 Casting Defects: Commonly occurring casting defects in superalloys

 These can be observed after polishing under 250X, or 500X magnifications.

 It is very brittle and no strain tolerance.

 It can be avoided by alloy chemistry control and foundry practice.

 Local creep-rupture performance is significantly reduced

 Therefore, adjusted casting parameters and gating arrangement..

 HIP subjects a cast component to both elevated -temperature and

 The most widely used pressurizing gas is Ar.

 For progressing of castings , Ar is applied at pressures between 103

 Process temperature of 1200 to 1220ºC are common for

 When castings are hot isostatically pressed, the simultaneous

 Co-based superalloys have excellent high temperature properties upto 815ºC.

 However, there are 20 Co-based superalloys that commercially used today

 However, they have poor machining qualities.

 Melting Practice  VIM and VAR/ESR

 Prefixed ceramic crucibles used are Al2O3, ZrO2, MgO

 SiO2  Not recommended due to Si pick up

 Casting of Co-based superalloys:

 Most widely used Co-based superalloys:

 HS – 188 as sheet metal for combustion liner.

Fig: Three methods of casting turbine blades:

Fig: Directionally solidification process for the single-crystal production

 Depending upon helix geometry, a

 Single crystal turbine