SUBMITTED TO-Dr.

GD Thakkar

PRESENTED BY :
BHAVESH BHATNAGAR

INTRODUCTION
Study of new methods of casting in a Turbine blade

industry.
Investment Casting
Single Crystal Technique
Directional Solidification
Advantages by using new techniques
Testing of cast products

Salient points
Investment casting process is a special type of casting

process for producing intricate shapes with close

tolerance and consistent dimensional accuracy.
Wax and urea are used to make pattern.
Patterns once used are then destroyed hence it is
named investment casting.
It have wide choice in metallurgical specification and
inherent design flexibility.

PROCESSES INVOLVED IN INVESTMENT

CASTING TO PRODUCE 2ND STAGE TURBINE
BLADE OF AL31FP ENGINE FOR SUKHOI-30
AIRCRAFT
Preparation of core mass
Preparation of pattern mass.
Preparation of pattern
Inspection of pattern
Assembly of pattern
Inspection of pattern assembly

 Preparation of slurry.
Shell making.
Dewaxing.

Calcination.
Melting of metal.
Pouring.

Knockout.
Cutting and fettling.
Inspection.

X-ray.
Final inspection.

COREMAKING
The function of core is to provide internal hollowness

of casting.
PREPARATION OF CORE MASS:
Core mass:
Electro corundum N-10- 10%
Electro corundum M-50- 40%
Electro corundum M-63-35%
Plasticizers.. -15%
Other Accessories:
a. Lubricant
b. Core press mould

SERIAL
NO.

BLADE
NO.

WEIGHT
OF
CERAMI
C MASS
(GMS)

TEMPER
ATUE OF
CORE
MASS
(O C)

CLAMP
PRESSU
RE
(KG/CM2
)

INJECTI
ON
PRESSU
RE
(KG/CM2
)

HOLDIN
G TIME
UNDER
PRESSU
RE
(SECON
DS)

1.

104.04.22.
051

25-30

90

100

25

12

PROCEDURE:
1. Plasticizer melted at 140 degree centrigade and electrocorondum slowly
added.
2. The mixture is mixed for 1 hour.

CORE INJECTION
Temperature of mass- 900C
Injection pressure- 25 kgf/cm2
Clamping Pressure- 25 kgf/cm2
Holding time- 30 seconds.

PATTERN INJECTION PROCESS:

Temperature of pattern mass 75-80c.
Injection pressure 4-kg/cm2.
Holding time under pressure 25-35 sec.
After injection is completed the press mould is dismantled and
pattern is removed from press mould.
Then patterns are dressed and finished.
Patterns are then assembled with gating system.
SHELL MAKING:
Raw materials:
Diethene silicate
Hydrolyzed ethyl silicate
Ethyl silicate
Rectified spirit
Hydrochrocloric acid
Distilled water

 Ist coat with cobalt aluminate & Disthine silimanite

powder viscosity 50-60sec. Stuccoing material N2O.

2nd coat on ward with disthine silimanite viscosity 25-30
seconds stuccoing with N50.
DEWAXING:
Dewaxing is the process of removal of pattern from the
shell negative impression of the pattern assembly with
in the shell.
Dewaxing is done in boiler of pressure 7kg/cm2 for 10
min.

MELTING&POURING
High frequency vaccum industry furnace is used to

melt the metal alloy &pouring purpose vaccum

induction melting
Vaccum induction melting- in this process melting is
done without atmospheric contact in a vaccum
chamber to avoid oxidation.
Vaccum is created by following pumps:-Rotary pump (attach with booster pump)
-Diffusion pump (attach with baking pump)

KNOCK OUT OF SHELL:

By this process ceramic shell from the solidified
casting is removed by tapping with hammer along
gating system without damaging the casting.
PICKLING:
PICKLING SOLUTION
FeCl3O6-700.8gm
HCl-120-150gm
Water upto I lit
Solution temp-18-500c

CUTTING OF GATING SYSTEM:

In this process gating system like gates risers are cut by
abrasive wheels the desired casting part is separated.
BLASTING:
This process is done to remove surfacescaling oxide
from the casting &to clean the surface N2O sand is
used as blasting particle with the compressed air in
blaster machine.
FETTLING:
It is a process of polishing operation to get the desired
shape &to clearence by very small amount of material
remopval process with the help of grinding whells &
use of every paper.

REMOVAL OF CERAMIC CORE BY LEACHING:

Ceramic core removal from internal cavity is done by
leaching process.

LEACHING:
Leaching process is done with 40% NaOH,remaining
water at 15 atm pressure for 10 hours at temp. of 200c
.then washing is done with high pressure steam.

X-RAY FOR CORE REMOVAL

To verify complete removal of core from casting cavity, the

cavity is filled with nickel powder.

The opening of the casting is sealed with adhesive tapes.
The x-ray is done
The dark spot on x-ray film indicates presence of core
remaining.
If presence of any core residue is detected, leaching process
is repeated followed by x-ray.
Leaching is done for third time for removing core not
allowed.

X-ray for metallurgical defect

Defect detected by x rays are of two types
Propagative ( shrinkage, crack, misrun)
Non propagative (inclusion, porosity, blowhole, core

shift)
RADOGRAPHY TESTING- X-RAY
HIGH KV X-RAY (for castings thicker than 40mm)
LOW KV X-RAY (for castings less than 40 mm)
For getting x-ray films following chemicals are used:Methyl hydro quinone and Phenidone( developer)
Sodium salt of sulphite, thiosulphate(fixer)

ADVANTAGES
DESIGN FREEDOM: The investment casting process

allows designer the flexibility of infinite alloy choices.

REDUCED MACHINING: These are produced to close
tolerances and near net sizes. There is little secondary
machining required thus saving machining time and
material cost.
REDUCED FABRICATION: Thin and thick section can
be cast as one piece and welds can be replaced by
single piece castings.

 GOOD MECHANICAL PROPERTIES : Investment

castings have mechanical properties better than any

other casting technology.
SUPERIOR ASTHETICS: Curved surfaces are easy to
produce, surface finish is consistently better than other
casting process.

LIMITATIONS
Size and mass of casting is very limited
High money investment and time consuming.

APPLICATION
One casting can be redesigned to take place of several
Quantity needed is not too large
Accuracy and reproducibility is needed

Single crystal technique

The mould has constriction in the shape of corkscrew,

the cross-section of which allows only one crystal

through.
A single crystal grows upwards in the constriction and
begins to grow in the mould
With control rate of movement the solidified mass in
the mould is single crystal blade.

SINGLE CRYSTAL
GROWTH
APPRATUS

DIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION
In this process the ceramic mould is preheated by

radiant heating.
A water cooled chill plate supports the mould.
Aftre the liquid is poured into the mould, crystal
begins to grow at the chill plate surface and upwards
The blade is thus directionally solidified, with
longitudinal but no traverse grain boundaries

ADVANTAGES
The blade is stronger in the direction of the centrifugal

forces devloped in the gas turbine

Lack of grain boundaries
Resistant to creep and thermal shock
Longer and reliable service

Conclusion
In this ppt some of the latest delopments in the

investment casting process have been discussed. It is

possibly the only casting process which has been in
vogue since time immemorial having the capability to
make near net shaped products. It can be practiced
with varying degrees of sophistication in the rural
areas with least requirement on the cost of tooling or
in an industrially devloped environment using
regenerative tooling facility.

REFERENCES
Investment casting technique
http://thelibraryofmanufacturing.com/investment_casting.html (accesed on sept 7 2014)
E. Neusal, P.R. Sahm, selectively fibre reinforced componenets produced by the
modified investment casting process. Composite, Part A, 92(2001),pp. 1077-1083
G.Dixon Chandley , use of vaccum for counter gravity casting of metals Material
Research innovations volume 3, Number 1/june 16,1999, pp.14-23
M.Lal and O.P. Khanna, A Text book of Foundry Technology , Published by Dhanpat rai
& Sons
Amitabh ghosh and Ashok kumar Mallik A Textbook on Manufacturing Science Second
edition Published by EWP pp.. 33-89

Prasad K.D>v> Yaraladda, Teo siang Hock, Stastistical analysis on accuracy of wax
patterns used in investment casting process , Journal of Materia; Processing Technology
, 138 (2003),pp 75-81

REFERENCES
A. Y oshinari, K. Iijima, I. Takahashi and H. Kodama, Solidification Simulation for Large
Single Crystal Buckets in Heavy Duty Gas Turbines, in proc . Of Modeling of Casting and
Solidification Process, eds C.P. Honget al.. 1991,p.201-202
Alfred T. Spada , Investment Casters discuss RP, ceramic shell Strength, Modern
Castings , January 2000, pp.38-40
Amitabh ghosh and Ashok kumar Mallik A Textbook on Manufacturing Science Second
edition Published by EWP pp.. 33-89
E. Neusal, P.R. Sahm, selectively fibre reinforced componenets produced by the
modified investment casting process. Composite, Part A, 92(2001),pp. 1077-1083
Investment casting technique
http://thelibraryofmanufacturing.com/investment_casting.html (accesed on sept 7 2014)
G.Dixon Chandley , use of vaccum for counter gravity casting of metals Material
Research innovations volume 3, Number 1/june 16,1999, pp.14-23
M.Lal and O.P. Khanna, A Text book of Foundry Technology , Published by Dhanpat rai
& Sons
Prasad K.D>v> Yaraladda, Teo siang Hock, Stastistical analysis on accuracy of wax
patterns used in investment casting process , Journal of Materia; Processing Technology
, 138 (2003),pp 75-81
Progress in casting progress http:/www.sciencealert.com/casting_progress (accesed on
7 september 2014)

THANK YOU