Comparative Study of Surface Contaminated Layer on Titanium Aluminum Alloy and Titanium Alloy Investment Castings

A comparative study of the surface contaminated layer formed by chemical reaction between ceramic-mold and titanium aluminum alloy castings or titanium alloy castings were carried out. The morphology, thickness and hardness of the surface contaminated layer were characterized by means of metalloscopy and microhardness measurement. The results show that surface contaminated layers formed between Ti-Al alloy castings and ceramic-mold, also formed between Ti alloy castings and ceramic-mold. The surface contaminated layers of Ti-Al alloy castings were continuous and compact, their thickness was about 0~90 μm. The surface contaminated layers of titanium alloy castings were not even, their thickness was 0~900 μm. Titanium alloy is more liable to react with the ceramic -mold than the Ti-Al alloy.

Effect of Chopped ZrO2 Fiber Content on the Microstructure and Properties of CaO-Based Integral Ceramic Mold

A chopped ZrO2 fiber (ZrO2(f)) reinforced CaO-based integral ceramic mold was successfully fabricated by stereolithography (SLA) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based gel-casting, and the effect of chopped ZrO2(f) content on properties of the ceramic mold was investigated. The results show that the ZrO2(f) content had a significant effect on the viscosity of CaO-based ceramic slurry, which directly affects the filling ability of slurry in complex structures of the integral mold. The tiny structures of the ceramic mold cannot be filled completely with a ZrO2(f) content exceeding 3 vol %. The sample fabricated with 3 vol % fiber content showed a harmonious microstructure and exhibited an excellent comprehensive performance with 25 °C bending strength of 22.88 MPa, an 1200 °C bending strength of 15.74 MPa, a 1200 °C deflection of 0.86 mm, and a sintering shrinkage of 0.40%, which can meet the requirements of casting very well.

Effect of chopped ZrO2 fiber content on the microstructure and properties of CaO-based integral ceramic mold

A chopped ZrO2 fiber (ZrO2 (f)) reinforced CaO-based integral ceramic mold was successfully fabricated by stereolithography (SLA) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based gel-casting, and the effect of chopped ZrO2 (f) content on properties of the ceramic mold was investigated. The results show that the ZrO2 (f) content had a significant effect on the viscosity of CaO-based ceramic slurry, which directly affects the filling ability of the ceramic slurry in complex structures of the integral mold. The tiny structures of the ceramic mold cannot be filled completely with a ZrO2 (f) content exceed 3 vol%. When the content of ZrO2 (f) was 3 vol%, the ceramic slurry could meet the requirement of gel-casting with a viscosity of 0.84 Pa·s. The ZrO2 (f) content played an important role in tailoring properties of the ceramic mold, the sample fabricated with 3 vol% fiber content showed a harmonious microstructure and exhibited an excellent comprehensive performance with a room temperature (25 ºC) bending strength of 22.88 MPa, the elevated temperature bending strength (1200 ºC) of 15.74 MPa, the elevated temperature (1200 ºC) deflection of 0.86 mm and the sintering shrinkage of 0.40%, which can meet the requirements of casting very well.

Reducing the Hygroscopic Swelling in MEMS Sensor using Different Mold Materials

Today, Hygroscopic swelling is one of the biggest challenging problem of Epoxy mold compound (EMC) in packaging with Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices. To overcome this hygroscopic swelling problem of EMC and guard the devices, MEMS devices are molded in this paper with different Mold Compound (MC) i.e. titanium and ceramic etc. during their interconnection with the board. Also, a comparatively performance analysis of this various mold compound with MEMS pressure sensor has been studied in this paper at 60% humidity, 140 mol/m³ saturation concentration and 25 ^oC. It was observed that hygroscopic swelling does not take place in the titanium mold compound. But, titanium is very costly so we have to consider something cheaper material i.e. ceramic in this paper. The Hygroscopic swelling in Ceramic Mold Compound after 1 year is nearly 0.05mm which is very less than epoxy.

Dry sliding wear of a Ni-based superalloy as a function of the aging time.

From the present work, the wear behavior of aged Ni-based superalloy was analyzed under dry sliding conditions. Such alloy was melted in a vacuum induction furnace and cast into a ceramic mold. Then the alloy was solubilized at 1080°C for 4 hours and then aged at 760°C for 4, 8, 16, 24, 48, 72 and 150 hours. The alloy was characterized as-cast and also in the heat-treated conditions by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Mechanical characterization included just Vickers hardness and wear resistance under dry sliding conditions by a block on ring configuration according to the ASTM G77 standard. Wear tests were undertaken for 2000 m at a speed of 0.7 ms-1 at two different loads (25 and 78 N). The worn samples were analyzed by an optical profiler to determine the wear volume and by SEM to analyze the worn surface and the microstructure below the worn surface. The main findings indicate the formation of an oxide layer mainly formed by Cr and Ni during sliding. The thickness of such a layer is about 10 μm for short aging times and about 5 μm for longer aging times. For this load, the wear resistance was 50% higher for the shorter aging times than that for the longer aging times. This behavior is described in terms of the thickness of the protecting layer, and on the availability of chromium to form such a layer since it forms Cr23C6 at long aging times. On the other hand, for a load of 78 N the wear behavior is in agreement with hardness. Wear resistance increases with aging time due to the higher precipitation of prime gamma phase.

Re-Melting Nb–Si-Based Ultrahigh-Temperature Alloys in Ceramic Mold Shells

In furnaces with different heating elements, Nb–Si based ultrahigh-temperature alloy rods were re-melted in pure yttria mold shells and zirconia face-coat mold shells at 1850 °C for 30 min. The results evidenced that in the furnace with a tungsten heating element, the microstructure of the re-melted alloy became coarser, and the composition varied depending on the type of mold shell. Although the interface reaction layer between the re-melted alloy and the zirconia face-coat mold shell was much thicker, the deformability of the mold shell and the sand burning phenomenon of the alloy inside it were improved and ameliorated, respectively. However, after being re-melted in the furnace with a graphite heating element, the misrun phenomenon occurred in both specimens. Both re-melted alloys inside the mold shells were divided by a gap into an internal and an external part, with totally different microstructures and compositions. No reaction layer emerged at the interface between the re-melted alloy and the mold shells. Instead, infiltration zones arose in the mold shells adjacent to the interface.