3D Printed Ceramic Mold for Complex Engine Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional manufacturing techniques, such as investment or lost-wax casting, face challenges in producing components with intricate and complex internal geometries, leading to limitations in creating lightweight, heat-resistant ceramic components for advanced engine applications, which require precise cooling systems and are prone to issues like core kissout, tipping, and cracking.
Innovation Solution
The method involves additive manufacturing to create disposable dies with internal and external geometries, allowing for the production of ceramic-ceramic and ceramic-metal composite materials by injecting ceramic slurries into these dies, followed by curing and sintering to form hybrid components with complex internal and external structures, overcoming the limitations of traditional casting methods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional investment or lost-wax casting techniques are used, then manufacturing of ceramic components can be achieved, but the components suffer from core kissout, tipping, and cracking issues due to complex internal geometries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical and chemical parameters of the mold material by using a slurry that can be injected and cured to form a green body, which is then sintered. This parameter change allows the mold to maintain structural integrity during the casting process, eliminating core kissout and cracking issues while accommodating complex internal geometries
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite approach by creating a green body from ceramic slurry that combines liquid and solid phases, which after sintering forms a dense, crack-resistant structure. The composite nature of the slurry (ceramic particles in liquid binder) allows it to flow into complex geometries while maintaining structural integrity
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional casting methods are used, then ceramic components can be produced, but manufacturing time is excessive and precision is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-forming the mold geometry using additive manufacturing techniques to create a precise 3D structure before ceramic slurry injection. This preliminary digital modeling and 3D printing of the mold cavity ensures geometric precision is built-in from the start, eliminating the need for time-consuming post-casting modifications and reducing overall manufacturing cycle time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical molding processes with additive manufacturing technology. Instead of using complex mechanical molds and cores that require precise mechanical tolerances, the invention uses digital 3D printing to directly create the mold cavity, achieving superior geometric precision while significantly reducing manufacturing time
3Strength
If ceramic materials are used for engine components, then lightweight and heat-resistant properties are achieved, but the materials are too brittle for certain applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the brittleness issue by creating ceramic-matrix composite materials through the slurry injection process. The composite structure, formed by injecting ceramic-containing slurry into the green body and sintering, incorporates reinforcement phases that significantly improve tensile and shearing strength while maintaining the lightweight and heat-resistant properties of the ceramic matrix
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the creation of hybrid components with enhanced structural integrity and complex geometries that were previously unattainable, reducing manufacturing time and avoiding issues like core kissout and cracking, while providing lightweight, heat-resistant materials suitable for advanced engine components.
Implementation Method 1
injecting a ceramic slurry into a die, followed by curing and sintering to form hybrid components
Implementation Method 2
injecting a ceramic slurry into a die, followed by curing and sintering to form hybrid components
Data Source
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AI summary
This invention relates to a product and a method of preparing ceramic and/or ceramic hybrid materials through the construction of a printed die. The printed die being made by three-dimensional printing or additive manufacturing processes possesses both an external geometry (300, 400) and an internal geometry (100, 200).