Curved Intermetallic Thin-Wall Forming With Wound Metal Foils
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing curved thin-walled NiAl/TiAl alloy components face challenges such as material brittleness, complex deformation, impurities from support mold separation, and poor plasticity and toughness, leading to defects like cracking, wrinkling, and reduced production efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method involving winding a mandrel with metal foil strips, where the mandrel is designed with alternating Ni and Ti layers, and the foil strips are laid with specific thicknesses and widths to form a laminated blank, which undergoes bulge forming and diffusion synthesis, allowing for improved bonding and mechanical properties without the need for separate sheet preparation and forming processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If NiAl/TiAl alloy sheet is prepared by rolling process, then the material can be formed into curved components, but the alloy sheet is easy to crack due to intrinsic brittleness and complex thermal strain state
Solution Approach 1:
The alloy sheet is segmented into multiple thin foil layers (Ni foil and Al foil) stacked alternately. This segmentation allows each thin layer to deform more uniformly during rolling and forming, reducing stress concentration and preventing cracks that would occur in a monolithic thick sheet of brittle intermetallic alloy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure of alternating Ni foil and Al foil layers. During hot forming, these layers undergo diffusion bonding and intermetallic reaction to form NiAl/TiAl alloy in situ within the laminated structure. This composite approach combines the ductility of pure metal foils with the high-temperature properties of intermetallic compounds, avoiding the brittleness issue of conventional rolled intermetallic sheets.
2Shape
If superplastic forming is used to obtain curved surface thin-walled component, then the component shape can be achieved, but micro cavities are easy to appear and wall thickness thins severely
Solution Approach 1:
The support mandrel is designed with a shape close to the final component geometry before the forming process. The laminated foil blank is wrapped around this pre-shaped mandrel, so the material is pre-positioned in a configuration that minimizes large deformations during forming. This preliminary shaping action reduces the magnitude of subsequent deformation, preventing severe wall thinning and micro-cavity formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses thin metal foil layers (flexible thin films) that can conform to the curved surface of the support mandrel. These flexible foils wrap around the mandrel smoothly, maintaining uniform thickness distribution and avoiding the development of micro-cavities that occur when thick rigid materials undergo large plastic deformations during superplastic forming.
3Ease of manufacture
If support mould made of foamed plastics is used, then the blank can be separated from mould, but impurities remain which bring great defects to subsequent processing
Solution Approach 1:
The support mandrel is designed to be separable from the laminated foil component after forming. By using a mandrel structure that can be easily removed (such as a flexible or disassemblable support), the component can be extracted cleanly without leaving impurities. This extraction principle eliminates the contamination issue associated with foamed plastic molds that leave residues upon separation.
4Ease of manufacture
If separate sheet preparation and forming processes are used, then each process can be optimized independently, but production procedures increase and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines sheet preparation and forming operations into a single integrated process. The laminated foil blank is prepared and then immediately wrapped around the support mandrel in one continuous operation, eliminating the need for separate handling, transfer, and setup steps. This merging of operations reduces production procedures and improves efficiency while maintaining process optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The support mandrel serves multiple functions: it provides the final curved shape, acts as a forming tool during wrapping, and serves as a temporary support during subsequent heat treatment. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate fixtures and tools for different process stages, streamlining production and improving efficiency without sacrificing process control.
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 method enhances the plastic deformation capability and mechanical properties of the final component, reduces defects like local thinning and cracking, and improves production efficiency by integrating the forming and synthesis processes, resulting in a component with uniform wall thickness and enhanced ductility and toughness.
Implementation Method 1
carrying out diffusion synthesis on the laminated foil component with the internal support mandrel at high temperature and high pressure
Implementation Method 2
carrying out bulge forming on the prefabricated blank to obtain a required component shape
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a curved thin-walled intermetallic compound component by winding a mandrel with metal foil strips, which comprises the following steps: designing a prefabricated blank; preparing a support mandrel; determining thicknesses and layer numbers of foil strips; determining widths of the foil strips; establishing a laying process; pretreating surfaces of the foil strips; laying A foil and B foil; carrying out bulge forming on the prefabricated blank; carrying out diffusion reaction and densification treatment on a bulged component; and carrying out subsequent treatment of a thin-walled component. The present invention can solve the problems that impurities generated in the separation process of a support mould and a laminated foil prefabricated blank influence the final performance of a part, and a single homogeneous intermetallic compound component in thickness direction has poor plasticity and toughness at room temperature.