HIP Containment with Backing Strip and Vacuum Degassing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Hot Isostatic pressing processes face challenges in ensuring containment integrity and material purity due to trapped gases and impurities, which can lead to failure and inconsistent material properties.
Innovation Solution
A containment design featuring a sheet metal body with a fused backing strip, self-sealing weld joints, and integrated gas purge and evacuation pipes for vacuum degassing, allowing for effective gas management and purification of metal powders before pressing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional welding methods are used to seal the containment body, then the containment is sealed, but excessive weld material causes gas trapping and potential failure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful element (excessive weld material) by using a backing strip that is fused to the containment body in a controlled manner. The backing strip serves as a sacrificial element that allows gas to escape during welding, preventing gas trapping while still providing the necessary seal. This resolves the contradiction by removing the harmful effect of excess weld material while maintaining the sealing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The backing strip acts as an intermediary element between the welding process and the containment body. It mediates the welding operation by providing a surface for controlled fusion that prevents gas entrapment. The backing strip absorbs the harmful effect of excessive weld material and converts it into a beneficial controlled fusion process, thereby resolving the contradiction between achieving a sealed containment and avoiding gas trapping.
2Reliability
If the containment is vacuum sealed before hot isostatic pressing, then material purity is improved, but the process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by vacuum sealing the containment body before the hot isostatic pressing process. The backing strip is fused to the containment body in advance, creating a sealed environment. This preliminary sealing action removes gases and impurities from the metal powder before pressing, ensuring material purity. The complexity is managed by integrating the vacuum sealing into the overall process flow, making it a standard preparatory step rather than an added complication.
3Manufacturing precision
If argon gas is used for isostatic pressing, then material consolidation is achieved, but gas impurities may remain in the metal powder
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of gas impurities (including argon) into a benefit by using vacuum evacuation to remove them. The hot isostatic pressing process consolidates the metal powder using argon gas, but the subsequent vacuum evacuation step removes trapped gas impurities. This converts the harmful residual gas into a removable contaminant, achieving both material consolidation and purity. The contradiction is resolved by adding a vacuum evacuation step that eliminates the harmful effect of gas impurities while preserving the beneficial consolidation effect.
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
The solution enhances containment integrity and material purity by minimizing weld material usage, addressing gas trapped issues, and ensuring consistent material properties through controlled gas passage and evacuation, thereby improving the reliability and quality of engineered components.
Implementation Method 1
a vacuum pump for evacuating gas from the metal powder within the containment
Implementation Method 2
a gas source for purging the metal powder within the containment
Implementation Method 3
an oven for heating the metal powder within the containment
Data Source
AI summary
A containment for use in hot Isostatic pressing, the containment comprising a body formed from sheet material and fused together along its longitudinal length using a backing strip on the outside of body. Also a containment with a body and top and bottom caps diffusion bonded upon hot isostatic pressing, a containment with a gas purge inlet and outlet and an apparatus for vacuum degassing are disclosed.