Mold Assembly with Fugitive Material Pins for Perforated Casting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing casting methods for metallic components with intricate shapes and perforations are costly and time-consuming, as they require fragile and expensive mold patterns or labor-intensive machining processes that cannot efficiently produce the required features.
Innovation Solution
A mold assembly with an array of receptacles filled with uncured mold material, encapsulated in a fugitive material layer, which solidifies to form pins and a cavity, allowing for direct casting of perforations into components, reducing production costs and time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If traditional casting methods with fragile patterns are used, then components with intricate shapes can be produced, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase due to difficult pattern production and handling
Solution Approach 1:
The mold assembly is segmented into multiple components: a reusable mold core, a reusable mold cavity, and disposable receptacles containing uncured mold material. This segmentation allows the intricate shape-defining elements (receptacles) to be easily replaced without damaging expensive permanent mold components, resolving the contradiction between producing intricate shapes and ease of manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses disposable receptacles filled with uncured mold material that are discarded after a single use. These inexpensive, single-use components replace fragile permanent patterns, allowing intricate shapes to be produced without the high cost and handling difficulty of traditional permanent patterns.
2Manufacturing precision
If machining processes are used to produce component features, then precise shapes and contours can be achieved, but production time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The mold cavities and receptacles are pre-formed with the exact intricate shapes and contours needed for the final component. This preliminary action eliminates the need for time-consuming post-casting machining operations, as the precision features are already embedded in the mold structure before casting begins.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces mechanical machining operations with a molding process. Instead of using cutting tools to remove material and create features, the intricate shapes are formed by the mold cavity and receptacle structure itself, dramatically reducing production time while maintaining precision.
3Device complexity
If traditional casting without integrated pin formation is used, then simpler mold structures can be employed, but additional machining steps are required to create perforations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the pin formation process with the main casting operation. The receptacles containing uncured mold material serve dual purposes: they define the mold cavity shape and simultaneously form the pins that create perforations in the final component. This combining of functions eliminates separate machining steps and improves production efficiency.
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
Enables the quick, efficient, and cost-effective formation of components with intricate perforations or cooling holes, such as turbine blades, by integrating the pins into the casting process, thereby reducing machining time and expenses.
Implementation Method 1
The uncured mold assembly is heated to a temperature that solidifies the uncured mold material within each receptacle and of the layer, thereby forming an array of pins and a layer of solidified mold material
Implementation Method 2
heated to the temperature that removes the layer of fugitive material from between the mold core and the layer of solidified mold material such that a mold cavity including the array of pins is defined therebetween
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a component including coupling an array of receptacles to a mold core. Each receptacle in the array contains an amount of uncured mold material. The method further includes forming a layer of fugitive material on the mold core such that the array of receptacles is encapsulated within the layer of fugitive material. The method also includes forming a layer of uncured mold material on the layer of fugitive material, thereby forming an uncured mold assembly. The uncured mold assembly is heated to a temperature that solidifies the uncured mold material within each receptacle and of the layer, thereby forming an array of pins and a layer of solidified mold material. The uncured mold assembly is also heated to the temperature that removes the layer of fugitive material from between the mold core and the layer of solidified mold material such that a mold cavity, including the array of pins, is defined therebetween.