Metallurgist, Vol. 57, Nos. 1112, March, 2014 (Russian Original Nos.

1112, NovemberDecember, 2013)

USE OF ProCAST SOFTWARE TO MODEL CASTING

SYSTEMS FOR THE CENTRIFUGAL CASTING OF
GTE BLADES MADE OF INTERMETALLIC ALLOYS

V. V. Smirnov, S. P. Pavlinich,
S. V. Bakerin, and A. M. Khairullina

UDC 621.74

This article examines aspects of the design of ceramic molds for casting parts made of intermetallic alloys.
Computer modeling is used to analyze the filling of existing designs of gating systems (GS) with metal. New
variants are proposed for GS designs that make it possible to optimize the mold-filling process and reduce
the risk of its fracture.
Keywords: investment casting, gating system, centrifugal casting, intermetallic alloy based on titanium.

Light alloys based on titanium aluminides (intermetallic titanium alloys) are highly promising materials for the blade
of turbines and compressors that operate at temperatures of 600800C. These alloys have a unique set of mechanical characteristics: low density, a high unit strength and a high elastic modulus that are maintained during heating; high resistance to
heat, creep, and oxidation, etc.
The Ufa Engine-Building Production Association has been collaborating with the NII ITM of the Department of the
Foundry Machines and Technologies at the Ufa State University of Aeronautical Engineering (UGATU) and the Department
of the Foundry Technologies at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS) to solve the complex technological problem
of using titanium intermetallic alloys to obtain cast blades for high-pressure compressors (HPCs) and low-pressure turbines
(LPTs). The problems being encountered at this stage of mastering the technology are exacerbated by the lack of Russian
experience in making cast semifinished products of such alloys, the limited amount of data on their physicomechanical,
physicochemical, thermophysical, and casting properties, and the inconsistencies in the requirements on the castings
microstructure and macrostructure and the recommendations on the regimes to be used for their subsequent heat treatment,
gasostat treatment, etc.
During the initial stage of the project, experiments were performed with the smaller and simpler HPC blades.
The main focus here was on casting problems, particularly the design of a casting system (CS) that would ensure proper filling of the mold and the formation of a casting of the desired shape and size. The high chemical activity of liquid titanium
alloys makes it necessary to minimize the length of time that the alloy is in contact with the mold. In this case, quality castings can be obtained only by rapidly filling the channels of the gating system and the mold itself with the alloy. The goal here
is to reach casting speeds of several meters a second, and so far this has only been done successfully on an industrial scale
by centrifugal casting. Centrifugal casting makes it possible to establish the hydrodynamic regime required for filling a mold
with a titanium alloy.
Multilayered shell molds with an ethyl silicate binder were used in the study being discussed in this article. The molds
were made from fusible patterns by a well-known method [1]. Electrocorundum micropowders M7 and M10 were used as
the filler in the suspension, while the covering material was electrocorundum No. 20 (first two layers) and electrocorundum
No. 50 (the subsequent layers). Each layer of the coating underwent vacuum-ammonia drying.
Ufa State University of Aeronautical Engineering (UGATU), Ufa, Russia; e-mail: smirnoff@rpugatu.ru. Translated from Metallurg, No. 11,
pp. 2326, November, 2013. Original article submitted November 12, 2013.
0026-0894/14/1112-0961 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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The process of strengthening the shell during its subsequent heat treatment was accelerated by adding aluminum
powder of grade ASD-4 to the suspension in an amount equal to 10% of the weight of the filler.
After the pattern was removed from the shell in a steam autoclave, the shell was heat-treated at 1000C for 56 h,
cooled to room temperature, placed in a special metal container, and filled with a refractory filler.
The intermetallic alloy was made and cast on a centrifugal vacuum refining-casting unit made by the company
Consarc. The unit has two chambers and is equipped with a multi-section water-cooled copper crucible having a capacity of
10 kg. In the course of preparing for the casting operation, the container with the shell was preheated in a furnace to the prescribed temperature and placed on a transfer cart. All the subsequent operations in the production process (from the moment
the container was loaded into the sluice chamber to the moment the cast mold and the container were removed from that
chamber) were carried out automatically in accordance with a preset program.
One of the first steps taken in developing a technology for the centrifugal casting of HPC blades made of intermetallic titanium alloys was to try out several variants of casting systems that were similar in design to the system employed
in conventional titanium casting.
To obtain comparable results, every effort was made to perform each experiment with the following parameters
being kept constant at the value indicated: alloy casting temperature 1680C; initial temperature of the mold 700C; speed
of rotation of the casting machines platform 400 rpm; casting time 2.5 sec.
An experimental batch of HPC blades that were of acceptable quality was obtained by the CS variant shown in Fig. 1a.*
The porosity that was found in the connector and the tip of the blades was eliminated by their treatment in a gasostat.
It should be pointed out that the CS scheme which includes a massive square sprue (see Fig. 1a) with a 150 150 mm
bottom section has several shortcomings. Among them are:
1) the high consumption of the pattern material and the refractories used to form the shell;
2) significant inertial slip of the melt in the fountain, which adversely affects the discharge indices of the CS; and
3) the fact that the Coriolis force leads to premature filling of the mold cavities which are located on the rear (relative to the direction of rotation) branch of the vertical channel and are connected to one another by an arc-shaped bridge
at their top and a straight bridge at their bottom. Counter-flows of metal are likely to develop in the forward (in the direction
of rotation) branch and the mold cavity if there is a lower channel that connects both branches. Such flows are very likely to
form defects such as unfused zones and cold shuts on the casting, as was confirmed by calculations performed in ProCAST
software (Fig. 1b). These and all subsequent calculations were performed using data in this programs database and [3] on
the properties of metals and shell molds.
The initial trial heats showed that the sensitivity of titanium alloys to the temperature-rate parameters of the casting
operation (the regimes used to fill the mold, crystallize the liquid metal, and cool the casting) is even greater for titanium aluminides. Thus, the casting system that is used must meet even higher standards with respect to optimizing the filling of the
mold when such alloys are being cast by centrifugal casting.
The rapid cooling that titanium castings undergo makes it necessary that the mold be filled quickly by having the
flow of metal be as compact as possible [4]. Satisfying this somewhat contradictory condition was one of the main objectives
in designing the CS shown in Fig. 2.
All the CS variants that have been proposed employ a cylindrical fountain with a baffle-equipped ventilator-type
metal receiver at its bottom. This type of receiver has the best discharge characteristics [2]. Rather than adjoining the receiver
radially, the horizontal runner connects with it at a 15 angle in the direction opposite the direction of rotation. In this case,
the beginning (axis) of the cylindrical path is in effect a continuation of the natural trajectory of motion of an elementary volume of the liquid under the influence of the centrifugal and Coriolis forces. This results in smoother passage of the melt from
the receiver to the horizontal channel.
As in the base variant (Fig. 1a), the CS variant shown in Fig. 2a uses a vertical channel with two branches. However,
this variant does not have a bridge that connects the blade models or a lower horizontal bridge that connects the branches of
the vertical channel. Such an arrangement prevents counter-flows of metal from forming in the mold while it is being filled.
*

This variant was proposed by researchers in Department of the Foundry Technologies at MISiS.

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Fig. 1. Gating system (a) and pattern of filling of the molds branches (b). The arrows indicate the direction of
movement of the melt.

Fig. 2. Diagrams of the experimental gating systems.

Fig. 3. Pattern of filling of the molds 1.7 sec (a) and 2.5 sec (b) after the beginning of the casting operation.

The next variant (Fig. 2b) includes four gate paths. Each path connects with the vertical channel, thus replenishing
the supply of molten metal for four blades. A metal collector is located at the end of the path to collect the contaminated front
part of the flow.
The first two CSs (see Fig. 2a and b) employ the technique that is traditionally used for centrifugal casting by reversing the flow of metal in the mold. Here, the molds working cavity is filled as metal flows from the periphery to the center
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of rotation and the velocity of the melt gradually decreases. Although the adverse effect of this practice on the quality of relatively short castings (such as 70100-mm-long HPC blades) is slight, the deceleration of the flow may reach the critical
(from the standpoint of filling the mold) level in the casting of long thin-walled castings such as LPT blades (length ~270 mm,
thickness 57 mm).
The gating system shown in Fig. 2c and its individual elements were designed so as to arrange for direct filling of
the mold cavity. In this case, the metal flows from the center of rotation to the periphery. The melt travels along a short gate
path and then passes through an inclined collector and into a special container referred to as an extinguisher [5]. The metal
loses its previously acquired velocity as it fills this part of the system. The presence of the extinguisher makes it possible to
cast the metal in a mold that has been inclined at a certain angle to the periphery. In this case, the metal can enter the mold
as a solid flow moving at minimal velocity. This creates an initial flow regime that is close to laminar. Centrifugal forces then
accelerate the flow of the liquid metal to the necessary velocity inside the mold cavity. If performed in this manner, the casting operation involves significantly fewer rotations of the mold than when the flow of metal is reversed.
The CS just described makes it possible to significantly reduce heat losses and the amount of metal consumed, introduce the metal into the mold in the form of a solid flow, decrease the angular velocity of the mold, and thus lessen the danger
of its fracture during the casting operation.
We used ProCAST software to model the filling of molds when the proposed CS (Fig. 2) is used. It was found (Fig. 3)
that the variant depicted in Fig. 2c does indeed allow that operation to be performed in the most efficient manner.
Conclusion. The results obtained here demonstrate the practicability of the chosen designs of gating systems and
can serve as a starting point for further calculations of the hydrodynamic, thermal, and shrinkage processes which take place
in castings.

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