Qualification of a Casting Technology for Production of Titanium Aluminide Components for Aero-Engine Applications

Abstract

Actual alloy and process development for high temperature turbine applications in the aerospace sector is strongly aimed at reaching the high demands on reduction of CO2 emissions responsible for the green house effect. Based on weight reduction the main objective resides in improving engine performance and efficiency. Last generation intermetallic titanium aluminides (γ TiAl) have a big potential to reach this goals. γ TiAl is nevertheless a very demanding material requiring very sophisticated processing routes. Access has developed a casting route for production of high quality γ TiAl components based on skull induction melting (SIM) and centrifugal investment casting. Although the feasibility of the technology has been already proven in earlier projects, it is still necessary to improve the process for series production of parts with the high quality standards required by the aerospace industry. With aid of a new developed centrifugal casting facility Access and its partners are conducting a comprehensive qualification process for the production of aerospace components, e.g. low pressure turbine blades. Basic issues comprising casting cluster design based on numerical simulation, process control and quality management are being addressed.