Superplastic Blow Forming of Aerospace Components

Abstract

Many metals, such as titanium and superalloys, are used for a wide range of aerospace applications, which include aircraft gas turbine engine and space launcher propulsion engine. In order to manufacture a stiffened extension with superplastic blow forming at elevated temperature, the structural integrity of the joint part was investigated since the welded or bonded joint of internal channels should maintain its strength during superplastic blow forming process. Various types of joint methods were performed in order to investigate microstructural and mechanical properties of the bonded specimen at elevated temperature. In this paper, the possibility of manufacturing combustion chamber and other aerospace components with superplastic blow forming of titanium and superalloy was demonstrated. An innovative manufacturing method to produce complex configuration from titanium multi-sheets by superplastic forming with low hydrostatic pressure was presented. The result also shows that the manufacturing method with superplastic blow forming of multi-sheets of IN718 alloy has been successfully demonstrated for near net shape forming of subscale nozzle extension cone with internal channels.