Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080290569 | CRUCIBLES FOR MELTING TITANIUM ALLOYS - Crucibles for melting titanium alloys having a facecoat including at least one facecoat layer containing an oxide selected from scandium oxide, yttrium oxide, hafnium oxide, a lanthanide series oxide, and combinations thereof, and a backing including at least one backing layer where the crucible has a backing to facecoat thickness ratio of from about 6.5:1 to about 20:1. | 11-27-2008 |
20080292804 | METHODS FOR MAKING REFRACTORY CRUCIBLES FOR MELTING TITANIUM ALLOYS - Methods for making refractory crucibles for melting titanium alloys including providing a form, applying a facecoat to the form, and applying a backing to the facecoat where the facecoat has at least one facecoat layer including an oxide selected from the group consisting of scandium oxide, yttrium oxide, hafnium oxide, a lanthanide series oxide, and combinations thereof and where the backing to the facecoat has a thickness ratio of from about 6.5:1 to about 20:1. | 11-27-2008 |
20090126893 | Liquid Metal Directional Casting Process - Processes for directionally casting liquid metal to form an articles can include compressing a seal intermediate a mold chill plate and a mold assembly, wherein the seal circumscribes a shell mold in the mold assembly; filling the shell mold in the mold assembly with molten metal; immersing the mold assembly into a liquid metal cooling bath from a bottom portion to a top portion of the mold assembly; and transmitting heat from the mold assembly to the liquid metal cooling bath to solidify the molten metal from the bottom portion to the top portion of the mold assembly. | 05-21-2009 |
20090126894 | LIQUID METAL DIRECTIONAL CASTING APPARATUS - An apparatus for directionally casting articles generally includes a seal between a mold assembly and chill plate. In one embodiment, the mold assembly includes a skirt laterally extending from at least one shell mold, wherein the skirt includes a channel disposed in a bottom surface that is configured to surround the at least one shell mold. A chill plate fastened to a bottom of the mold assembly and includes a boss having a shape complementary to the channel, wherein the boss of the chill plate is seated within the channel of the mold assembly to define the seal about the at least one shell mold. | 05-21-2009 |
20090139650 | REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANE AND MEMBRANE STACK ASSEMBLY - A method is provided for making a reverse osmosis membrane comprising flow modifier structures on one or more of its surfaces. The surface modifier structures are disposed on the membrane surface using a direct-write technique. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method of making a reverse osmosis membrane, the method comprising providing a first membrane layer having an active surface and disposing on the active surface one or more flow modifier structures suing a direct-write technique. In an alternate embodiment, the present invention provides a method for making a polyethersulfone membrane comprising surface structures created using a direct-write technique. In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for making a membrane stack assembly comprising a membrane layer and a feed carrier layer wherein a direct-write technique is used to create surface structures (flow modifier structures) on each of the membrane layer and the feed carrier layer. | 06-04-2009 |
20090205799 | CASTING MOLDS FOR USE IN A DIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION PROCESS AND METHODS OF MAKING | 08-20-2009 |
20090314390 | Alloy Castings Having Protective Layers and Methods of Making the Same - An alloy casting having a protective layer disposed on a surface of the casting is provided. The protective layer is resistant to liquid metal attack, and wherein the protective layer includes an oxide of an element present in the alloy. A method of forming a protective layer on a surface of the alloy casting is also provided. The method includes disposing the alloy in a mold, and oxidizing an element of the alloy to form a protective layer on the surface of the casting. | 12-24-2009 |
20100018666 | HIGH EMITTANCE SHELL MOLDS FOR DIRECTIONAL CASTING - Shell molds and processes for making the shell molds that exhibit high emissivity in the red and infrared regions. In this manner, thermal resistance within a gap formed between solidifying cast metal and the interior mold surface is decreased. In one embodiment, the facecoat region is formed from a slurry composition comprising an aluminum oxide, a green chromium oxide and a silicon dioxide. In another embodiment, the facecoat region is formed from a slurry composition including zirconium silicate and silica with stucco layer of alumina is included. | 01-28-2010 |
20100170654 | Casting Molds for Use in Directional Solidification Processes and Methods of Making - Casting molds suitable for directional solidification processes using a liquid cooling bath include a graded facecoat structure on a mold body. The graded facecoat structure includes an innermost layer and a delamination layer, wherein the delamination layer fractures upon cooling of the molten metal so as to separate the mold body from the innermost layer, which remains in contact with or in close proximity to the metal being cast. Also disclosed are directional solidification processes. | 07-08-2010 |
20100300640 | CASTING PROCESSES AND YTTRIA-CONTAINING FACECOAT MATERIAL THEREFOR - A slurry suitable for forming facecoats, facecoats formed by such a slurry, and processes using such facecoats. The slurry is formed of a particulate refractory material, an aqueous suspension containing a particulate inorganic binder, a thixotropic organic binder, a dispersant, and possibly optional constituents excluding particulate refractory materials and inorganic binders. The particulate refractory material constitutes at least about 60 weight percent of the slurry and consists essentially of yttria. The aqueous suspension containing the particulate inorganic binder constitutes at most about 35 weight percent of the facecoat slurry. The dispersant is present in the slurry in an amount sufficient to stabilize the slurry at a pH of up to about 10, and has the general formula H | 12-02-2010 |
20100304161 | CASTING PROCESSES, CASTING APPARATUSES THEREFOR, AND CASTINGS PRODUCED THEREBY - A casting process and apparatus for producing directionally-solidified castings, and castings produced therewith. The process entails applying a facecoat slurry to a surface within a mold cavity to form a continuous solid facecoat on the surface, introducing a molten metal alloy into the mold cavity so that the molten metal alloy contacts the facecoat, and then immersing the mold in a liquid coolant to cool and solidify the molten metal alloy and form a casting of the metal alloy, during which an oxide layer forms on the casting surface. The facecoat is sufficiently adherent to the oxide layer such that at least a portion of the facecoat detaches from the mold surface and remains tightly adhered to the casting surface in the event the casting contracts during cooling. The facecoat contains at least 60 weight percent of a first phase of yttria, and the balance of the facecoat is a binder phase of an inorganic material. | 12-02-2010 |
20110315338 | SHELL MOLDS AND PROCESSES FOR FORMING SHELL MOLDS - Shell molds and processes for making the shell molds that exhibit high emissivity in the red and infrared regions. In this manner, thermal resistance within a gap formed between solidifying cast metal and the interior mold surface is decreased. In one embodiment, the facecoat region is formed from a slurry composition comprising an aluminum oxide, a green chromium oxide and a silicon dioxide. In another embodiment, the facecoat region is formed from a slurry composition including zirconium silicate and silica with stucco layer of alumina is included. | 12-29-2011 |
20120251330 | TURBINE AIRFOIL COMPONENT AND METHOD FOR MAKING - A component such as a turbine bucket or blade, and method for making the component, are presented. One embodiment is an article that comprises an airfoil casting portion comprising a plurality of integral regions, wherein the plurality of integral regions comprises a single-crystalline region and a columnar-grained region. Another embodiment is a method for fabricating an article. The method comprises providing a quantity of molten metal; providing a mold defining an airfoil portion having an axial direction and a transverse direction, wherein the airfoil portion of the mold comprises a single-crystal growth region and a columnar growth region disposed along the transverse direction from the single crystal growth region; introducing the molten metal into the mold; and solidifying the metal such that a solidification front progresses in the axial direction to produce an airfoil casting portion comprising a single-crystalline region and a columnar-grained region. | 10-04-2012 |
20130160967 | CASTING METHODS FOR MAKING ARTICLES HAVING A FINE EQUIAXED GRAIN STRUCTURE - Methods for casting a metallic material to form a component are described. The component can be a superalloy-containing turbine part, for example. The general method includes the step of pouring the metallic material, in molten form, into an investment mold; and then rapidly immersing the entire investment mold into a bath that contains a low-melting liquid coolant metal, so as to achieve substantially uniform, multi-directional heat transfer out of the molten material. The molten material that solidifies to form the component is characterized by a fine-grained, equiaxed grain structure. Related embodiments include the use of two ingots that constitute the superalloy material. One ingot includes the oxygen-reactive elements, and is prepared by a vacuum-melting technique. The other ingot includes the remainder of the elements, and can be prepared by a number of techniques, such as air-melting processes. | 06-27-2013 |