Method for forming a directionally solidified replacement body for a component using additive manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9770758-B2
Application number	US-201615219921-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2016
Priority date	May 9, 2014
Publication date	Sep 26, 2017
Grant date	Sep 26, 2017

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a replacement body for a component is provided. The method includes the steps of: a) additively manufacturing a crucible for casting of the replacement body; b) solidifying a metal material within the crucible to form a directionally solidified microstructure within the replacement body; and c) removing the crucible to reveal the directionally solidified replacement body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a replacement body for a component, comprising:
additively manufacturing the replacement body with a material;
melting the additively manufactured replacement body; and
solidifying the material of the additively manufactured replacement body to fault a directionally solidified microstructure within the component.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
forming a core at least partially within the replacement body.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
at least partially encasing the replacement body and the core within a shell.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
removing a shell and the core to reveal the directionally solidified microstructure replacement body.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the forming of the core includes additively manufacturing the core.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solidifying of the material includes directionally solidifying the material to have a single crystal microstructure.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solidifying of the material includes directionally solidifying the material to have a columnar grain microstructure.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the core at least partially defines at least one internal passageway within the replacement body.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising concurrently additively manufacturing the replacement body and the core within the replacement body.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the core at least partially defines at least one microchannel within the replacement body.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the microchannel is additively manufactured of a refractory material and the internal passageway is additively manufactured of a ceramic material.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the additive manufacturing is performed by a multi-powder bed system.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a wax material at least partially onto the replacement body.

14. A method of manufacturing a replacement body for a component, comprising:
additively manufacturing a replacement body from a material; and
melting and solidifying the replacement body within a crucible to form a directionally solidified microstructure within the replacement body.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
forming the crucible around the replacement body.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
removing the crucible from the directionally solidified replacement body.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the solidifying of the replacement body includes directionally solidifying the material of the replacement body to have a single crystal microstructure.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the solidifying of the replacement body includes directionally solidifying the material of the replacement body to have a columnar grain microstructure.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of a nickel based superalloy, cobalt based superalloy, iron based superalloy, and mixtures thereof.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the crucible is formed from a ceramic material slurry.

Assignees

• United Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Xu Jinquan

Classifications

• B22F10/66

  by mechanical means · CPC title

• B22F10/62

  by chemical means · CPC title

• B22F10/25

  Direct deposition of metal particles, e.g. direct metal deposition [DMD] or laser engineered net shaping [LENS] · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title

• B33Y40/20

  Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing · CPC title