Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SkyLight (SkyLight: Innovations in titanium investment casting of lightweight structural components for aero engines)

Teaser

Titanium investment casting is an essential technology used in the production of complex components used in the manufacture of aircraft engines. Many of the designs which enable more efficient operation are bound by limitations in the manufacturing process.The European metal...

Summary

Titanium investment casting is an essential technology used in the production of complex components used in the manufacture of aircraft engines. Many of the designs which enable more efficient operation are bound by limitations in the manufacturing process.

The European metal casting industry faces demands for lighter components with lower total costs of use and with enhanced mechanical properties, surface finish, and dimensional accuracy, all of which are necessary to improve product performance. Simultaneously, they face continuously increasing competition from foundries and machine shops in low labour cost countries. Precision casting is often seen as a craft process and, as such, is not perfectly understood. Around 5%-16% of complex aerospace castings are scrapped as a result of failure or inconsistency of the manufacturing process.

The project aims to address these challenges enabling increased complexity of design and reduced waste during the manufacturing process; resulting in more efficient design, reduced cost by reducing waste and increased environmental benefits by both reduced weight and increased efficiency in operation.

Work performed

The work performed on the project to date have focussed on alternative alloys that can offer increases in specific strength. Such alloys would offer the potential for lighter products to be created to handle the loads they are designed to manage. In addition to the physical properties of the alternative alloys, their opportunities for use have been assessed in terms of manufacturability via the casting process.

Technologies investigated have conducted work on novel technologies and also the application and validation of existing technologies not currently used in the manufacture of titanium components. These developments include the novel usage of additive layer manufacturing to produce preforms for use in the production of complex internal cavities not producible by existing technologies. In addition to this, techniques to combine multiple assemblies during the single casting operation have been progressed. These developments will enable the manufacture of more complex components and enable more efficient methods of manufacture with increased detection of potential manufacturing defects. In addition the competitiveness of European tier 1 manufacturers will be enhanced by the reduced lead times achievable.

Final results

Within the project, alternative alloys have been identified that will potentially have an impact on the weight of load bearing structural castings, offering the potential for their use to achieve weight savings.

Three technologies developed as part of the project have progressed beyond the current state of the art. These offer significant low cost manufacturing technologies that will reduce the amount of waste during manufacture and enable the manufacture of components with increased complexity. This will enable more operational efficiency through design and reduced environmental impact and cost of manufacture through more efficient manufacturing processes.

These offer significant opportunities in increasing the competitiveness of European businesses and give a strategic advantage to those businesses allowing them to achieve optimised designs.