Rapid Investment Casting of Nano-Treated Aluminum Alloy 7075 Turbines
摘要
Aluminum alloyAluminum alloy 7075 is renowned for its lightweightLightweight and excellent mechanical propertiesMechanical properties, making it ideal for high-performance aerospaceAerospace applications. However, challenges such as hot crackingHot cracking and poor fluidityFluidity hinder the castingCasting of complex components out of AA7075, especially thin and intricate ones. This study applies a new metallurgical method, nano-treatingNano-treating, where a small fraction of TiC nanoparticles is dispersed to AA7075 alloy to enable novel microstructural and solidificationSolidification control. A vacuum fluidityFluidity test showed that nano-treatingNano-treating increased the fluidityFluidity of AA7075, eliminated hot crackingHot cracking, and enhanced surfaceSurface quality. With the nanotechnology-enhanced castabilityCastability, a turbine structure with thin fins of 0.5 mm thick was manufactured out of the nano-treated aluminum alloyAluminum alloy 7075 via the rapid investment castingCasting process. However, the untreated AA7075 alloy exhibited poor fillings and severe cracks. The castingCasting results underscore the potential of nano-treatingNano-treating technology in enabling traditionally uncastable alloys for complex thin-wall structures for numerous applications.