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Application of Ceramic 3D Printing in Aerospace Field

Due to the harsh operating environment, such as aerospace equipment, which can withstand both the high temperature during launch and the low temperature in space, aerospace enterprises have very high requirements for parts, which pushes the traditional manufacturing process to the limit. After the appearance of 3D printing technology, it soon aroused the interest of aerospace enterprises. Through 3D printing, some structures that cannot be realized by traditional manufacturing processes can be realized, and parts with better performance and lighter weight can be manufactured.

Ceramics are famous for their heat resistance and good mechanical properties (the ceramics used in industrial fields are different from those used in daily life). They are very suitable for aerospace applications, but their processing is also difficult. Fortunately, 3D printing technology is now available to manufacture parts with complex shapes, while reducing cost and delivery time.

Lithoz, a ceramic 3D printing company, also specially developed a silicon nitride (Si3N4) material. They heated the 3D print of this material to 900 ° C, and then immediately quenched it to room temperature with water. Although the thermal stress was high, this part was not damaged.

In this way, silicon nitride (Si3N4) can be used to 3D print micro turbines, impellers and other components, which have excellent strength and toughness and can work at high temperatures.

Turbines are essential for aircraft to take off. One of the most important components inside the turbine is the turbine blade, which is currently mainly manufactured by investment casting process. There is a problem here. Due to the need for demoulding, the modeling combined with multi blade, complex and narrow cooling elements will be limited, which will not achieve the best performance.

The "soul mate" of aeroengine: alumina ceramic core

The internal cavity of aeroengine is a challenge for machining due to its complex structure. When investment casting is used for machining, there are many processes that cannot be completed by common machining methods, so various types of ceramic cores have been invented and widely used. The performance of ceramic core directly affects the qualification rate of precision castings and the quality of products. When casting single crystal superalloy blades, the ceramic core and superalloy liquid have complex interactions, which requires that the ceramic core has good chemical stability and thermal stability. Therefore, it is very important to constantly improve the matrix materials and manufacturing process of the ceramic core to enhance the performance of the ceramic core.

Ceramic cores are mainly composed of refractory matrix materials, mineralizers and additives, which are generally divided into silicon oxide based and aluminum oxide based. Aluminum oxide has better high-temperature performance, which has more potential application in the manufacturing of high-end turbine components.

Advantages of alumina ceramic core

Silica based ceramic core is made of quartz glass powder as the base material, and mullite, alumina, silica powder and other mineralizers are added to improve the performance of ceramic core. Silicon oxide ceramic core has the advantages of small thermal expansion coefficient, good fire resistance, high room temperature and high temperature strength, and easy to be corroded by alkali liquor.

Compared with silicon oxide based ceramic core, aluminum oxide based ceramic core has better chemical stability at high temperature, high temperature creep resistance, and higher service temperature (the maximum temperature can reach 1850 ℃), which can ensure the dimensional accuracy and qualification rate of directional columnar crystals and single crystal hollow blades with complex cavity structure, and reduce the manufacturing cost of blades. Moreover, the thermal expansion of aluminum based ceramic core and shell is almost the same, which is suitable for manufacturing high-level turbine blades.