NanoTi - Grain refinement of Ti-6Al-4V wire to enable Aerospace DED AM

NanoTi - Ti-6Al-4V 丝的晶粒细化使航空航天 DED AM 成为可能

• 批准号: 10030392
• 金额: $ 29.94万
• 依托单位: EPOCH WIRES LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: BEIS-Funded Programmes
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10030392
• 关键词: NanoTi; Grain; refinement; Ti; 6Al

Airframe fabricators use large machined titanium components but their manufacture methods makes inefficient use of material. Most (typically more than 80%) of the high value, pedigree material purchased to make a part is machined away into low-value swarf, that has to be scrapped, or recycled through energy intensive and environmentally costly processes. The industry uses the term buy-to-fly ratio (BtF) to quantify the mass of material purchased to make the part, compared with the mass of the finished component. For large components of ~25kg a BtF of 5:1 to 10:1 is typical, but for several wide-body structures BtF of \>20:1 are also seen.AM offers a manufacturing route that can be significantly more material efficient with BtF of 3:1, and typically <2:1 with an optimised process.Powder bed Additive Manufacturing is being used effectively for components of up to ~3kg mass, using powder feedstock, but is too slow and limited in dimension (maximum practical dimension is <1m) to be viable for larger components. For larger components, DED (directed energy deposition) is the AM method; whereby wire or powder feedstock is fed into a deposition head, which is manipulated to form the component layer-by-layer. This AM approach is able to address large (e.g. 25+kg) components reducing the metal consumption of the airframe business, and consequently lower costs and environmental impact.From a material stand-point, Ti6Al4V alloy is recognised as the "workhorse" of airframe fabricators, and represents almost half of the market share of titanium products used worldwide. However, Ti6Al4V suffers from inter-pass columnar grain growth when deposited using DED AM -- which severely reduces its mechanical performance.It is well established that small additions of grain growth modifiers can offer such a solution; the issue has been how to make a suitable, low-cost, feedstock material that can deliver this.Epoch Wires has a unique wire production approach, developed for superconducting wire manufacture, that offers a way to finely and reliably offer such a production method.Within the project, we will produce and evaluate a range of doped wires and establish their 'AM-ability" using a full range of DED AM methods (Arc/WAAM, Laser and Electron Beam DED) -- potentially offering the aerospace sector a key input into unlocking the full potential of AM for aircraft manufacture.

机身制造商使用大型机加工钛部件，但他们的制造方法使材料的利用效率低下。大多数（通常超过80%）用于制造零件的高价值、血统材料被加工成低价值的切屑，这些切屑必须报废，或通过能源密集型和环境成本高昂的工艺进行回收。该行业使用术语购买飞行比（BtF）来量化购买用于制造零件的材料的质量，与成品组件的质量相比。对于约25 kg的大型部件，BtF通常为5：1至10：1，但对于几种宽体结构，BtF也可达到\>20：1。AM提供了一种制造路线，BtF为3：1，通常<2：1，优化工艺，可以显著提高材料效率。粉末床增材制造正在使用粉末原料有效地用于质量高达约3 kg的部件，但速度太慢且尺寸有限（最大实际尺寸<1 m），对于较大的部件不可行。对于较大的组件，DED（定向能量沉积）是AM方法;其中将线材或粉末原料进料到沉积头中，该沉积头被操纵以逐层形成组件。这种增材制造方法能够处理大型（例如25 kg以上）部件，从而减少机身业务的金属消耗，从而降低成本和环境影响。从材料的角度来看，Ti6 Al 4V合金被认为是机身制造商的“主力”，占全球钛产品市场份额的近一半。然而，Ti6 Al 4V在使用DEAM沉积时遭受道次间柱状晶粒生长-这严重降低了其机械性能。问题是如何制造合适的、低成本的、能够提供这种材料的原料。EpochWires具有独特的线材生产方法，为超导线材制造而开发，在该项目中，我们将生产和评估一系列掺杂线材，并使用全系列的DED AM方法（电弧/WAAM、激光和电子束DED）来建立它们的“AM能力”--这可能为航空航天部门提供关键投入，以释放AM在飞机制造中的全部潜力。