Ceramic materials come in a variety of forms, from figurines and teacups to knife blades and industrial cutting tools. Morgan Advanced Materials plc, however, produces a different type of ceramic. Its P-59 ceramic core material, for improving jet engine fuel efficiency, is a breakthrough in the realm of high-stability materials, according to the company.
Morgan injection-molds porous ceramic cores for the investment casting industry, which are used as part of the investment casting lost-wax process, explained Evan Reed, sales manager for the company’s New Jersey operations. The ceramic core is designed to have wax injected around it, and once the metal has been poured so solid metal surrounds the ceramic core, the core quickly dissolves. “By design, it’s not strong, so, therefore, not useful for a lot of things that people are trying to do with ceramics,” he said.
Yet P-59 reportedly provides critical benefits to the manufacturing of jet engine turbine blades, such as increased fuel efficiency. To achieve greater efficiency, engines must run at extremely high temperatures, which demands superior air cooling. One element required for effective air cooling is a small, thin, trailing-edge portion of the core, and P-59, with its fine particle size distribution, can achieve a trailing edge up to 20 percent thinner than that produced by other materials.
Reed noted P-59 can achieve a trailing edge that is 0.011 " (0.279mm) thick. Thinner edges are possible, but the current dimension is thin enough for engine manufacturers. Because jet fighters frequently fly in the Middle East, where there is a lot of sand, a trailing edge that is too thin can trap sand in the slot formed by the ceramic core, which causes problems.
Other than removal of the parting lines, the injection-mold cores do not require finishing. “The surface itself is relatively smooth because some of the finest particles migrate there,” Reed said. “That’s one of the reasons we have it as a matrix with a number of different particle sizes.”
For more information about Morgan Advanced Materials plc, Windsor, U.K., call +01753-837000 or visit www.morganadvancedmater ials.com. CTE
Related Glossary Terms
- ceramics
ceramics
Cutting tool materials based on aluminum oxide and silicon nitride. Ceramic tools can withstand higher cutting speeds than cemented carbide tools when machining hardened steels, cast irons and high-temperature alloys.
- investment casting
investment casting
1. Casting metal into a mold produced by surrounding (investing) an expandable pattern with a refractory slurry that sets at room temperature, after which the wax, plastic or frozen-mercury pattern is removed through the use of heat. Also called precision casting or lost-wax process. 2. Part made by the investment-casting process.
- lost-wax process
lost-wax process
Investment-casting process in which a wax pattern is used.
- parting
parting
When used in lathe or screw-machine operations, this process separates a completed part from chuck-held or collet-fed stock by means of a very narrow, flat-end cutting, or parting, tool.
Author
Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Including his 20 years at CTE, Alan has more than 30 years of trade journalism experience.
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