A self-bonding refractory powder product for use in making a slurry for investment casting molds comprising a coarse refractory powder; a Nano-sized powder; and an organic polymer powder, wherein it does not require aqueous colloidal silica to produce slurries used to build investment casting molds. The Nano-sized powder comprises fumed alumina, boehmite, fumed silica, or fumed titanium oxide or combinations thereof. The coarse refractory powder comprises milled zircon, tabular alumina or fused alumina, fused silica, alumino-silicate, zirconia, and yttria or combinations thereof. The organic polymer powder comprises a cellulose-based material.

A mould-forming and sacrificial materials are printed into a plurality of layers. The sacrificial material is removed to leave a void defined by a mould structure formed by the mould-forming material. The void is filled with a part-forming material to form the part defined by the shape of the mould structure. The mould structure is removed from the part to free the part from the mould structure. According to a further method, the part-forming material serves the purpose of supporting the mould-forming material and then forming the part. In this case, the part-forming material can be printed together with a mould-forming material as described above and are then heated to a temperature of approximately 700° C. to activate a binder and then heated to a temperature that melts the part-forming material.

An investment casting process for manufacturing a cast component is provided. The investment casting process includes forming a core, casting the cast component about the core such that a core positioning feature provides a location of an anticipated pilot hole in the cast component, removing the core from the cast component once the casting is completed, locating, forming and sizing a pilot hole to form a resized pilot hole that can receive a sealing plug and installing the sealing plug into the resized pilot hole.

A casting mold to cast a TiAl alloy includes a casting mold body formed into a bottomed shape and provided with a cavity. The casting mold body includes a reaction-resistant layer provided on the cavity side, formed from a refractory material containing at least one of cerium oxide, yttrium oxide, and zirconium oxide and a back-up layer formed on the reaction-resistant layer. The back-up layer includes a weakening layer formed from a refractory material including a silica material in a range from 80% by mass to 100% by mass inclusive, the silica material containing cristobalite in a range from 26% by mass to 34% by mass inclusive and the rest being fused silica, the weakening layer being designed to reduce casting mold strength and a shape-retention layer formed from a refractory material.

The present invention relates to a multicore and a method of manufacturing a hollow product using the multicore enabling a hollow of a molded product to be molded more easily by casting and a quality problem to be addressed, and the multicore includes a first core, being made of a water-insoluble material, having a hollow formed in the first core and, having an opening formed at both ends of the first core so that the hollow is exposed to the outside through the opening, a second core, being made of a water-soluble material and disposed inside the hollow, and a coating layer, being configured to surround the first core to prevent the first core and the second core from being exposed to an outside, wherein the first core includes a plurality of spaces to allow a fluid supplied to an interior of the first core to flow toward the second core.

Compositions useful for foundry processes such as green sandcasting are discussed. The compositions may include ball clay, bentonite, and a carbonaceous material. The ball clay may include leonardite and/or causticized lignite, e.g., as a portion of the natural ball clay deposit. The composition may further include sand, such that the resulting mixture may be formed into a green sand mold for use in casting molded articles. Incorporation of ball clay materials in the compositions may help to improve the quality of the casted article.

A method of fabricating an airfoil includes imaging a second end of the body portion to obtain image data, casting the tip portion utilizing the image data of the second end of the body portion and coupling a first end of the tip portion to the second end of the body portion. One or more features of the tip portion align with one or more features of the body portion. The method also includes additively manufacturing a core of the tip portion utilizing the image data and forming a casting mold about the core. The tip portion is cast in the casting mold. The coupling of the tip portion to the body portion including depositing a bonding material on a first end of the tip portion. An airfoil formed by the method is also disclosed.

The application provides a plaster casting mold fabrication method for a complicated structure aluminum alloy casting with a large inner cavity and a thin wall, in which, a wax pattern is cleaned with a mixture; closed blind cavity and large plane unbeneficial to plaster mold-filling of the wax pattern are used to exhaust air by using vent holes and waterproof-breathable membranes in cooperation with each other; under pressure difference, plaster powder and mixed aqueous solution are vertically splashed and mixed in a mixing tank to reduce dust discharge; asynchronous mixing and grouting can be realized by left and right mixing tanks in an upper tank of a vacuum tank. The present application can effectively remove the surface parting agent, increase the wettability of the plaster paste and the wax pattern surface, and improve the surface finish of the casting mold.

A new method of manufacturing a dual investment reticulated solid mold for producing reticulated metal foam, that includes 3D printing of a wax or resin reticulated precursor prior to pre-investment with a pre-investment plaster or pre-investment ceramic plaster, and removal of the precursor before addition of liquid metal to generate reticulated metal foam.

A cluster model and a shell for the production, by lost wax casting, of a plurality of turbomachine elements, are provided. The shell includes a central sprue that is fluidly connected to a casting cup for receiving molten metal; a plurality of shell elements; a plurality of bottom feed conduits for the shell elements; and a handling accessory shell that is independent of the plurality of shell elements and of their metal supply circuit, such that there is no fluid connection to the shell elements. The handling accessory shell is fluidly connected to the central sprue so as to allow top-pour casting of the handling accessory shell.