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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/N13784/01
Title: RAPID MANUFACTURE OF CASTING CORES BY INK-JET PRINTING
Principal Investigator: Derby, Professor B
Other Investigators:
Wood, Dr A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Howmet Ltd Rolls-Royce Plc (UK)
Department: Materials
Organisation: University of Manchester, The
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 May 2000 Ends: 30 April 2003 Value (£): 274,002
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Processing Materials testing & eng.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine Manufacturing
Construction
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Cooling channels in superalloy gas turbine aerofoils and nozzle guide vanes are introduced during the casting process by the use of leachable casting cores. The cooling channels, and hence the cores, are of complex shape and very small dimensions. During aerofoil or materials development programmes it is necessary to fabricate small quantities of cores for test castings. The rapid manufacture of casting cores from CAD design files is an important development for the gas turbine industry.The direct manufacture of materials from CAD files can be achieved by freeform or layered manufacturing methods. We will develop ink-jet printing as one such method for the manufacture of casting cores by the deposition of powder filled low melting point waxes. This will be achieved using a commercial hot wax ink-jet printer developed for rapid prototyping. We will optimise the composition of powder containing molten wax slurries for high solids volume content and controlled viscosity. Ceramic powders will be optimised for reduced sintering shrinkage.
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Organisation Website: http://www.man.ac.uk