Systems, devices, and/or methods for manufacturing castings

• US 10,207,315 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2015
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rtx Corporation
• Original Assignee: United Technologies Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Appleby, Michael P., Fraser, Iain, Paulus, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Watkins, III, William P
• Application Number:
  US14/935,484
• Publication Number:
  US 20160082502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,198 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4258 for detecting non x-ray radiation, e.g. gamma radiation A61B6/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B22C 9/04 Use of lost patterns
• CPC Class Codes: B22C 9/10 Cores; Manufacture or installation of cores breaker cores B22C9/084
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 15/246 Laminated dies
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 33/301 Modular mould systems [MMS], i.e. moulds built up by stacking mould elements, e.g. plates, blocks, rods B29C33/0088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 33/38 characterised by the material or the manufacturing process B29C33/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 33/3835 Designing moulds, e.g. using CAD-CAM
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 63/00 Compositions of epoxy resins; Compositions of derivatives of epoxy resins
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 83/04 Polysiloxanes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24479 including variation in thickness

Abstract

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a composition, system, machine, device, manufacture, circuit, and/or user interface adapted for, and/or a method and/or machine-readable medium comprising machine-implementable instructions for, activities that can comprise, after removing a cast device from a stack-lamination-derived mold, said cast device formed from a molding composition, applying a desired shape to said cast device to form a shaped cast device, said molding composition comprising: a ceramic composition comprising silica; an cycloaliphatic epoxy binder composition, said cycloaliphatic epoxy binder composition present in said molding composition in an amount up to 30% by weight of said molding composition; a silicone composition comprising a siloxane resin, said silicone composition present in said molding composition in an amount up to 30% by weight of said molding composition; and a solvent composition adapted to dissolve said cycloaliphatic epoxy binder composition and said silicone composition.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a device composition comprising;

a ceramic composition comprising a plurality of crystalline forms of silica, a first crystalline form of silica from the plurality of crystalline forms of silica being cristobalite in an amount greater than 2.5% and less than 10% by weight of the device composition;

an cycloaliphatic epoxy binder composition, the cycloaliphatic epoxy binder composition present in the device composition in an amount up to 30% by weight of the device composition; and

a silicone composition comprising a siloxane resin, the silicone composition present in the device composition in an amount up to 30% by weight of the device composition;

the device defining a plurality of wall surfaces, a wall surface from the plurality of wall surfaces comprising a plurality of 3-dimensional micro-features, the plurality of 3-dimensional micro-features comprising at least one protruding undercut, the plurality of wall surfaces defining a periphery of a layer-less volume;

the device configured to be substantially carbon-free after sintering;

the device having a post-sintering measured apparent porosity of 15 to 35 percent and a predetermined surface characteristic.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the ceramic composition comprises approximately 6 percent to approximately 10 percent cristobalite by weight of the device composition.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device composition comprises zircon.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device composition comprises alumina.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a photolithographically-derived foil structure substantially surrounded by the ceramic composition.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as an investment casting core.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as a core for an investment cast product.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as a core for an investment cast turbomachine component.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as a core for an investment cast air foil.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as a core for an investment cast blade.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as a core for an investment cast vane.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is configured to serve as a core for an investment cast nozzle.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device defines a plurality of cooling passages for an investment cast product.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device comprises a first planar surface configured to be transformed into a non-planar surface via thermoforming the ceramic composition.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is removable, from an ancestor mold having a surface that comprises a plurality of substantially spatially inverted replicas of the plurality of 3-dimensional microfeatures, the mold having an opening defined by an opening cross-sectional area that is smaller than a largest cross-sectional area of the device, without damage to the device and without damage to the ancestor mold.