A real-time measuring technology for studying distortion of hydraulic turbine blade castings during heat treatment process

During heat treatment process, the distortion behavior inevitably appears in hydraulic turbine blade castings. In this research, a technology was developed for real-time measurement of the distortion in hydraulic turbine blade castings at the still air cooling and forced air cooling stages during heat treatment process. The method was used to measure the distortion behavior at the cooling stages in both normalizing and tempering processes. At the normalization, the distortion at the blade corner near outlet side undergoes four stages with alternating bending along positive and negative directions. At the tempering stage, the distortion could be divided into two steps. The temperature difference between the two surfaces of blade casting was employed to analyze the distortion mechanism. The measured results could be applied to guide the production, and the machining allowance could be reduced by controlling the distortion behavior.     

热处理过程大型铸钢件变形的三维动态测量

本文提出了一种新的铸件变形三维动态测量方法—固定方位角测量法,解决了热处理过程高温无标志点情况下大型铸钢件变形的三维动态测量问题,并建立了相应的数据分析方法.采用该方法对某工厂正火过程强制风冷阶段大型水轮机叶片铸件的翘曲变形行为进行了三维动态测量,获得了整个叶片的翘曲变形过程,并对叶片翘曲变形的测量误差进行了分析.测量结果表明,固定方位角法能有效用于高温和无标志点情况下大型弱刚度铸件翘曲行为的三维动态测量,为研究热处理过程的铸件变形提供了新的方法.     

Distortion and Residual Stress in High-Pressure Die Castings: Simulation and Measurements

Two individual high-pressure die casting geometries were developed to study the influence of process parameters and alloy composition on the distortion behavior of aluminum alloy castings. These geometries, a stress lattice and a V-shaped lid, tend to form residual stress due to a difference in wall thickness and a deliberate massive gating system. Castings were produced from two alloys: AlSi12(Fe) and AlSi10MnMg. In the experimental castings, the influence of important process parameters such as die temperature, ejection time, and cooling regime was examined. The time evolution of process temperatures was measured using thermal imaging. Subsequent to casting, distortion was measured by means of a tactile measuring device at ambient temperatures. The measured results were compared against a numerical process and stress simulations of the casting, ejection, and cooling process using the commercial finite element method software ANSYS Workbench. The heat transfer coefficients were adapted to the temperature distributions of the die, and the castings were observed by thermal imaging. A survey of the results of the comparison between simulation and experiment is given for both alloys.     

Improved thermal stress analysis for castings

Abstract

Three algorithms are presented to address three problems in stress analysis of castings: difficulties for enmeshment of complicated casting into finite element meshes, coupling of thermal and stress analysis, and determination of inverse deformation, respectively. An algorithm of conversion of finite difference meshes into finite element meshes is achieved by reformatting the data of meshes. An algorithm of the heat transfer coefficient at the casting/mould interface is presented and the coupling of thermal and stress analysis is realised with the feedback of stress and deformation to heat transfer. Machining allowance is applied as a criterion for deformation evaluation of castings. And insufficient machining allowance is transformed to inverse deformation which is fed back to the original casting design for recalculation of stress and deformation. Therefore, the design of casting with appropriate inverse deformation is obtained. Case studies about a cylinder block and a hydro turbine blade casting are illustrated.     

叶片的应力状态对混流式水轮机转轮失效的影响

在解决焊接热源沿任意空间路径移动的加载问题以及具有复杂形状的叶片在焊接时与空气之间的散热问题的基础上,对转轮实体模型焊接过程的温度场与应力场进行了数值模拟。得到了焊接应力的演变规律与焊后应力场的分布情况。结果表明,焊后应力的峰值出现在叶片与上冠或叶片与下环接触面附近的叶片上。结合转轮工作应力的分布状态,解释了混流式水轮机转轮的失效原因。     

Finite element simulation and experimental investigation of thermal tensioning during welding of DP600 steel

The locally introduced heating and cooling cycle of welding generates residual stresses and distortion. Costly post-weld heat treatments are required in order to reduce welding residual stresses and distortion. Thermal tensioning is one of the more promising in-process techniques to control welding distortion and can be classified into transient thermal tensioning (TTT) and side heating (SH). In thermal tensioning additional heat sources are applied during welding. If the additional heaters are close to the weld centre line and influence the thermal field of the weld, the process is called TTT. If there is no interference to the thermal field of the weld, the process is called SH. In this work, the SH during welding of 2?mm thick DP600 steels has been extensively investigated using numerical and experimental approaches. The thermal and mechanical fields during conventional welding and SH were examined by means of finite element models, and validated by comparison with experimental observation of temperature, distortion and residual stresses. The microstructure was investigated experimentally.     

3379BA1汽轮机叶片钢的热处理工艺优化

采用正交试验方法研究了3379BA1汽轮机叶片钢热处理工艺与力学性能之间的关系。结果表明:影响试验钢力学性能的因素先后顺序为回火温度、淬火温度、回火时间、淬火时间,得出了最优热处理工艺参数为1050 ℃淬火(保温60 min,油冷)后在700 ℃回火(保温120 min,空冷)。通过试验验证,经最优热处理工艺处理后试验钢可以满足各项性能要求,较工艺优化前冲击吸收能量平均值提升约10 J,屈强比达87.3%。     

厚大断面球墨铸铁件凝固装置的研制

自行研制了能够模拟厚大铸件冷却环境的小型凝固装置，通过控制不同的环境温度和冷却速度，来获取厚大断面球墨铸铁件凝固过程温度场的分布和变化规律。与空冷凝固时间相比，延长了300％的冷却凝固时间，验证了这一装置在实验中的有效性。     

Review of production status of heavy steel castings and key technologies for their manufacture in China

This paper expatiates on domestic status of heavy steel casting production, with a special focus on hydraulic turbine castings for Three Gorges Project. In China, there is magnificent demand for heavy castings with the rapid growth of the national economy in recent years and the expected high growth in the coming 10 to 20 years. Some heavy and large castings such as mill housing and hydraulic turbine runner crown, blade and band for Three Gorges Project have been successfully made. However, the domestic production capability is still far from meeting the gigantic requirements. The domestic capability still lags behind the world class level, and a lot of heavy castings still depend on import. The paper also gives a particular introduction of the key technologies in the manufacturing of heavy steel castings like metal melting, foundry technology, heat treatment technology and numerical simulation technique, etc. In addition, several case studies on the application of numerical simulation in the production of heavy steel castings are presented.     

镍基高温合金真空电磁约束成形与定向凝固

介绍了高熔点大密度铁、镍基合金的电磁约束成形定向凝固的两种先进技术。在系统研究电磁场与温度场及其耦合作用的基础上 ,利用特殊设计的双频双感应器成功地实现了多种截面形状的不锈钢及高温合金的无容器电磁约束成形。借助于特制的磁结晶器获得了电磁软接触的高温合金近终形定向凝固叶片样件。     

发动机Ⅰ级涡轮叶片裂纹分析

发动机在进行试车时发现Ⅰ级涡轮叶片在进气边出现裂纹。涡轮叶片材质为K465铸造高温合金,截至裂纹发现时,发动机累计工作时间为145 h。通过外观观察、断口观察、金相检查和温度热模拟试验等手段,分析了叶片裂纹的性质和原因。结果表明:Ⅰ级涡轮叶片裂纹性质为疲劳裂纹;叶片出现裂纹的原因是榫头型芯未脱除干净,榫头冷却通道堵塞,叶片超温造成组织和性能弱化,导致叶片在高温区萌生裂纹,提前失效;根据热模拟试验结果可以判断,叶片裂纹处承受温度在1 260℃以上。     

大长径比薄壁壳体零件真空气淬畸变行为的数值模拟

建立了30Cr3SiNiMoVA钢大长径比薄壁壳体零件的金属-热-力耦合有限元数值分析模型,通过反传热计算获得了壳体不同位置表面综合换热系数曲线,研究了真空气淬过程中薄壁壳体零件的温度场和组织场的演变规律,并对其畸变行为进行了详细分析。研究表明:同一换热面上的冷速大小为薄壁部位>顶部>台阶部位,且阳面的温度变化更为剧烈;应力演变曲线均出现两个峰值,第一个峰值是由温度差异导致的热应力引起的,第二个峰值是由马氏体转变产生的组织应力引起的;淬火之后,阳面高度增加了2.08 mm,增加幅度为0.082%,阴面高度增加了2.33 mm,增加幅度为0.092%,薄壁位置处外径增加了0.81 mm,增加幅度为0.270%,台阶位置处外径增加了0.57 mm, 增加幅度为0.186%。实测结果与模拟结果相符,误差小于10%。     

Controlling welding residual stress and distortion by a hybrid technology of transient thermal tensioning and trailing intensive cooling

ABSTRACT

A new method of hybrid technology for controlling welding residual stress and distortion is proposed, which contains the transient thermal tensioning with two symmetrical heat sources ahead and the trailing intensive cooling with a cooling source behind the welding heat source during the welding process. Welding temperature, stress and distortion were compared and discussed under different welding processes by experimental and numerical methods. The results reveal that the hybrid technology adjusted the temperature field during welding and redistributed the longitudinal residual stress of welding joint. Thus, the welding residual distortion was reduced. Compared with conventional metal inert gas welding, the reductions of the welding residual stress and distortion of joint by the hybrid technology reached 65% and 58%, respectively.     

单晶高温合金铸件结构对定向凝固过程中温度场的影响

为了提高单晶涡轮叶片的气冷效果,其冷却通道内部结构越来越复杂,导致制备过程中凝固缺陷出现频率增高,凝固缺陷的形成与定向凝固过程中温度场演变密切相关。采用ProCAST数值模拟的方法研究了铸件结构对定向凝固过程中温度场的影响。结果表明,单晶高温合金铸件尺寸突变和渐变都会导致液固界面位置和温度梯度的变化;相比渐变截面结构,突变截面结构容易形成较大的凝固界面曲率,且边角处形成较大的过冷,更容易导致凝固缺陷的形成。     

基于模拟仿真的铝合金铸件热处理过程温度均匀性控制

为实现铝合金铸件热处理过程的温度场调控、减轻变形,采用数值模拟方法,研究了不同料架结构对铝合金铸件表面温度场及温度均匀性的影响。结果表明,模拟仿真能够实现热处理过程铸件表面温度场的准确模拟,同时,热处理料架对铸件表面温度场具有重要影响。针对铝合金舱体铸件,采用φ30mm小孔+φ600mm大孔的料架底板,铸件表面不同位置温度均匀性最好,温度误差在±5℃范围内。     

A-100钢复杂连接件热处理畸变数值模拟及控制

采用SYSWELD软件对A-100钢复杂连接件进行了有限元建模,对其在无刚性约束条件下淬火过程中温度场和形变进行了模拟仿真,并对模拟结果进行了试验验证。温度场结果表明:冷却0.13 s时温度分布均匀,零件表面温度在820 ℃左右;冷却5~60 s时,零件表面的温度分布极为不均匀,零件头部型腔的棱角处温度较低,而位于底部的支臂与翼面连接处温度较高;而当冷却时间延长至160 s左右时,零件的整体温度已降至60 ℃以下。形变场结果表明:当冷却时间为0.5~10 s时,翼面远离加强筋部位产生较大淬火畸变,顶端棱角处畸变达3 mm;冷却到600 s时,最大畸变量减小至0.65 mm。根据畸变模拟结果设计了专用淬火工装,校形率达到70%左右。     

温差拉伸控制铝合金薄板的焊接变形

对两种形式的温差拉伸控制铝合金薄板焊接残余变形的效果和规律进行了研究。研究表明,由随焊激冷造成的动态温差拉伸减小焊接变形的效果受夹具自身散热条件的影响较大：不采用整体预热时,难以造成马鞍形温度场,此时减小焊接变形的机理主要是焊接线能量的等效降低;采用整体预热后,能够造成一定程度的温差拉伸,减小焊接变形的效果明显提高。中间冷却两侧加热的静态温差拉伸能够造成显著的马鞍形温度场,充分发挥温差拉伸的作用,     

Numerical simulation of directional solidification of single crystal turbine blade casting

Abstract

As the key parts of turbine engines, single crystal superalloy turbine blades directly determine the engine's performance and service time. In this paper, a mathematical model based on the modified cellular automaton and finite difference method was developed for the three-dimensional simulation of solidification process of single crystal turbine blade castings. Using a ray tracing method, the complex heat radiation among the multiple blade castings and the furnace wall was considered in the model. The microstructure evolution was simulated with the modified cellular automaton method. A discrete layer by layer calculation method was proposed to couple the macro- and microsimulations.

Simulation results show that with proper varying withdrawal rates, it is possible to increase the productivity and avoid the grain defects at the same time for single crystal blade castings. Experiments with constant and varying withdrawal rates were carried out to validate the proposed model.     

Dry and clean age hardening of aluminum alloys by high-pressure gas quenching

When precipitation-hardenable aluminum parts are water quenched, distortion occurs due to thermal stresses. Thereby, a costly reworking is necessary, and for this reason polymer quenchants are often used to reduce distortion, with the disadvantage that the quenched parts have to be cleaned after quenching. In opposition to liquid quenchants, gas quenching may decrease distortion due to the better temperature uniformity during quenching. Furthermore, cleaning of the quenched parts can be avoided because it is a dry process. For this purpose, a heat-treating process was evaluated that included a high-pressure gasquenching step. Gas quenching was applied to different aluminum alloys (i.e., 2024, 6013, 7075, and A357.0), and tensile tests have been carried out to determine the mechanical properties after solution annealing, gas quenching, and aging. Besides high-pressure gas quenching, alloy 2024 was quenched at ambient pressure in a gas nozzle field. The high velocity at the gas outlet leads to an accelerated cooling of the aluminum alloy in this case. Aluminum castings and forgings can be classified as an interesting field of application of these quenching methods due to their near-net shape before the heat treatment. Cost savings would be possible due to the reduced distortion, and therefore, less reworking after the precipitation hardening.     

动态控制的低应力无变形焊接新技术

在成功地研究并开发了薄壁构件低应力无变形焊接新技术的基础上，把靠预置温度场静态控制焊接应力与变形的方法发展到动态控制法。这一新构思所形成的动态控制焊接应力与变形的新技术的原理在于：不再依赖预置温度场，而是直接利用电弧在薄壁构件上所形成的焊接温度，建立一个特殊构造的热潭跟随电弧，板成“热源－热潭“多源系统，在熔池后的高温焊缝区产生强烈的局部急冷拉伸作用，控制和补偿焊接时产生的压缩塑性变形，达到薄壁构