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Intermetallics 6 (1998) 709-713 0 1998 Elsevier Science Limited Printed in Great Britain.

All rights reserved PII: ELSEVIER SO966-9795(98)00060-O 0966-9795/98/.%see front matter

Application of cast gamma TiAl for automobiles


T. Noda*
Special Steel Research Division, R&D Laboratory Daido Steel Co. Ltd. 2-30 Daido-cho, Minami-ku, Nagoya, 457-8545 Japan

(Received 27 April 1998; revised 14 May 1998; accepted 15 May 1998)

Studies of cast gamma TiAl applied for engine valves and turbocharger confirmed excellent performances. The durability of TiAl valves was also proven. Two cast gamma TiAl alloys were developed for the engine valves and the turbine wheels of turbochargers. New precision casting process of LEVICAST and induction brazing process of the gamma TiAl and alloy steels were proposed as advanced processing technologies. 0 1998 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved
Key words: TiAl, casting, joining, engine valve, turbocharger.

1 INTRODUCTION

Reducing the weight of rotational and reciprocating engine components is essential for increasing aerospace and automotive engine performance. Gamma TiAl alloys are the most promising alternative light-weight heat-resistant material to conventional heat-resistant steels and superalloys. Fundamental and application studies have been intensively carried out with the aim of using gamma TiAl in engine components.lp5 In automotive engine applications, the turbine wheels of turbocharger and the engine valves have been focused on. 2v3,5 Conventional turbine wheels and engine valves are produced by precision casting process and hot forging process respectively. However, it is hard to apply conventional hot forging process to valve production using a gamma TiAl due to its inherent poor deformability. So far, precision casting has been reported as a candidate manufacturing process for the gamma TiA1.2,5,6 Application studies of cast gamma TiAl for turbine wheels and engine valves have confirmed high performance. 2,7 However, even now these components have not put into practical use for passenger car engines. The barrier for the advance of practical applications has been not only optimization of properties but also the high-cost of processing. To accelerate the practical application of TiAl for turbine wheels and engine valves, low-cost processing technologies for melting, NNS (near-net shape)
*Fax: 0081 52 611 7399; e-mail: D3234@so.daido.co.jp 709

forming, joining, and surface modification must be developed. This paper will report on the results of application of gamma TiAl to turbine wheels and valves and the progress of technology developments including cast gamma TiAl alloys, precision casting and joining in Daido Steel.

2 APPLICATION
GAMMA TiAl

TEST RESULTS

OF CAST

To prepare turbine wheels and valves, the CLV process (Counter-Gravity Low-Pressure Casting of Vacuum-Melted Alloys) currently used for manufacturing turbine wheels using Ni-base superalloy was employed. The CLV process is a one of the counter gravity low-pressure casting processes where the melt is sucked up into the cavities of a permeable ceramic shell mold by reducing the pressure outside the mold. This process has the great advantage of filling the melt in the narrow cavities of the mold and reducing pinhole casting defects as compared with conventional casting processes such as gravity casting. Figure 1 shows examples of cast turbine wheels and valves made of gamma TiAl.
2.1 Turbine wheels of turbochargers2

The weight reduction of turbine wheels is expected to contribute to the improvement of its turbo-lag and to reduce the particulate emission of diesel engines by reducing inertia of turbine rotors. To

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T. Noda

confirm the advantage of TiAl turbochargers, hotspin tests were conducted. The TiAl wheels of preliminary alloy, the same configuration as the Inconel7 13C rotor with 47 mm diameter, were cast by CLV process and used in as-cast condition. Alloy steel shafts were joined to the TiAl wheels by vacuum brazing. In this test, a kerosene burner was employed as the source of hot gas to drive turbochargers. An acceleration response test was carried out by measuring the boost time from idling speed of 34 000 to 100 000 and 170 000 r-pm, the rated speed of this turbocharger. The turbocharger of TiAl showed 16% faster boost time from idling speed to 100 000 rpm and 26% faster from idling speed to 170 000 rpm than that of Inconel713C. Also, the maximum speed of the TiAl turbocharger reached 180 000 rpm, 10 000 rpm higher speed than the Inconel713C turbocharger. As a result of burst test, the speed to burst of both the TiAl and Inconel7 13C turbocharger exceeded 2 10 000 rpm, 124% of the rated speed. In this turbocharger application of gamma TiAl, the advantage of lightweight TiAl turbine wheels was confirmed. 2.2 Exhaust valves In order to increase the power output and to decrease the fuel consumption of automotive engines, it is necessary to increase the rotational speed and to reduce friction loss. The weight reduction of the components is beneficial especially for engine valves. To confirm the performance and durability of TiAl exhaust valves, engine tests were conducted. The valves of RNT004 shown in Table 1 were cast by CLV process and HIPped to eliminate

central shrinkage. In order to protect the face, stem and tip against wear, the surface of the valves was modified by plasma carburization8. To evaluate the durability of the valves, a dynamometer engine test using a 2.6 liter DOHC twin turbo engine was carried out. After testing for 150 h at 6 400 rpm, the loss due to wear and oxidation of the valves was confirmed to be negligibly small. This demonstrated that the reliability of RNT004 cast valves is enough for practical use. A performance test was also conducted for another engine, a 3.5 liter, 12V, DOHC with natural aspiration. The maximum engine speed of this ordinal engine has been limited to around 13 000 rpm by valve jump. However, the engine speed exceeded 14 000 rpm without any valve jump when using the TiAl valves. This result also verified the advantage of light-weight TiAl valves for the performance.

3 ALLOY

DEVELOPMENT

In general, the service temperatures of the exhaust valves and the turbine wheels of turbochargers are 600-850C and 70&95oC, respectively. Therefore heat-resistant steels of 214N are mostly used as the valve material and Ni-base wrought superalloy

Table 1. Chemical composition of TiAl alloys AI RNT004 RNT650 33.5 47.3 33.5 48.1 Nb I.0 o-4 4.8 2.0 Cr 0.5 0.4 1.0 0.7 Si 0.5 0.7 0.2 0.3 wt% at% wt% at%

Bal:Ti

Fig. 1. Example

of cast TiAl turbine

wheels and exhaust

valves.

Application of cast gamma TiAl for automobiles

711

Inconel 751 is used in high performance valves. On the other hand, Ni-base cast superalloy Inconel 713C are commonly used as the material for turbine wheels which require more heat-resistance than the valves. To develop cast gamma TiAl alloys for valves and turbine wheels, the alloying of Cr,Nb and Si to the base alloy of Ti-33e5wt%(47.2at.%)Al,g which showed a better set of mechanical properties, was investigated. Nb and Si were added to increase oxidation resistance and Cr to improve ductility.O> Also Si addition is effective for enhancing creep strength. l2 Table 1 shows the chemical compositions of two of the developed cast gamma TiAl alloys. RNT004 was developed for the valves and RNT650 was developed for the turbine wheels as a more heat-resistant alloy than RNT004. The microstructures of these alloys were designed to have V/Q lamellae structure in as-cast condition which showed a better combination of mechanical properties. The various specific strengths of the two alloys are shown in Fig. 2. Except for room temperature strength, the specific strengths of tensile, fatigue and creep of RNT004 and RNT650 are superior to the conventional materials. FOD (Foreign Object Damage) is one of the problems in turbine wheel applications, therefore impact property is important. Figure 3 shows the Charpy impact values of the two alloys. The Charpy impact values of both alloys are almost the same at room temperature. However, the value of RNT650 at high temperature over 500C was higher than that of RNTO04 and equivalent to that of Inconel 713C. The cyclic oxidation test results of the two alloys are compared with other materials in Fig. 4. RNT004 showed significant increase in oxidation resistance as compared with the Ti-33.5wt%(47.2 at %)A1 binary alloy over 800C. The oxidation resistance of RNT650 containing much Nb was

better than that of RNT004 and became close to that of Inconel713C at 900C. The foregoing application study verified the performance and durability of cast RNT004 valves. At present, as-cast RNT650 turbine wheels are being evaluated for their performance and durability.

4 PROCESS

DEVELOPMENT

In order to transfer the manufacture of TiAl valves and turbochargers to high-volume mass production, the key technologies of precision casting, joining and surface modification should be established.
4.1 Precision casting

The author has already succeeded in experimentally producing the turbine wheels and the engine valves of TiAl by CLV process. In this process, a stable refractory crucible of CaO was employed to melt TiAl. However, reducing the oxygen content in TiAl castings below 1000 ppm was difficult due to the reaction between the reactive molten metal of TiAl and the crucible. To improve room temperature ductility of TiAl castings, further reduction of oxygen content is necessary.i3 To obtain contamination free castings of TiAl and T&alloys, LEVICAST process, which consists of advanced cold crucible levitation melting process and the counter gravity low-pressure casting process, has been developed in Daido Steel.i4 Figure 5 shows a schematic illustration of the process. TiAl is melted in a specially designed water cooled

r E6o
90 kj $ 70 60 50 40 30 -1
+

V-notch

900% Tensile strength RNT660(3.9) 14 Unit for X/Y axis : 106mm

z 5 8. g

RNT650 RNT004 21-4N lncone1751

-A-m-O-

bending fatigue 6

6OOC/lOOOhrs 6 creep rupture

0
RT Tensile strength

200

400

600

600

1000

Temperature,
and RNT650. Fig. 3. Charpy

OC

Fig. 2. Specific strength

of cast RNT004

impact value of cast RNT004 and RNT650.

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T. Noda

copper crucible in Ar gas atmosphere by high frequency induction heating. As the melt is confined and pushed away from the crucible wall by the electromagnetic force induced in the melt, the superheat of the melt increases enough for the casting by elimination of heat loss to the crucible wall. After melting, the casting is conducted by counter gravity low-pressure casting using a zirconia based ceramic shell mold tailored for TiAl casting. The increase of oxygen in TiAl castings cast by this process was almost negligible. Also the oxygen rich surface layer of the castings was negligibly small. Current oxygen level in the TiAl casting is around 500ppm. The blade tip thickness of TiAl turbine wheels which can be cast by this process has reached as thin as Oe35mm. The short cycle of meting and casting is another significant advantage of this process from the productivity point of view. This process has been already applied to mass production of titanium alloy castings in Daido Steel. LEVICAST process is considered to be a promising casting technique for TiAl components. 4.2 Joining of TiAl and alloy steels In conventional turbine rotors, usually the shafts of hardenable alloy steels are joined to turbine wheels by friction welding or electron beam welding. On the other hand, in engine valve trains including rocker arms, chips of high-carbon martensitic heat-resistant steels are usually bonded on the exhaust valve tips by resistance welding to prevent tip wear due to the rocker arms. However, conventional joining methods such as friction
Cycles : 192, Dew point of air: 30C

welding, electron beam welding and the resistance welding can not be easily applied to the direct joining of TiAl and martensitic steels because of the cracking at the brittle interfaces of joints due to the internal stress induced by the martensitic transformation of alloy steels on cooling after joining.2 Vacuum brazing was successful in direct joining of TiAl and the martensitic alloy steels because filler metals play a role of the buffer for the stress. However, the vacuum brazing is not a costeffective welding method. To develop a cost-effective joining technique of TiAl and alloy steels, induction brazing method was used.15 A schematic illustration of the induction brazing is shown in Fig. 5. The advantage of this method is its short joining cycle. After a filler metal is placed between TiAl and an alloy steel under a slight pressure, the joint position is rapidly heated up and kept at brazing temperature by induction heating in Ar gas atmosphere to prevent oxidation. Cast RNT004 and nickel-chromium-molybdenum steel AISI4340 were joined using silver base filler metal. The tensile strength of the joint at 500C is shown in Fig. 7. Although the strength of the induction brazed joint could not reach the tensile strength of mother alloys, it surpassed the strength of the vacuum brazed joint using the same
evacuation -0

r
/

ceramic mold

vacuum chamber c(

40

r.

Ar gas

700

750

800

850

900

950

1000

Temperature, C
Fig. 4. Specific strength of cast RNT004 and RNT650. Fig. 5. Schematic illustration

of LEVICAST process.

Application of cast gamma TiAl for automobiles

713

5 CONCLUSION Studies of cast gamma TiAl applied in engine valves and turbine wheels of turbochargers of automotive engines revealed high performance and the durability of TiAl valves. Two cast gamma TiAl alloys were developed for engine valves and turbine wheels of turbochargers. New precision casting and joining processes were proposed as key technologies for processing of the gamma TiAl . To realize the practical application of gamma TiAl, further efforts on the design of components with configurations most suitable for TiAl, intensive tests of the durability of components and further reduction of the total processing cost are required.

The&controller Filler Metal TiAl

Fig. 6. Schematic illustration

of induction brazing.

REFERENCES
1. Kim, Y-W., J. Met., 1989, 41, p. 24. 2. Nishiyama, Y., Miyashita, T., Isobe, S. and Noda, T., in High Temperature Aluminides and Intermetallics, ed. S.H. Whang et al. TMS,Warrendale, PA, USA, 1990, p. 557.
3. Dowling

2 600 E 500 r %400 s t300 cn E 200 ._ &xl 0 AIS RNT004


induction Brazing Vacuum Brazing

4.

5.

6.

Fig. 7. Strength of induction

brazed joint.
7.

filler metal. The induction brazing was also applied to joining of 53mm diameter RNT650 turbine wheels and AISI4340 alloy steel shafts. As a result of torsion test of the joint at 45OC, a torsional fracture torque of 2llJ was obtained. Current ceramic rotors used in passengers car engines are joined by active brazing or shrink fitting.i6 The torsional fracture torque of the joint of the ceramic rotor joined by the active brazing was reported to be 545 at 450C.i6 The induction brazed TiAl rotor showed much better torsional fracture torque than the ceramic rotor. In addition, in joining high-carbon matensitic heat-resistant steel chips on valve tips, hardening of the chips is automatically conducted on cooling after induction brazing. Moreover, trimming of the flash required in friction welding is unnecessary in this method.

8. 9.

10. II. 12. 13.

14.

Jr., W. E., Allison. J. E., Swank, L. R. and Sherman, M. A., SAE Technical Paper Series. 930620, 1993, p. 31. Austin, C. M. and Kelly, T. J., in Gamma Titanium Aluminide, ed. Y-W. Kim et al. TMS, Warrendale, PA, USA, 1995, p. 21. Hartfield-Wunsch, S. E., Sperling, A. A., Morrison, R. S., Dowling Jr., W. E., and Allison, J. E., in Gamma Titanium Aluminide, ed. Y-W. Kim et al. TMS, Warrendale, PA, USA, 1995, p. 41. Jones, P. E., Porter III, W. J., Eylon, D. and Colvin, G., in Gamma Titanium Aluminide, ed. Y-W. Kim et al.TMS, Warrendale, PA, USA, 1995, p. 53. Maki, K., Ehira, A., Sayashi, M., Sasaki, T., Noda, T., Okabe, M. and Isobe, S., SAE Technical Paper Series, 96030, 1996, p. 117. Noda, T., Okabe, M. and Isobe, S., Mater. Sci. Eng., 1994, A213, p. 157. Isobe, S., Iikubo, T. and Noda, T., Titanium & Zirconium, 1989, 37, p. 67. Hung, S-C. and Hall, E. L., Mtall Trans A, 1991,22, p. 2619. Maki, K., Shioda, M., Sayashi, M., Shimizu, T. and Isobe, S., Mater. Sci. Eng., 1992, A153, p. 591. Noda, T., Okabe, M., Isobe, S. and Sayashi, M., Mater. Sci. Eng., 1995, A192, p. 774. Nakagawa, Y. G., Matsuda, K., Masaki, S., Imamura, R. and Arai, M., in Gamma Titanium Aluminide, ed. YW. Kim et al.TMS, Warrendale, PA, USA, 1995, p. 415. Shibata, T., Demukai, N. and Uemura, H., in Proceesd-

ings of the International Congress on Electromagnetic Processing of Material, 1997, p. 231. 15. Noda, T., Shimizu, T., Okabe, M. and Iikubo, T., Mater. Sci. Eng., 1997, A23!4-240, p. 613.

K., Katayama, K., Kawamura, M. and 16. Matoba, Mizuno, T., SAE Technical Paper Series. 880702, 1988, p. 37.

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