Interactions between superalloys and mould materials for investment casting of turbine blades

The need of increased efficiency of industrial gas turbines comes also through the improvement of the composition of superalloys (addition of new solutes) and of the manufacturing technologies involved in the investment casting process of the turbine blades. Thus, the knowledge of the interactions between the ceramic materials used for casting and the molten superalloys must be deepened in order to minimize the formation of internal defects, to improve the casting surface and to optimize finishing and casting operations. In this work, a study of the wetting behaviour of some Ni- or Co -based superalloys, used for the fabrication of turbine blades, has been performed with reference to the interactions of these alloys in the molten state with the silica-aluminate based ceramic materials forming the shell or the core in the casting process. Wettability tests have been performed by means of the sessile drop method at 1500°C; the characterization of the interfaces between the molten drop and the substrates has been made on solidified sessile drop samples by SEM/EDS analysis to check the final characteristics of the interfaces. The results are discussed in terms of chemical interactions in relation to the processing parameters and as a function of the surface and interfacial energetic properties of the systems.