Bodycote®

A process for all industries

Aerospace & Defence

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Hot Isostatic Pressing Machine. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Closed porosity and voids in cast aerospace engine components are potential initiators of failure; for parts that are subjected to high in-service stresses, the removal of porosity is essential to maximise the properties and working life of the component. Turbine blades and vanes from the high-temperature section of jet engines are routinely HIPed to ensure freedom from residual microporosity. HIP is used to optimise the properties of the latest generations of single crystal and directionally solidified investment cast blades.

Working together with customers, Bodycote can provide cost-effective development of exotic and novel materials using HIP technology. New classes of raw materials, such as metal matrix composites (MMCs), were developed using the HIP process. For example, an aluminium alloy matrix with a high proportion of silicon carbide ceramic particles may be compacted to full density by the HIP process to give a very light and stiff material. Many precision airframe castings from alloys such as titanium, aluminium and steel are HIPed to ensure integrity, optimise mechanical properties and improve fatigue life.

The ability to diffusion bond dissimilar materials, each having specific properties, expands the manufacturing possibilities, enabling the protection of aerospace components to be addressed. For example, diffusion bonding and superplastic forming are used to make titanium airfoils in the fan section of large jet engines. Additionally, a thick cladding of wear and corrosion resistant material, such as the cobalt chrome alloys, may be applied by HIP to enhance the performance of actuators and other aircraft components.

Bodycote is working closely with aerospace OEMs to explore and develop opportunities for the wider use of HIP powder metallurgy in this sector.

Oil & Gas

Oil & gas operations require specialised equipment that must be reliable, cost effective and safe to the environment. The HIP powder metallurgy near-net shape process allows the designer flexibility to manufacture parts with complex geometries that require minimal machining compared to conventionally forged billets and preforms. Such design flexibility can significantly reduce expensive materials and, for example, eliminate up to 80% of the welds needed for subsea manifold systems.

The homogeneous microstructure attained through PM and HIP can give components increased wear and corrosion resistance which meets the stringent demands of the offshore industry. Large scale parts such as petrochemical valve bodies may be formed directly to shape by the HIP of encapsulated stainless steel powders. Large and complex components such as valve bodies, pump housings, swivels, tees, hubs and manifolds can be produced in one piece by HIP Product Fabrication, providing a cost-effective manufacturing route.

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Bodycote has world leading experience and capability in the production of near-net shape in this market sector, for example complex parts operating in subsea oilfield systems.

Medical

The stress on a hip or knee joint when a person jumps off a chair is equal to around 100 tonnes per square inch. Our bones, effectively composites, absorb such stresses regularly and effectively for much of our lifetime. When joints fail, they are often replaced with metal alloy implants. These implants must be incredibly strong, biocompatible, and able to last the lifetime of the patient. Many medical implants require a biomedical coating to promote bonding between the implant and body tissue, so the coated parts are hot isostatically pressed to eliminate porosity, improve fatigue life and enhance the bonding of the coating.

Automotive

Gas or shrinkage porosity in cast automotive engine components can lead to leakage of pistons, cylinder heads and other pressurised components. Further, if the pores are above the critical defect size they can lead to the failure of an engine causing significant damage to the entire engine and not just a single component. Bodycote provides a service for the densification of aluminium alloy castings, which reduces porosity in components such as turbochargers, cylinder heads and crankcases. As-cast components can benefit from a reduction in the scatterband of properties including proof strength, ultimate tensile and ductility as well as significantly improving the creep and fatigue properties of cast aluminium alloys.

These properties are highly beneficial for design engineers, particularly for high performance cars, as improved density can allow significant reductions in the wall thickness of components without loss of performance which enhances the overall weight saving of the car.

Aluminium powders and flake alloys can also be consolidated by HIP. Typical components machined from PM HIP blanks are turbochargers and pistons, and due to the inherent fine grain structure offered from PM and flake materials these components, at low operating conditions, are comparable to titanium alloys. Many high temperature nickel alloy turbochargers are also HIPed to increase the fatigue performance of these parts for heavy automotive and truck applications. HIP diffusion bonding is also used to bond a tungsten carbide disc to valve lifters used in diesel engines to increase their wear resistance and life which reduces downtime and maintenance costs.

What is the maximum pressure for hot isostatic pressing?

The maximum pressure for hot isostatic pressing (HIP) can range from 15,000 psi to 44,000 psi (100 MPa to 300 MPa) based on the information provided in the references. HIP combines high temperatures, reaching up to 2,000°C, with isostatically applied gas pressures. The pressure is applied using an inert gas such as argon. The aim of HIP is to achieve near-net shape and full density of the material being processed. The process involves hermetically sealing powder in a container that is flexible at elevated temperatures, heating it within a pressurized vessel, and holding it for a specified time. The pressure medium, usually an inert gas, is pressurized at pressures ranging from 100 to 300 MPa (15 to 45 ksi). The temperature for HIP is material dependent, with typical production equipment able to heat parts from 1,000 to 1,200 °C (2,000 to 2,200 °F). HIP allows for better uniformity of compaction and can be used to compact more complex forms. It is important to note that HIP applies isostatic pressure using gas pressure, while hot pressing applies only uniaxial pressure.

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