EP0431019B1

EP0431019B1 - Dual-alloy disk system

Info

Publication number: EP0431019B1
Application number: EP89909656A
Authority: EP
Inventors: John M. Hyzak; Thimoty E. Howson; Wilford H. Couts, Jr.; Steven H. Reichman; Hugo E. Delgado
Original assignee: Wyman Gordon Co
Current assignee: Wyman Gordon Co
Priority date: 1988-07-29
Filing date: 1989-07-28
Publication date: 1994-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 2009-07-28
Also published as: WO1990002479A2; JPH04500040A; GB2239826A; JP2721721B2; EP0431019A1; WO1990002479A3; DE68916432T2; AU4156593A; DE68916432D1; EP0431019A4; GB2239826B; GB9001813D0; AU4180989A; ATE107558T1

Abstract

Two pieces of metal are bonded together at a surface by placing the two pieces into contact at the surface and forging the two pieces in a die which causes substantial displacement of the metal originally at the surface in a direction parallel to and outwardly from the edges of the surface and into vents in the face of the die and within the die impressions. The strain and displacement fields are controlled by the die and vent geometry which is designed to concentrate the strain and displacement along the original bondline. In this way, up to 99.9 %+ of the defects which are potientially present at the original surface are efficiently displaced with moving metal away from the original contact between the two pieces of metal into sacrificial ribs that form in the vents and the remaining defects are subjected to significant strain. A portion of the displaced metal which contains many of the defects and which forms the sacrificial ribs is removed from the resulting bonded workpiece as the sacrificial ribs are removed from the workpiece. The result is a bond with superior properties and with a bond surface which can be located very precisely both in orientation and location (e.g., radial distance from the center of a disk). This system is particularly appropriate for forming dual-alloy high-pressure turbine disks for gas turbines in which an annular peripheral ring of a second superalloy is bonded to a central core of a first superalloy. The system is particularly effective if, prior to forging, surfaces to be bonded are closely shape-conforming, are very clean, and are diffusion-bonded using hot isostatic pressing while the surfaces are gas-free. The sacrificial ribs are formed by vents in the impressions of the forging dies. The vents are adjacent to the outer edges of the bond surface. The system may be accomplished by using one or more strikes in the same dies or same die geometry, or may include multiple strikes in which only one side of the bond is in proximity to a vent during each strike. Subsequent strikes would process the bondline resulting from the previous strikes, but with the rib removed. The die impressions would be so shaped that the resulting die cavity would closely conform to the original workpiece shape, except for the vents, so that metal displacement and strain would be concentrated at the bondline.

Description

It is generally the case that metallic articles are called upon to have a combination of properties, and often the property requirements vary from one portion of the article to another. In some cases a single material can satisfy the various property demands throughout the article. In other cases, however, it is not possible to achieve all material requirements in an article with a single material. In such cases, it is known to use composite articles in which one portion of the article is fabricated from one material and a second portion is fabricated from another material. The various materials would be selected on the basis of the properties required for the various portions of the article.
Occasionally, however, the use of composite articles involves serious practical problems. For example, in a gas turbine engine, the disks which support the blades rotate at a high speed in a relatively elevated temperature environment. The temperatures encountered by the disk at its outer or rim portion may be in the region of 820°C (1500°F), whereas in the inner bore portion which surrounds the shaft upon which the disk is mounted, the temperature will typically be much lower, less than 520°C (1000°F). Typically, in operation, a disk may be limited by the creep properties of the material in the high temperature rim area and by the tensile properties of the material in the lower temperature bore region. Since the stresses encountered by the disk are in large measure the result of its rotation, merely to add more material to the disk in areas where inadequate properties are encountered is not generally a satisfactory solution, since the addition of more material increases the weight and resulting stresses in other areas of the disk. There have been proposals (US-A-4 529 452, US-A-4 581 300, US-A-4 843 856) to make the rim and bore portions of the disk from different materials and to bond these different materials together. This is not an attractive proposition, largely as a result of the difficulties encountered in bonding materials together in a fashion that reliably resists cyclic high stresses.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a method of forming a metallic article incorporating at least two portions, each formed of a different alloy composition, the portions being effectively bonded together so that the article has properties which vary from one portion of the article to another. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of forming a gas turbine disk having a bore region formed of a first alloy, a peripheral rim region formed of a second alloy, and an effective, substantially defect free bond between the regions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making an axisymmetric gas turbine disk having optimum bore properties in its bore region and optimum rim properties in its rim region.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method by which defects in the bond between two alloys can be displaced to a zone which can be removed from the workpiece, the method also causing such strain at the bondline that undesirable effects of any remaining defects are minimized.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method by which defects in the bond between two alloy regions of a part can be displaced to a sacrificial zone which can be removed from the finished part, the displacement occurring in a highly efficient manner in which the minimum amount of alloy metal is displaced out of the part (into the sacrificial zone) while still causing removal of up to 99.9+% of the original bondline interface and associated defects, the method also causing such strain at the bondline that the undesirable effect of any remaining defects are minimized.
The present invention provides a method of forming a disk having a disk axis, a first disk face and a second disk face, and an annular outer edge which defines the outermost extent of the workpiece, the disk having a central portion formed of a first alloy and an annular peripheral portion formed of a second alloy, and the boundary between the central and peripheral portions being a surface of revolution about the disk axis and being defined by a generatrix having a first end and a second end, a line between the first end and the second end forming a bondline, the said surface having a first circular edge at the first face of the disk and generated by the first end of the generatrix, and a second circular edge at the second face of the disk and generated by the second end of the generatrix, and the disk also comprising material initially present at the boundary, comprising the steps of:

(a) placing the disk between a first die having a first die face and a second die having a second die face, at least one of the dies having an annular vent formed in its die face, the vent having two concentric vent edges at the die face, the cross-sectional profile of the vent in a plan radial to the disk axis having a base line which connects the vent edges and a height line extending perpendicularly from the base line to the point on the profile farthest from the base line;
(b) causing the dies to approach one another along a forging axis which is parallel to the disk axis, while maintaining the disk and the vent substantially coaxial, so that the vent edges straddle a circular line on a face of the disk, the said circular line being the desired location of one of the circular edges of the surface, thereby to cause some of the first alloy and some of the second alloy, along with a substantial amount of the material that was present at the boundary, to flow into the vent along a line of movement substantially parallel to the forging axis to form a rib in the vent; and
(c) removing the rib from the disk.

Preferred and optional features are set forth in claims 1 to 26.
The said substantial amount may be at least 80%, preferably at least 90%, more preferably at least 95%, and most preferably at least 99% of the material initially present at the boundary.
As a general matter, the present invention can be used in two modes. The first mode, which shall be called forge boding, involves the application of the present forging method to pieces of metal which are simply in physical contact or have been bonded together in only a limited way such as tack welding, or encapsulation welding. In this mode, the forge bonding provides the primary means by which the two pieces of metal become bonded. In the second mode, which shall be called forge enhanced bonding, the two pieces of metal are bonded by other means prior to the application of the forging technique of this invention. In a situation which is particularly appropriate for the application of the second mode of this invention, the two pieces of metal are nickel-based superalloys formed from fine-grained powder metal, and, prior to forge enhanced bonding, have been diffusion-bonded together using the method of hot isostatic pressing. When practical, the forging is accomplished under conditions which allow enhanced plastic flow or superplastic flow.
The invention also provides a gas turbine disk preform as set forth in claim 27 and a pair of forging dies as set forth in claim 28.
In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a turbine disk workpiece incorporating the principles of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a workpiece in which a section has been removed,
FIG. 3 is a workpiece in which a sacrificial rib has been removed,
FIG. 4 is a process flow sheet,
FIG. 5 is a process flow sheet,
FIGS. 6-17 are diagrammatic views in cross-section of various process steps, and
FIG. 18 is a computer-simulated cross-sectional view of a workpiece before processing;
FIG. 19 is a computer-simulated cross-sectional view of a workpiece after processing,
FIG. 20 is a computer-simulated, cross-sectional view of a workpiece and symmetric, equidistant vent pair before processing, FIG. 21 is a computer-simulated, cross-sectional view of a workpiece and symmetric, equidistant vent pair after processing, FIG. 22 is a computer-simulated, cross-sectional view of a workpiece and symmetric, equidistant vent pair before processing,
FIG. 23 is a computer-simulated, cross-sectional view of a workpiece and symmetric, equidistant vent pair after processing,, FIG. 24 is a computer-simulated, cross-sectional view of a workpiece and asymmetric, offset vent pair before processing,
FIG. 25 is a computer-simulated, cross-sectional view of a workpiece and asymmetric, offset vent pair after processing,
FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view of a workpiece and asymmetric, offset vent pair before processing,
FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of a workpiece and asymmetric, offset vent pair after processing, and
FIG. 28 is a generalized cross-sectional view of an arrangement of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a graphic representation of a forging workpiece which will be machined into a gas turbine disk. The workpiece 10 is shown to still bear the sacrificial rib 11 which is positioned adjacent the bond between the bore or plug 13 and the rim 15.
FIG. 2 shows a cut-away view of a workpiece and, particularly, shows a section of the sacrificial ribs 11 and 17 which are adjacent the bondline 16. The bondline 16 is, of course, in fact, a surface of revolution which represents the contact between the bore section 13 and the rim section 15.
In FIG. 3, the disk is shown after the sacrificial rib 11 has been machined away from the disk.
While the present invention may be applied to many situations involving the bonding of two or more pieces of metal, the invention is particularly appropriate for use in the geometry shown schematically in Fig. 28. That particularly appropriate geometry represents a method of forming a disk 150 having a disk axis 151, a first disk face 152, a second disk face 153, and an annular outer edge 171, which defines the outermost extent of the workpiece. The disk also has a central portion 154 formed of a first alloy and an annular peripheral portion 155 formed of a second alloy. The boundary 156 between the central and peripheral portions is a surface of revolution 157 about the disk axis 151 and is defined by a generatrix 158 having a first end 159 and a second end 160. The surface 157 has a first circular edge 161 at the first face 152 of the disk 150 , generated by the first end 159 of the generatrix 158, and a second circular edge 162 at the second face 153 of the disk 150, generated by the second end 160 of the generatrix 158 . Essentially, the process comprises three steps. The first step involves placing the disk 150 between a first die 163 having a first die face 164 and a second die 165 having a second die face 166. Each die face has a concave impression 173 and 174 and the two impressions form a forging cavity 175. At least one of said dies must have an annular vent 167 formed in its die face and on the surface of its impression, said vent 167 having two concentric vent edges 168 and 169 at the die face. The second step involves causing the dies 163 and 165 to approach one another along a forging axis 170 which is parallel to the disk axis 151 so that the vent edges 168 and 169 straddle one of the edges of the surface, or, in some applications, straddle the location where the edge is desired. This die movement causes forging action which is conducted in a manner to cause some of the first alloy and some of the second alloy, along with the material at the original bondline to flow into the vent along a line of movement substantially parallel to the forging axis to form a rib in the vent. The third step involves removing the rib from the disk.
FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a typical application of forge enhanced bonding (mode 2). In steps 21 and 22 respectively, the bore and rim sections would be formed, preferably by extrusion techniques, from fine-grained powdered metal into a billet. In steps 23 and 24, the bore and rim would be forged into preform shapes, preferably without causing grain growth. In steps 25 and 26, the parts are machined, and in particular, the mating surfaces are machined so that they are shape conforming to one another as the rim section fits peripherally about the bore section. In steps 27 and 28, the mating surfaces are cleaned, as, for example, by electro-polishing. Although this discussion will focus on bondlines which are parallel to the forge axis and the axis of an axisymmetric workpiece, it should be understood that the designer may elect to give the bondline a draft angle (make it non-parallel to the workpiece axis), for ease of assembly. This will, of course, make the boundary a conic surface rather than a cylindrical surface.
In step 29, the bore and rim pieces are placed in contact and encapsulated in a vacuum environment. This encapsulation can be accomplished by electron-beam welding simply at the outer edges of the bond surface, by electron-beam brazing in the same way, or by encapsulating the entire disk in a can. The purpose is to keep the mating surfaces clean during the bond cycle (step 30).
In step 30, the two pieces are diffusion bonded by exposing the workpiece to hot isostatic pressing.
In step 31, the encapsulation is removed and in step 32, the bond is inspected.
Step 33 is where the workpiece is exposed to the forge enhanced bonding which will be discussed in detail subsequently. In step 34, the sacrificial rib is removed and inspected in step 35.
In step 36, the bond within the workpiece itself is inspected. The workpiece is machined to appropriate shape in step 37.
In step 38, the workpiece is solution heat treated, either employing monotonic or differential heat treatment or a combination thereof.
In step 39, the workpiece is aged (employing monotonic or differential heat treatment or a combination thereof), and in step 40 the workpiece is inspected.
FIG. 5 shows a flow sheet for the application of the present invention to forge bonding (mode 1). Essentially the preliminary activities are similar to those shown in FIG. 4 until step 59. In step 59, the bore and rim are placed in contact. At this point, the process may simply continue to the next step of forge bonding. This is particularly acceptable where the two pieces are force-fit together by designing the bondline with an appropriate draft angle or by using thermal expansion and contraction to form a very tight fit. However, it may be necessary, in appropriate circumstances, to tack weld the pieces together or to encapsulate the pieces in order to protect the clean surface from contamination.
The remainder of the steps are essentially the same as those described in connection with FIG. 4.
FIGS. 6 through 11, demonstrate the steps of an application of the present invention in which vents 85 and 86 are simultaneously positioned at each end of the bondline during the forging process.
FIGS. 12 through 17 show a similar processing sequence in which the venting at one side is done in one strike and then the venting at the other side is done in the other strike. This will be called asymmetric venting as opposed to the symmetric venting of the process in FIGS. 6 through 11. This flexibility to adjust the vent shape and location allows the designer to control the metal flow into the vent and in so doing to control the displacement and straining of defects in the original bondline.
In FIGS. 6 through 17, it should be understood that the disk, which is shown in cross-section, is made up of a bore and a rim (which appears in two places). The heavy dark line which appears at the bond lines represents potential defects which, as will be seen, are progressively moved out of the body of the workpiece and into the sacrificial ribs. Defects can be contaminates such as oxides, dirt, dust, voids, or inclusions in the metal. In addition, a defect can also be a grain, zone, or region of metal at or adjacent to the bondline which has a microstructure from the diffusion bond step not appropriate for service (depleted zone). FIG. 6 shows the disk, or workpiece 70, in cross-section through its center, or axis. The workpiece 70 is made up of a central bore or plug 71 and a rim 72, which appears in the drawing in two places. The bore 71 and rim 72 are in contact at a bond surface 73 which is shown in the drawing as bondline 74 and bondline 75. At bondline 74 and bondline 75 can be bodies of defects shown as heavy dark lines 76 and 77. The forging die 78 itself is made up of an upper die 79 and a lower die 81. The impressions of both the upper die 79 and the lower die 81 include rib-forming vents 85 and 86 positioned at each of the ends of the bond lines. It should be understood that these vents are, in fact, circular grooves in the face of the die.
The forging dies of the present invention are normally shaped to closely conform to the initial shape of the workpiece or preform, except, of course, for the vents. In this way, the forge bonding process causes little change in the shape of the workpiece and relatively small strains (metal flow) within the workpiece. The exception is flow of the metal adjacent to the initial bondline. That metal flows toward the bondline and then flows parallel to and with the bondline outwardly from the ends of the bondline into the vents. These large displacements and strains are concentrated almost entirely at and adjacent the bondline and at the region at the mouth of the vent. The minimization of metal flow in the rest of the workpiece increases the predictability of the flow at the bondline and reduces flash as the dies close. Furthermore, the process minimizes strain gradients in the workpiece and therefore minimizes microstructural changes that would result from strain gradients.
However, in some limited instances, it might be advantageous to intentionally design the dies so that they do not exactly fit the initial shape of the workpiece in a local area, but rather the dies are shaped so that they form a receptacle with the initial workpiece. The receptacle (local gap between the preform and the die surface) is designed to passively accept metal flow during the process, and thereby to control the flow during the process. This approach may be particularly useful in two situations. The first situation occurs when the volume of one alloy is much greater than that of the other. Applying the process to this situation can sometimes result in curving and radial displacement of the bondline. These results can he kept within acceptable limits by providing a receptacle to accept metal flow from the more plentiful alloy. In the second situation, it has been found that when an initial workpiece with a very short bondline (and, therefore, ostensibly, few defects) is processed in dies with a receptacle between one end of the bondline and a vent, the bondline can sometimes be made to extend into the receptacle and vent. This allows elongation of the bondline length within the die cavity before the bondline enters the vent.
FIG. 6 shows the position of the workpiece and dies before the forging step.
In FIG. 7, the forging step has been carried out and it can be seen that material from the workpiece has flowed into the vents to form ribs on each side of the workpiece. It should be noted that the defect material, shown as dark lines, has been broken up, stretched out, and displaced outwardly from the bondline and into the area of the sacrificial ribs. The dynamic movement of the metal during the forging operation causes effective displacement of defect material from the area of the bond lines and exposes any defect material left at the original bondline to very high levels of strain. It is important to note that the straining and displacement of material at the bond lines is caused by general displacement induced in the bulk metal by the forging pressure. It is not merely the result of movement of the bore with respect to the rim as the dies close.
The forging operation is normally designed to be carried out at elevated temperature to lower the flow stress of the metal. In the particular case of superalloys, the forge process is designed to be carried out under isothermal conditions, that is, condition in which the workpiece and dies are at nominally the same temperature during forging and in which superplastic or enhanced plasticity deformation of the metal enhances metal flow to the bondline and into vent. The process is designed so that the whole workpiece is heated to the same temperature during forging rather than the case of local heating of just the bondline region. This helps maintain microstructural uniformity throughout each alloy in the workpiece. It is also important to note that the die vents have been designed to effect a controlled and efficient displacement of the original bondline and associated defects. Normally, the dies would be designed so that they closely fit the contour of the workpiece preform prior to forging. As a result, the large scale deformation is concentrated at the bondline. Analytical simulations have shown that, via this general cavity design and loading situation (loading parallel to the metal movement into the vents), virgin metal is forced from both the bore and rim preforms to the bondline and the original bondline metal and defects are thereby forced out of the part geometry into the sacrificial ribs. The vents are designed to remove the maximum amount of bondline metal for the least amount of total metal expelled into the sacrificial rib. It is also important to note that the forge bonding concept has shown excellent results in precise location of the final bondline. This ability to reproducibly predict the location of the bondline is imperative in turbine engine applications.
FIG. 8 shows the workpiece after the removal of the sacrificial ribs on each side of the workpiece. It can be noted that substantially all of the defect material (theoretically 99.9%+) has been displaced into the sacrificial ribs leaving little or no defect material within the remaining body of the workpiece once the sacrificial ribs have been removed. Because it has been noted that the exposure of defect materials to high strain within the workpiece significantly reduces the deleterious effect of the defect materials on the properties of workpieces, it is often appropriate to accept the very low level of defect material which remains in the workpiece at FIG. 8 and continue the processing of the workpiece in the conventional way.
In situations in which it is particularly important to minimize the potential presence of defects at the bondline, it has been found effective to essentially do a reforging (restrike) of the workpiece after removal of the sacrificial rib, and thereby to carry out the defect displacement again on the bondline that resulted from the previous strike. This is a very useful aspect of the bonding process of the present invention because it allows continuation of the process in multiple increments (restrikes) without degrading the properties of the workpiece and without the need for cutting out the resultant bondline from the previous strike. This can be particularly important when the initial bonding operation does not achieve a sufficient level of bondline quality. In that event, the process can be carried out again without cutting out the unacceptable bond and wasting metal. This works well in the case of a two-part (bore and rim) disk, in which the idea of cutting out an unacceptable bond creates serious practical problems. Other bonding techniques, such as inertia welding and friction welding do not allow reprocessing of a bondline. Instead, the unacceptable bond must be cut out (and scrapped) and the process repeated from the beginning. In the case of the two-part disk, this may require scrapping the entire workpiece, because the workpiece may not have sufficient metal to make up for the cut-out piece. As will be known to those in the art, the intention to carry out this restriking capability should be considered in designing the die and entire forging process.
FIGS. 9 through 11 show the sequence of the restrike. As can be seen by noting the location of the dark spots in the workpiece, they are displaced outward from the body of the workpiece into the sacrificial ribs where they are removed in FIG. 11.
FIGS. 12 through 17 show a process in which the ribs are formed in an asymmetric manner. This technique has been found to be very effective in various circumstances because there is no point along the bondline where the displacement reaches an essential equilibrium (zero displacement). As a result, the displacement which occurs at every point along the bondline, at one or the other of the two forging steps, effectively displaces the defects away from the body of the workpiece. FIG. 12 shows the unprocessed workpiece 100 and the other elements which correspond roughly to those shown in FIG. 12. Note, however, that the lower die does not have the rim-forming vents.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 13, the forging operation causes displacement of material from the area of the bondline upwardly into the vents of the upper die. This very effectively moves the material in this specific case from approximately the upper 90% of the bondline upward into the sacrificial rib area; the remaining 10% is highly strained and stretched over the thickness of the disk.
In FIG. 14, the workpiece is shown after removal of the upper sacrificial rib.
Since the amount of defect material which remains in the part in FIG. 14 may not be acceptable, this embodiment of the invention probably requires the further processing which is shown in FIG. 15. In that case, a new set of dies, in which there is no vent in the upper die, but there is a vent in the lower die, is used. It is also possible, in some applications, to design the workpiece so that, after the rib is removed from one side, the workpiece can be simply inverted and reforged, essentially reusing the original dies and vents.
FIG. 16 shows the second forging step in which displacement of the material at the bondline occurs downwardly into the vents in the lower die. This very effectively removes 90% of the remaining defects which were stretched across the bondline and essentially has removed 99% of the defects from the main body of the workpiece in two operations. The remaining defects have been stretched in two directions, thus significantly reducing their effect on properties.
FIG. 17 shows the removal of the lower sacrificial rib and shows that the defects have been effectively removed from the body of the workpiece. It should be kept in mind that any of the defects which remain in the body of the workpiece have been exposed to very significant strain, thereby, reducing their deleterious effects.
It has been found that this process can shift 99+% of the original bondline and associated defects, out of the final shape or volume and into the sacrificial rib. This can be done in one or more forge operations depending on vent type (symmetric (in both dies), asymmetric (in one die)), vent offset from axis, vent profile shape, and vent volume or cross-sectional area. Typically one strike removes 80-90%, of the original bondline, and the second strike removes all but less than 1%. Since, normally, the defects, if present, are distributed along the original bondline, the amount of bondline removed correlates with the amount of defect removal. Furthermore, any remaining defects are deformed by 350% or more, thus substantially reducing their contribution to low cycle fatigue failure. The amount of bondline which is displaced can be changed (increased) by modifying the vent geometry. For example, it is possible to remove 99% of the bondline in a single operation using an enlarged cavity. The defects in question may include trapped dirt, oxides and voids, metallurgical defects and undesired interface alloys, and carbide precipitates, and gamma prime depleted zones. In essence, new metal from the body of the alloys is presented to the bondline.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention involves a series of process steps for forming a dual-alloy disk suitable to be formed into rotors, such as those used in gas turbine engines. The technical approach is centered on technology best described as "forge bonding" or "forge enhanced bonding". As will be clear from the context, the term "forge bonding" is sometimes alternatively used generically to denominate the forging operation itself which is the focus of both modes. In experiments, the feasibility of this technology for producing a dual-alloy disk with a high integrity bond has been demonstrated.
The concept of forge bonding powdered metal superalloys includes four basic steps:

1. Isothermal forging of bore and rim preforms.
2. HIP diffusion bonding of bore and rim preforms.
3. Isothermal finish forge operations to locally deform the bondline.
4. Heat treating the forge bonded disk to optimize the properties in the bore, rim and across the bondline.

The focus of the forge bond approach is Step #3, the finish forge operation. The purpose of this operation is to highly deform the original bondline and to displace the original bondline material with inherent defects outside of the finish machined part. A schematic of a bonded preform in a set of dies is shown in FIG. 6. The dies are designed such that the deformation in the finish forge operation is concentrated at the bondline. Figures 18 and 19 show the results of an analytical simulation of the forge enhanced bonding operation. The simulation was carried out using the ALPID (Analysis of Large Plastic Incremental Deformation) finite element, metal deformation computer program and appropriate metal property data.
Figure 18 shows one quarter section in profile of a workpiece in a die with symmetrically-cross-sectioned, equally-radially-spaced, forge enhanced bonding vents. Thus, this case is for the symmetric (top and bottom cavities of the same size, same symmetric profile and same distance from the disk axis) die vents. Only one quarter section needs to be modelled because of geometric symmetry. The line pattern in Figure 18 on the workpiece represents a finite element grid or mesh. Each line intersection represents a point of metal and each closed figure represents a zone of metal. Thus, one can follow both the displacement and the strain before (Fig. 18) and after (Fig. 19) the process. Because the Fig. 18-19 case is relatively simple, the result is relatively quantitatively accurate. Figures 20 -27 involve more complex cases, and the finite element grids portray the grid distortion as a result of metal flow for the last 20% of the process cycle. Cumulative patterns are not available because a " remeshing " process is required in these complex cases. Thus, while these figures do not quantitatively portray the process, they do generally represent the qualitative metal flow pattern generated by the vent geometry.
Figure 19 shows the displacement of the grids after the forge enhanced bonding operation. The displacement and strain are concentrated at the bondline, resulting in efficient removal of the original bondline and defects. It should be noted in this example that seven of the eight zones of metal adjacent to the bondline in figure 18 have been displaced into the vent (out of the part) in figure 19 as a result of one forging operation. In addition, the fine spacing of the vertical lines at the bondline shows the movement of virgin metal from the body of the forging to the bondline to replace the original bondline material, which has been forced into the vent.
It should be noted that similar metal flow can be accomplished with an original bondline joint that has an angle with respect to the loading axis, as will be discussed below.
Finite element modeling of bondline displacements in subscale forgings has shown that strains of up to 350% at the bondline and displacements of as much as 98% of the original bondline to a position outside of the finish part can be obtained with the cavity and vent geometries tested. These results have been verified by experiments. Larger strains and greater displacements are achievable with different die cavity and vent designs.
The strains and displacements are effective in removing defects from the original bondline. This has been demonstrated in forging of subscale, plane strain coupons. In the extreme, highly oxidized, unbonded interfaces have been dramatically improved by forge bonding. In one test of two Rene' 95 superalloy preforms, forge bonding caused 200% strain and 85% bondline displacement out of the part final shape. Cutting off the top and bottom "ribs" and reforging increased the bondline strain to 350% and the bondline displacement to 98% out of the final shape. The bondline which remained in the final shape was substantially defect free.
Similar results have been demonstrated using unbonded couples of dissimilar alloys. There was a significant improvement in bond cleanliness as a result of forge bonding.
The demonstrated results of forging "dirty" unbonded preforms support the concept of forge bonding. The finish forge operation removes the original bondline interface and associated defects. As the production process is envisioned, however, preforms will be diffusion bonded prior to the finish forge operation. Prior to the diffusion bond operation, the mating surfaces will be scrupulously cleaned to produce a high integrity bond. Consequently, the forge bond operation (mode 2) will only further improve the bondline properties, especially in fatigue, where defect population is so critical. This forge bonding process is ideally suited for use with the procedure for making a "clean" diffusion bond between dissimilar powder metal superalloys by electropolishing mating surfaces and hot isostatic pressing (HIP).
Besides providing bond strength and bond cleanliness, the forge bond approach to producing a dual alloy disk also gives exceptional control of the bondline position. The original diffusion bond location can be controlled to machining tolerances (± 0.05 mm (0.002")). Subsequent forging in the finish dies is also a controllable process since the deformation is concentrated in the area of the bondline, and flow is from both sides of the bondline toward the center and then outward parallel to and along the bondline. Metal flow is predictable using finite element modeling. This standard situation is shown in Figures 18 and 19. Because the flow of metal in the process has been found to be consistent and predictable, the process can be refined for specific special problems. For example, the vent shape can he used to normalize the effect of differing flow characteristics of the two alloys. This aspect of this invention involves the shape of the cross-section of the vent and/or the position of the vent edges in relation to the edge of the bondline. When the flow characteristics (especially flow stress) of the two alloys are similar, the cross-sectional shape of the vent would be symmetric on each side of the bondline. When the flow characteristics are different, however, the shape of the vent can be skewed to open up the side adjacent the alloy with the greater flow resistance in order to normalize the net flow of each alloy into the vent and, thereby, stabilize the bondline. Note that this vent profile is shown in Figure 24 although that figure also involves a different aspect of the invention (vent offset from axis).
If the forge bonding is done with symmetric vents equidistant from the disk axis, even a bond surface with a draft angle (for fit-up) will predictably become parallel to the axis during the forge enhanced bonding operation. Fit-up angles of up to 45° have been analytically modelled and found to be capable of being eliminated using this invention. Figures 20 and 21 show before and after forging models of a small draft angle and figures 22 and 23 show before and after models of a large (approx. 45 degrees) draft angle. This tendency of that venting configuration to transform an initial bond surface with a draft angle to a bond surface with no draft angle (parallel to the disk axis), can be used to significant advantage. For assembly and bonding purposes, it is sometimes desirable to form the separate disk portions so that they mate with a draft angle. This allows the mating surface machining tolerance to be less critical (because conic sections are self-adjusting), and, if the surface of the inner element is slightly oversized, allows an enhanced degree of pressure to occur at the bondline at various points in the process. However, it is sometimes desirable to eliminate this draft angle during the forge bonding step so that the radial location of the bondline is uniform across the thickness of the disk. The present invention provides an effective method for removing the draft angle.
On the other hand, it may be desired to maintain or establish a bondline with an angle (draft angle) to the loading or forging axis and centerline or axis of the disk after the forge enhanced bonding operation. This may be done to improve nondestructive inspectability of the bondline. It has been shown analytically that the die vents can be so designed in shape and location (location of the top and bottom vents relative to each other) to accomplish this. It is, therefore, important to note that the forge enhanced bonding concept provides precise and predictable control of the finished forged bondline location and shape (especially draft angle). More specifically, in one approach to establishing or maintaining the draft angle during the forge bonding step, the vents in the upper and lower dies should be set at different distances from the disk axis, i.e., with the edges of each vent straddling the locations where the edges of the surface are desired. As can be seen in Figures 24 (before forging) and 25 (after forging), the non-equal radius (offset) vent arrangement will cause the draft angle to be formed where none previously existed. Figures 26 (before) and 27 (after) show how an existing draft angle can be maintained.
A number of geometric relationships are significant in optimizing the method of this invention and their effect must be considered both for each strike and cumulatively over a multistrike application. The first factor is the cross-sectional area of the vent, especially in relation to the bondline length. Other important factors are, second, the cross-sectional shape of the vents, third, the relationship between the height and the mouth width of the vents, and ,fourth, the relationship between the vent mouth widths and the disk thickness. It should be understood that references to cross-sectional areas and to dimensions in the cross-sectional plane (which, in the axisymmetric case, includes the axis) relate directly to and incorporate the three-dimensional geometry of the specific application or workpiece. Thus, for example, the cross-sectional area of a vent relates directly to the volume of the vent, although the relationship is not always simple.
The cross-sectional shape and cross-sectional area of the vents play an important role in optimizing this invention. For example, the cross-sectional area of the vent will determine how much metal is moved out of the workpiece by the vent. Likewise, the total metal moved from the workpiece by a particular application of this invention will be roughly equal to the total cross-sectional area of the vents used, with each reuse of a vent considered a separate use.
As a practical minimum (for the symmetric vent shape), this invention requires a total movement of metal out of the workpiece equivalent to the initial thickness of the disk (the thickness dimension) at the initial bondline times one quarter (25%) that dimension. As a preferred minimum, this invention requires a movement of metal out of the workpiece equivalent to the initial thickness of the disk (the thickness dimension) at the bondline times one half (50%) the thickness dimension. As an optimal value, the invention requires a movement of metal out of the workpiece equivalent to the thickness dimension times 100% of the thickness dimension. The optimization balances increasing defect removal against increasing waste of metal. The metal removal may be accomplished in one or in more than one operation, depending on engineering considerations such as die strength, forge press capabilities, etc. In applications where freedom from bondline defects is not a critical requirement (e.g., where the presence of 20% of initial defects is tolerable) less metal removal than described may be appropriate.
The cross-sectional shape of the vents can take many forms. The preferred shape would be roughly that of a triangle with a base side initially adjacent the workpiece and forming the mouth of the vent and a height line defining the distance between the base side and the farthest vent point from the base side. In practice, the inside and outside corners would be rounded. The two vent profiles shown in figures 20 (a balanced or symmetric profile) and 24 (unbalanced or asymmetric profile) have been found to be particularly effective, not only in operation but also in analytical computer modeling. These vents might be described as bell-shaped. They can be characterized by a height (H), a radius of curvature (RC) at the crown (closed end), a draft angle (A1 and A2) for each side, and entrance radii of curvature (ER1 and ER2). The width (W) (mouth) of the vent is defined by the intersection of the vent wall (along the draft angle) with the continuation of the die impression (die face). The entrance radii are not involved in defining the vent width.
The relationship between the width of the vent mouth and the disk thickness or initial bondline length is significant. A narrow mouth or width tends to concentrate flow at the bondline and therefore removes the maximum original bondline for the minimum total metal displaced into the vent. This represents the theoretically most efficient process with the least wasted metal. However, a narrow width restricts metal flow due to frictional effects along the vent wall, and this restriction of flow is undesirable. A wider mouth has the opposite effects. The ratio between the vent width and initial bondline length should be two or less, preferably between 2.0 and 0.1, and optimally between 1.0 and 0.2. These values apply to the symmetric cross section. Appropriate adjustment must be made for asymmetrical profile cases.
In a typical one-strike application, the total cross-sectional vent area of both vents will be equal to or greater than the average width of the vents times the initial length of the bondline. The cross-section of the vent will be substantially triangular with a base side against the workpiece, the width (W) of the vent being the length of the base side, and the height being the length of a height line which is a line representing the distance between the base side and the vent point farthest from base side. The cross-section may be symmetric on both sides of the height line, or it may be asymmetric, i.e., the portion of the base side on one side of the height line is greater than the portion on the other side.
In order to achieve maximum bondline transfer into the vent with the minimum metal transfer, the width of the vent should be small compared to the height of the vent. As a practical extreme, the height of a symmetric vent profile should be equal to or greater than one-half the width of the vent . It is preferred that the height of the vent is at least the width of the vent, and optimally at least twice the width of the vent. Applying these principles to the general cases of multiple vents and/or multiple strikes, the total cross-sectional area of the vents employed in the method equals approximately the average vent width of all of the vents employed in the method times the initial thickness of the disk. It should be understood that each edge of the vent will be curved, but that the vent width will be determined as if curves (entrance radii) were not present.
By employing the methods of the present invention, it is possible to approach complete removal (greater than 99.9%) of the bondline material and bondline defects. Yet this result can be achieved with high efficiency; not only in terms of energy and equipment expense, but also in terms of metal waste. When the process is applied to turbine disks formed of expensive superalloys, minimization of metal waste is particularly important. Because the present process causes the metal which flows into the sacrificial rib to be primarily from the zones at or adjacent to the bond line, as opposed to being from other zones of the workpiece, the process tends to waste the minimum metal necessary to achieve the extremely clean bondline in the workpiece.
This desirable tendency for the waste metal to particularly come from the zone at or adjacent the bond line can sometimes be enhanced even more by employing dies that are slightly cooler than the workpiece. The chilling of the workpiece in contact with the dies tends to favor flow at the workpiece surface straddled by the edges of the vent and at the interior of the workpiece, since these regions are less cooled. Thus metal flow at mid-thickness toward the bondline and then outward, parallel to the bond line, into the vents, is encouraged.
The method set out in this description is particularly useful when applied to superalloys and when applied under conditions that allow the metal flow to occur in an enhanced plasticity mode. More specifically, to achieve enhanced plasticity, certain alloys must have been previously processed to develop and maintain extremely fine grain size. Then, the process of the present invention is carried out at a temperature approaching the recrystallization temperature but below the grain-coarsening temperature of the alloys and employing low strain rates. This normally requires that both the dies and workpiece be heated to approximately the recrystallization temperature of the workpiece. The metal of the workpiece flows far more readily than would be observed at lower and significantly higher temperatures and faster strain rates, and this results in effective and predictable flow of metal from along the length of the bond line and outward into the vents. This allows the use of forge enhanced bonding vents with greater height-to-width ratios which increase the efficiency of the bondline removal. By employing the present method under conditions which allow enhanced plasticity, the process can be effectively employed on alloy pairs which would otherwise not be suitable choices.
For the purpose of this discussion, the term enhanced plasticity shall be used to address the general regime in which the flow stress of a workpiece is lowered by isothermally forging at elevated temperature and low strain rate while maintaining fine grain structure. Superplasticity refers to the portion of this regime in which strain rate sensitivity is 0.35 or greater. Subsuperplasticity refers to the portion of the regime in which strain rate sensitivity is less than 0.35.
Another important part of a dual-alloy turbine disk concept is the need for non-destructive evaluation. This will be critical to the ultimate success of a dual alloy disk. Regarding non-destructive evaluation, the forge bond concept does provide a unique non-destructive means of "testing" the quality of the bondline. The material that is forged into the vents represents over 99% of the original bondline. That material can be removed from the forging as a destructible "test ring", and examined. It will provide a check on the quality of the original diffusion bond, especially on its cleanliness. It will also be a check on the forging of the bondline; the bondline should be present in the rib and in a predictable orientation.
It is sometimes possible, in the forge bond approach, to "restrike". If the bondline displaced into the vent is not of the cleanliness required, the part can be forged again, displacing additional bondline into the vents without degrading the microstructure in the workpiece and without cutting out the unacceptable bondline. This material can again be removed and metallographically examined.
Another potential application of the restrike capability would involve machining and sonic inspection of just the bondline region after forging. Again, if there was a defect present, the part could be reforged in the forge enhanced bonding die to remove that bondline defects and then reinspected.
The ability of the forge enhanced bonding concept to precisely control the location and orientation of the bondline after forging may be critical to the success of non-destructive inspection, especially sonic inspection.

Claims

A method of forming a disk (150) having a disk axis (151), a first disk face (152) and a second disk face (153), and an annular outer edge (171) which defines the outermost extent of the workpiece, the disk (150) having a central portion (154) formed of a first alloy and an annular peripheral portion (155) formed of a second alloy, and the boundary (156) between the central and peripheral portions (154,155) being a surface (157) of revolution about the disk axis (151) and being defined by a generatrix (158) having a first end (159) and a second end (160), a line between the first end (159) and the second end (160) forming a bondline, the said surface (157) having a first circular edge (161) at the first face (152) of the disk (150) and generated by the first end (159) of the generatrix (158), and a second circular edge (162) at the second face (153) of the disk (150) and generated by the second end (160) of the generatrix (158), and the disk (150) also comprising material initially present at the boundary (156), comprising the steps of:
(a) placing the disk (150) between a first die (163) having a first die face(164) and a second die (165) having a second die face (166), at least one of the dies (163,165) having an annular vent (167) formed in its die face (164,166), the vent (167) having two concentric vent edges (168,169) at the die face (164,166), the cross-sectional profile of the vent (167) in a plan radial to the disk axis (151) having a base line which connects the vent edges (168,169) and a height line extending perpendicularly from the base line to the point on the profile farthest from the base line;

(b) causing the dies (163,165) to approach one another along a forging axis (170) which is parallel to the disk axis (151), while maintaining the disk (150) and the vent (167) substantially coaxial, so that the vent edges (168,169) straddle a circular line on a face of the disk (150), the said circular line being the desired location of one of the circular edges (161,162) of the surface, thereby to cause some of the first alloy and some of the second alloy, along with a substantial amount of the material that was present at the boundary (156), to flow into the vent (167) along a line of movement substantially parallel to the forging axis (170) to form a rib (11) in the vent (167); and

(c) removing the rib (11) from the disk (150).
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or both of the alloys is a superalloy.
A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the generatrix (158) is a straight line.
A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein, before the method, the generatrix (158) is parallel to the disk axis (151) or has a draft angle with respect to the disk axis (151) and, after the method, the generatrix (158) is parallel to the disk axis (151).
A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein, before the method, the generatrix (158) is parallel to the disk axis (151) or has a draft angle with respect to the disk axis (151) and, after the method, the generatrix (158) has a draft angle with respect to the disk axis (151).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the distance between every point on the surface of revolution (157) and the disk axis (151) is less than the distance between the outer edge of the disk (150) and the disk axis (151).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vent (167) is present in only one of the die faces (164,166).
A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein, after step (c), either the workpiece (100) is inverted and the method steps are repeated or the workpiece (100) is placed in a second pair of forging dies (163,165) in which the vent (167) is in the other die face (164,166) and the method steps are repeated.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first die face (164) is provided with a first vent (85) and the second die face is provided with a second vent (86), the first vent (85) and second vent (86) being equidistant or non-equidistant from the disk axis (151) during the method, the cross-sectional profile of the vents (85,86) being symmetric or asymmetric about the height line.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the method is carried out so that the workpiece (10,70,100) deforms with enhanced plasticity.
A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the workpiece (10,70,100) deforms subsuperplastically or superplastically.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the method is carried out with the entire workpiece (10,70,100), and preferably also the dies (79,81,163,165), at approximately the same elevated temperature.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the method is carried out with the dies (79,81,163,165) and the entire workpiece (10,70,100) at approximately the same elevated temperature and in such a way that workpiece grain growth is suppressed.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13, wherein substantially all of the material originally present at the bondline is caused to move into the vent or vents (85,86,167).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 14, wherein sufficient flow occurs into the vent or vents (85,86,167) to cause bulk flow within substantially the entire workpiece (10,70,100).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the area of the vent profile is equal to or greater than the length of the base line times the initial length of the bondline.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the vent profile is substantially triangular.
A method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the profile is symmetric on both sides of the height line.
A method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the portion of the base side on one side of the height line is greater than the portion on the other side.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 19, wherein the height of the vent profile is equal to or greater than the length of the base line, preferably being at least twice the said length.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 20, wherein the total cross-sectional area of the vents (85,86,167) employed in the method equals approximately the average mouth width of all of the vents employed in the method times the initial thickness of the disk (150).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 21, wherein no part of the rib extends farther from the disk axis (151) than does the outer edge (171).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 22, wherein, during step (b) the edges (168,169) of the vent (167) are all closer to the disk axis (151) than the outer edge (171) of the disk (150).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 23, wherein each die face (164,166) is provided with a forging impression which includes a said vent (167), and, except for the vents (167), the shapes of the impressions of the forging dies (163,165) define a cavity which closely conforms to the initial shape of the workpiece (10,70,100), the flow into the vents (167) during the forging process preferably being so substantial that, except for the ribs (11) at the vents (167), there is little change in the shape of the workpiece (10,70,100) during the process and the displacements and strains in the workpiece (10,70,100) are concentrated along the boundary as metal at and adjacent the boundary flows into the vents (167).
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 24, wherein, following step (c), the process is repeated on the bondline that results from the previous application of the process.
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 25, wherein the said substantial amount is substantially all of the material initially present at the boundary or is at least 80%, preferably at least 90%, of the material initially present at the boundary.
A preform suitable for forming a gas turbine disk the preform comprising
(a) disk (10) having a disk axis, a first disk face and a second disk face, and an annular outer edge which defines the outermost extent of the disk (10), the disk (10) having a central portion (13) formed of a first alloy and an annular peripheral portion (15) formed of a second alloy, and the boundary (16) between the central and peripheral portion being a surface of revolution about the disk axis and being defined by a generatrix having a first end and a second end, said surface having a first circular edge at the first face of the disk (10) and generated by the first end of the generatrix, and a second circular edge at the second face of the disk (10) and generated by the second end of the generatrix, and

(b) a sacrificial rib (11) attached to a face of the disk (10) and adapted to be removed therefrom, the rib (11) being entirely within the outer edge and having the boundary (16) passing through it so that it contains some of each alloy, and defects which exist at the boundary, substantially all of which exist at that portion of the boundary which is within the rib (11) and the remainder of which have been highly strained.
A pair of forging dies adapted for forming a disk (150) having a disk axis (151), a first disk face (152) and a second disk face (153), and an annular outer edge (171) which defines the outermost extent of the workpiece, the disk having a central portion (154) formed of a first alloy and an annular peripheral portion (155) formed of a second alloy, and the boundary (156) between the central and peripheral portions (154,155') being a surface (157) of revolution about the disk axis (151) and being defined by a generatrix (158) having a first end (159) and a second end (160), the said surface (157) having a first circular edge (161) at the first face (152) of the disk (150) and generated by the first end (159) of the generatrix (158), and a second circular edge (162) at the second face (153) of the disk (150) and generated by the second end (160) of the generatrix (158), comprising:
(a) a first die (163) having a first die face (164) and a first impression (173) formed in its die face (164) and adapted to engage the disk (150), the first die (163) having an annular vent (167) formed in its die face (164) and in the impression, the said vent (167) having two concentric vent edges (168,169) at the die face (164), both of which are entirely within the impression (173), and positioned to straddle a desired circular edge of the disk (150), and

(b) a second die (165) having a second die face (166) and a second impression (174) adapted to engage the disk (150).