Method of manufacturing an object from powdered ceramic material

Abstract: Method of manufacturing an object from powdered ceramic ma­ terial by isostatic pressing. The powdered material is sup­ plied with a temporary organic binder and is formed into preformed powder body (10). A major part of the binder is removed from the preformed powder body by driving it off un­ der heating, whereas a minor part of the binder, required for keeping the powder body together, is retained in the powder body. The powder body is then provided with a gas-­ permeable embedding material (14) of glass, whereafter the retained minor part of the binder is driven off under heat­ ing and preferably by also treating the powder body with the surrounding gas-permeable embedding material with an oxidiz­ ing gas. The gas-permeable embedding material is then made gas-impermeable by heating and the preformed powder body, freed from the binder, with the surrounding gas-impermeable embedding material is subjected to isostatic pressing.

Description: The invention relates to a method of manufacturing an object from powdered ceramic material according to the precharacterising part of claim 1. When manufacturing objects of ceramic materials by sintering together powder under isostatic pressure, the powder is normally first preformed into a manageable powder body. For the preforming there may be used, inter alia, conventional technique for the manufacture of ceramic goods, such as, e.g. injection moulding. Prior to the preforming, the powdered ceramic material is usually mixed with a temporary binder, for example a wax. After the preforming, the binder is driven off by heating, usually in vacuum, so that the preformed powder body is, in all essentials, free from binder before it is subjected to further treatment. When the preformed body is subjected to isostatic pressure at sintering temperature, it must, in order to obtain the desired dense, sintered product, be enclosed in a casing or embedding material which, during the pressing, prevents the pressure medium used, normally a gas, from penetrating into the powder body. The embedding material as well as its contents are freed from non-desirable gases during some process stage before the sealing. One known gas-permeable embedding material consists of particles of glass arranged as a layer on the preformed body. Another known embedding material consists of particles of glass arranged as a mass, into which the preformed body is embedded. Such embedding materials of glass are made gas-impermeable by melting the glass. These embedding materials are described, inter alia, in SE-A-7,600,919-0 (publication No. 396,371) and SE-A-7,813,018-4 (publication No. 414,921). After driving off the temporary binder from the bodies which have been formed from the powdered material by heating and vacuum treatment, it has proved that the preformed bodies thus obtained contain a carbonized residue of a few tenth of a per cent. In several ceramic materials, inter alia in silicon nitride, this carbonized residue may reduce the strength of the objects obtained by isostatic pressing of the preformed bodies. This, of course, entails a considerable disadvantage when it comes to objects in which the strength is of critical importance, such as in radial and axial turbines. Removing the carbonized residue by oxidation at a temperature required for such oxidation has proved to drastically deteriorate the strength of the preformed body, making it unfit for encapsulation in an embedding material of glass. Resorting to a sintering of the body in order to improve the strength has proved to entail detrimental deformations of the objects manufactured during the isostatic pressing, especially in parts of the objects having thin and projecting portions, such as turbine wheel blades. Furthermore, the presintering has resulted in more cracks in the preformed bodies, which has led to increased scrapping. The invention aims at developing a method of manufacturing an object from powdered ceramic material which eliminates the described problems and enables to manufacture pressed and sintered objects with excellent reproducibility. To achieve this aim the invention suggests a method according to the introductory part of claim 1, which is characterized by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1. Further developments of the invention are characterized by the features of the additional claims. According to the invention, the favourable results are achieved because the temporary binder is not removed in its entirety from the preformed powder body before it is provided with the gas-permeable embedding material of glass, but a minor portion is retained in the powder body and is removed only when the powder body is surrounded by the gas-permeable embedding material. The invention also involves advantages when manufacturing objects of such materials, for example titanium diboride, in which the occurrence of carbonized residue in preformed bodies does not reduce the strength of the finished isostatically pressed products, because also in this case an improved manageability and less scrapping of preformed powder bodies are achieved. When manufacturing objects of such ceramic materials in which carbonized residues reduce the strength, considerably higher strengths of finished isostatically pressed objects are achieved if the binder is removed from the powder body, which is provided with the gas-permeable embedding material, by treating the powder body and the surrounding embedding material with an oxidizing gas. This may suitably take place by flushing the gas, for example air diluted with nitrogen gas or argon gas with a low mixture of oxygen gas, through the oven or other heating device in which the powder body with embedding material is stored during the removal of the binder. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention the preformed powder body with the remaining temporary binder is arranged in a gas-permeable embedding material by being embedded into a mass of particles of glass in a vessel with gas-permeable walls, for example a vessel built up of sintered-together particles of glass, preferably of the same glass as in the embedding material. Arranged in this way, the remaining binder may be effectively driven off from the powder body before the surrounding embedding material in the next process stage is made gas-impermeable and the preformed powder body is subjected to isostatic pressing. As examples of ceramic materials, to which the invention is applicable, may be mentioned nitrides such as silicon nitride, silicon aluminium oxide nitride, aluminium nitride, titanium nitride, zirconium nitride, chromium nitride, boron nitride, metal oxides such as aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide, both fully and partially stabilized, magnesium oxide, carbides such as silicon carbide, titanium carbide, boron carbide, borides such as titanium boride, zirconium boride and mixtures of such materials. As examples of temporary binders for the preformed body may be mentioned polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene and copolymers of ethylene and propylene with a waxy consistency, polymeric organic esters such as ethylene vinyl acetate polymers and butyl methacrylate polymers, cellulose compounds such as methyl cellulose and cellulose nitrate, waxes and mixtures of two or more of the exemplified substances. The quantity of temporary binder suitably amounts to 30-60% and preferably to 35-50% of the total volume of ceramic material and temporary binder. Of the total amount of temporary binder included in the preformed powder body before any binder has been removed, the main part is driven off under heating, preferably under vacuum, whereas suitably 5-30% and preferably 10-25% is retained in the powder body which is thereafter provided with the glass embedding material. As embedding material may be chosen a glass with a melting point and viscosity adapted to the task. As examples of suitable kinds of glass, which may be used for most ceramic materials, may be mentioned a glass containing 80.3 per cent by weight SiO₂, 12.2 per cent by weight B₂O₃, 2.8 per cent by weight Al₂O₃, 4.0 per cent by weight Na₂O, 0.4 per cent by weight K₂O and 0.3 per cent by weight CaO (Duran®, Pyrex®), a glass containing 58 per cent by weight SiO₂, 9 per cent by weight B₂O₃, 20 per cent by weight Al₂O₃, 5 per cent by weight CaO and 8 per cent by weight MgO, a glass containing 96.7 per cent by weight SiO₂, 2.9 per cent by weight B₂O₃ and 0.4 per cent by weight Al₂O₃ (Vycor®), a glass containing 46-50 per cent by weight SiO₂, 48-52 per cent by weight B₂O₃ and 1.5 to 2.5 per cent by weight Al₂O₃, as well as other kinds of glass containing at least 50 per cent by weight B₂O₃ such as glass containing 38 per cent by weight SiO₂, 60 per cent by weight B₂O₃ and 2 per cent by weight Al₂O₃. By way of example, the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings showing in Figure 1 an axial section of a body, preformed from powdered material, in the form of an exhaust gas turbine, arranged in a gas-permeable embedding material of glass for the removal of retained temporary binder, Figure 2 the preformed body with the surrounding embedding material of glass arranged to undergo isostatic pressing. For the manufacture of the preformed body 10, shown in Figure 1, consisting of a hub 11 with a plurality of blades 12, sixty parts by volume silicon nitride powder with a mean grain size of 1 µm (e.g. quality H1 from H C Starck, Fed. Rep. of Germany), containing 1.1 part by weight yttrium oxide, are mixed with 40 parts by volume of a temporary binder consisting of 32.4 parts by volume paraffin with a melting temperature of 58-60°C, 6.9 parts by volume ethylene vinylacetate polymer with a melt flow index of 400 g/10 min (ASTM 1238, Modified) and a density of 0.951 (e.g. Elvax®, Du Pont), and 0.7 parts by volume Carnaubawax. The mixture of silicon nitride and binder is formed by injection moulding into the preformed body 10. The preformed powder body is placed in an oven, and the major part, 80%, of the binder in the powder body is driving off in vacuum (around 0.1 millibar) under successive, slight temperature increase, on average about 1.5°C per hour, up to 350°C and maintaining the powder body at this temperature for about 5 hours. The powder body is then placed, in accordance with Figure 1, in a vessel 13 of porously sintered glass powder and is embedded into an embedding material 14 of glass powder. The glass in the vessel 13 and the glass in the embedding material 14 are of the same kind and contain 80.3 per cent by weight SiO₂, 12.2 per cent by weight B₂O₃, 2.8 per cent by weight Al₂O₃, 4.0 per cent by weight Na₂O, 0.4 per cent by weight K₂O and 0.3 per cent by weight CaO (Pyrex®). The particle size of the glass is in both cases 0.1-1 mm. Because the vessel is porously sintered, it is permeable to gas. The vessel 13 with contents is placed in an oven, where it is rapidly heated to and kept at 350°C for a few hours while maintaining a vacuum (around 0.1 millibar) in the oven space. During continued maintained vacuum, the temperature is successively raised, on average about 15°C per hour, up to 600°C, this temperature being maintained for about 5 hours. After that, the evacuation is interrupted and the oven space is flushed with air diluted with four parts nitrogen gas per one part of air for about 2 hours. During this treatment the remainder of the temporary binder is driven off from the powder body. The binder, which has thereby been decomposed while forming carbon, disappears by oxidizing away the carbon. Because of the permeability of the vessel 13 to gas, the air oxygen may pass through the walls of the vessel and be brought into efficient contact with the powder body and gaseous oxidation products formed may escape more easily. However, the process is realizable per se by using a vessel of solid glass. The vessel 13 with contents, in which the powder body 10 is now free from temporary binder, is placed, in accordance with Figure 2, in an open-topped vessel 15 of graphite, which is filled with a supplementary embedding material 16 in the form of a powder of the same kind as in the embedding material 14. The vessel is internally provided with a release layer 17 of boron nitride. If the bottom of the vessel is not gas-tight, a plate of gas-tight graphite, gas-tight boron nitride or molybdenum foil is placed on the bottom of the vessel, after the release layer 17 has been applied. One or more vessels 15 are placed in a high pressure oven. Argon, helium or nitrogen gas is supplied to this oven so that the pressure is 0.1 MPa when the temperature has been raised to 1150°C. The temperature is maintained at this level for 1 hour, the glass in the embedding materials 14 and 16 and in the vessel 13 then forming a melt with a relatively low viscosity which completely surrounds the powder body 10. At the same temperature, argon, helium or nitrogen gas is then supplied until a pressure is obtained that will provide a pressure of 200-300 MPa at the final sintering temperature. The temperature is then raised to 1750-1800°C, i.e. to a suitable sintering temperature for the silicon nitride for a period of 1 hour. At the same time the pressure then rises. A suitable time for sintering under the above-mentioned conditions is at least 2 hours. After a completed cycle, the oven is allowed to cool to a suitable discharge temperature, and the embedding materials 14, 16 are removed from the finished product, in the exemplified case an exhaust gas turbine.

Claims: Method of manufacturing an object from powdered ceramic material by isostatic pressing, the powdered material first being supplied with a temporary organic binder and being formed into a preformed powder body (10), the preformed powder body then being subjected to the removal of binder by driving it off under heating, the preformed powder body then being provided with a gas-permeable embedding material (14) of glass, the gas-permeable embedding material then being made gas-impermeable by heating, and the preformed body with the surrounding gas-impermeable embedding material then being subjected to the isostatic pressing, characterized in that a major part of the binder is removed before the preformed powder body is provided with the gas-permeable embedding material, whereas a minor part of the binder, required for keeping the powder body together, is retained in the powder body and removed at least substantially completely therefrom after the powder body has been provided with the surrounding gas-permeable embedding material. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the binder is removed from the powder body (10) provided with the gas-permeable embedding material (14) by treating the powder body with the surrounding embedding material with an oxidizing gas. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the preformed powder body (10) is provided with the gas-permeable embedding material (14) by being embedded into an embedding material consisting of particles of glass in a vessel (13) with gas-permeable walls. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that as vessel (13) with gas-permeable walls, a vessel built up of sintered-together particles of glass is used. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that glass of the same kind is used in the vessel (13) as in the embedding material (14).

Inventors: LARKER HANS, MATTSSON BERTIL, LARKER, HANS, MATTSSON, BERTIL
Applicants: ASEA CERAMA AB, ABB CERAMA AB
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B22F3
IPC codes: C04B35, B22F3