Superplastic forming and diffusion bonding (SPF/DB) is a technique allowing the manufacture of complex-shaped hollow metallic parts. It combines
Superplastic forming Superplastic forming is an industrial process used for creating precise and complex components out of superplastic materials.
Process
The material is first heated up to promote superplasticity. For titanium alloys e.g. Ti 6Al 4V and some stainless ...
(SPF) with a second element "Diffusion Bonding" to create the completed structures.
Principle
Two metal sheets are welded together at their edges, then heated within the confines of a female mould tool.
When the part is hot, an inert gas is injected between the two sheets ; the part becomes hollow to the form of the mould.
[Spittle, Peter]
"Gas turbine technology"
p508, ''Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
'', 2003. Retrieved: 13 June 2014. Parts may be welded in other areas than the edges to give an internal structure as the sheets are blown.
Applications
* Hollow titanium blades for
jet engines
A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term typicall ...
.
[
* Military aircraft structures such the aft fuselage of the McDonnell Douglas ]F-15E Strike Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without rely ...
.McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...
(McDonnell Aircraft Company) developed the production equipment and tooling technology in St. Louis during the mid 1980s through the leadership of engineers Ray Kittelson, Vern Mueller, David Rohe and Duane Jennings.
See also
* Superplasticity
In materials science, superplasticity is a state in which solid Crystallinity, crystalline material is deformed well beyond its usual breaking point, usually over about 600% during tensile deformation. Such a state is usually achieved at high ho ...
References
Joining
Metal forming
{{metalworking-stub