Japan Develops Low-Cost Titanium Alloy Sand Casting Technology

The Japan Institute of Industrial Technology (AIST) has developed a low-reactive sand mold, which is expected to achieve low-cost sand mold casting of titanium alloy. The sand mold is made of low-cost materials and has very little reaction with the surface of the high melting point and high activity titanium alloy melt; and titanium alloy casting can be carried out without preheating, so the melt solidification speed is high, and the casting has a dense metallographic structure.

The sand mold was used to successfully manufacture Ti-6Al-4V alloy castings. The surface hardness is almost the same as the initial Ti-6Al-4V alloy hardness, and the formation of the surface reaction layer is not observed, and the castings also have a good metallic luster. The strength of Ti-6Al-4V alloy sand castings exceeds the standard strength values of casting materials and plastic processing materials (bars) specified in ASTM standards, especially the elongation at break is about 2 times and 1.3 times the standard values of casting materials and plastic materials, respectively. In the future, casting tests for large-scale titanium alloy parts will also be carried out to promote the application of sand casting technology in large-scale titanium alloy parts.