Investigation into the use of CaZrO3 as a facecoat material in the investment casting of TiAl alloys

Research was carried out to determine the interactions between the filler and stucco materials in CaZrO3 based facecoats during shell firing as well as between the facecoat and a TiAl alloy during the casting process. A ‘flash re-melting’ technique, which gives a similar heating profile to the actual investment casting process, was used to study the phase transformations in the shell moulds. The chemical inertness of the facecoat was then investigated using a sessile drop test using a Ti–45Al–2Nb–2Mn–0.2TiB alloy. In this study, the facecoat compositions and the interaction products between metal and shells were characterized using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A severe interaction was found between CaZrO3 filler and Al2O3 stucco, which rapidly damaged the shell surface. As well as oxygen, zirconium and silicon ions from the shell moulds were also observed to penetrate into the TiAl metal to form (Ti, Zr)5(Al, Si)3 phases in the metal/shell interfacial areas.