Abstract: A method of determining a life defining quantity of a production component manufactured by an additive manufacturing process. The method includes the step of defining a plurality of components to be manufactured by an additive manufacturing technique. The plurality of components has a first test piece and a first production component. The method further includes manufacturing the components in the same manufacturing batch using an additive manufacturing process and with nominally the same material composition and build parameters. A characteristic mechanical property of the first test piece is then determined. The method further includes determining a value of a life defining quantity of the first production component as a function of the first test piece characteristic mechanical property. The first production component and first test piece are then provided with indicators which associate the first production component with the determined life defining quantity.

Abstract: A method of determining a life defining quantity of a production component manufactured by an additive manufacturing process. The method includes the step of defining a plurality of components to be manufactured by an additive manufacturing technique. The plurality of components has a first test piece and a first production component. The method further includes manufacturing the components in the same manufacturing batch using an additive manufacturing process and with nominally the same material composition and build parameters. A characteristic mechanical property of the first test piece is then determined. The method further includes determining a value of a life defining quantity of the first production component as a function of the first test piece characteristic mechanical property. The first production component and first test piece are then provided with indicators which associate the first production component with the determined life defining quantity.

Abstract: A casting core for use in investment casting having at least one gap between two separate core material parts which define separate adjacent cavities in the finished product, wherein the two core material parts are connected by at least one crossover bridge fixing the position of the two core material parts relative to each other, wherein the crossover bridge has a cross section whose wall contour has at least one convex and at least one concave section.

Abstract: A turbomachine component having an aerofoil, such as a blade or a vane for a gas turbine engine, includes a suction side wall and a pressure side wall bordering an aerofoil cavity, and meeting at a leading edge and a trailing edge. The turbomachine component also includes a circumferentially extending first platform wherefrom the aerofoil extends radially. The first platform includes a first-platform cavity corresponding to a shape of the aerofoil and continuous with the aerofoil cavity. The first-platform cavity has a leading-edge end and a trailing-edge end corresponding to the leading edge and the trailing edge, respectively, of the aerofoil. The first-platform cavity at the trailing-edge end forms a protuberance within the first platform. The turbomachine component may optionally include a second-platform cavity in a circumferentially extending second platform. The second-platform cavity at its trailing-edge end forms an additional protuberance within the second platform.

Abstract: One embodiment includes providing a first layer including a first powder material and a second layer including a second powder material over the first layer, and compacting the first powder material and the second powder material using at least a first magnetic field.

Abstract: A piston with a cast bi-metallic dome feature and a method of making the piston. In one form, the piston is for use in a diesel engine, while in another, the piston is for use in a gasoline engine. The dome feature may include a laminate of a relatively high-temperature material (such as stainless steel) and a relatively low temperature material (such as aluminum or aluminum alloys) such that the portion of the dome made from the relatively high-temperature material is directly exposed to combustion within a cylinder into which the piston is placed. In another form, an aluminum coated stainless steel layer is used to form the dome. In one form, an ablation casting process may be used to manufacture the dome.

Abstract: A diesel piston with a cast bi-metallic dome and a method of making the piston. In one form, the dome may include a laminate of a relatively high-temperature material, for example, stainless steel, and a relatively low temperature material, for example, aluminum or aluminum alloys, such that the portion of the dome made from the relatively high-temperature material is directly exposed to combustion within a cylinder into which the piston is placed. In another form, an aluminum coated stainless steel ring is used to form the dome. In one form, an ablation casting process may be used to manufacture the dome.

Abstract: Methods of making squirrel cage rotors of aluminum based material end rings joined with high conductive and durable material (such as copper) conductor bars for use in electric motors. The methods include forming conductor bars by casting or other metal forming methods in the slots of laminate steel stack, or positioning the preformed or premade solid conductor bars in the longitudinal slots of the stacked laminated steel, with bar ends extending out of the laminated steel stack ends, optionally coating the extended part of the conductors (bars) with a latent exoergic coating containing Al and one or more conductor bar chemical elements, positioning the laminated steel stack having conductors (bars) in a casting mold that forms the cavity of both end rings of the rotor, filling the end ring cavities with aluminum melt, and allowing the end rings to solidify under pressure. Alternatively, the conductor bars and end rings can be made separately and mechanically joined together.

Abstract: A valve seat insert including an annular body disposed about a central axis. The annular body includes a radially inward face that defines an orifice and a radially outward face that is opposite the radially inward face. Additionally, the annular body includes a top face, and a bottom face that is opposite the top face. The valve seat insert further includes a plurality of heat transfer protrusions that extend from the radially outward face of the annular body.

Abstract: A dangerous level of gas safety monitor for indicating a level of a target gas in an atmosphere comprising: a sol-gel layer comprising a first phosphorescent material, exposed to the atmosphere; a light source enabled to stimulate the phosphorescent material; a detector enabled to detect light emitted by the phosphorescent material; a pressure sensor to determine the pressure of the atmosphere; a processor enabled to determine relative phase shift or time delay between the detected light emitted by the phosphorescent material and the emitted light of the light source, wherein the monitor is configured to provide an output indicative of a dangerous level of the target gas in the atmosphere, the output based on the determined pressure and relative phase shift or time delay.

Abstract: A rotor for an induction motor and a method of preparing same. The method includes making a squirrel-cage rotor made up of a cage and a laminate stack by forming a mold around the stack, heating the stack and introducing a molten metal into the mold such that the molten metal substantially fills a space defined in the stack that corresponds to the cage. In one form, the space includes slots or related channels formed in the stack that upon filling with the molten metal become longitudinal bars that form electric current loops with end rings of the cage. By heating the stack and maintaining it at a temperature high enough to keep the molten metal in a substantially molten state at least long enough for it to flow through the slots of the stack, premature freezing of the molten metal is avoided. In addition, by providing low pressure to the molten metal in conjunction with the elevated temperature in the stack, flow is promoted to ensure a substantially porosity-free, fully dense squirrel-cage for the rotor.

Abstract: A procedure for centrifugally casting a shorted structure around induction motor rotors is described. The method is commonly applied to a plurality of rotors disposed and arranged for rotational balance and supported on a suitable support, or optionally, on a plurality of supports arranged in layered fashion about a common rotational axis. The method comprises forming a wax representation of the shorted structure around a lamination stack; mounting a plurality of such lamination stacks in a mounting fixture and-attaching a suitable gating and runner system; forming an investment by coating the structure with refractory followed by melting out the wax; casting molten metal into the investment while it is rotating and aligning the mold to allow the centrifugal force generated to promote mold filling; and, continuing to rotate the investment until solidification is substantially complete.

Abstract: An aluminum-based diesel engine piston and a method of making the piston. The method involves casting the piston with complex geometries, including undercut or reentrant features. The casting uses an aggregate disposable mold that can be removed from the as-cast part. In one form, the complex geometry includes an undercut combustion bowl formed in the piston dome, while in another, it may include an internal cooling passage. The undercut bowl and internal passages may be produced using the aggregate disposable mold.

Abstract: A mold for forming a plurality of rotors includes a plurality of lamination stacks, wherein each lamination stack defines at least one void therethrough; a tube having a central longitudinal axis, wherein each lamination stack is concentrically spaced apart from the tube to define a channel therebetween; a plurality of washers each having a shape defined by a first diameter and a second diameter that is greater than the first diameter, wherein each washer is configured to concentrically abut the tube and define a feed conduit interconnecting with the channel; and a shell disposed in contact with each lamination stack and concentrically spaced apart from each washer to define a plurality of ducts, wherein each duct is interconnected with the at least one void of at least one lamination stack. A mold system and a method of forming a plurality of rotors are also described.

Abstract: A piston with a cast bi-metallic dome feature and a method of making the piston. In one form, the piston is for use in a diesel engine, while in another, the piston is for use in a gasoline engine. The dome feature may include a laminate of a relatively high-temperature material (such as stainless steel) and a relatively low temperature material (such as aluminum or aluminum alloys) such that the portion of the dome made from the relatively high-temperature material is directly exposed to combustion within a cylinder into which the piston is placed. In another form, an aluminum coated stainless steel layer is used to form the dome. In one form, an ablation casting process may be used to manufacture the dome.

Abstract: A diesel engine piston and a method of making the piston. The method involves casting the piston with complex geometries, including undercut features. The casting uses an aggregate disposable mold that can be removed from the as-cast part. In one form, the complex geometry includes an undercut combustion bowl formed in the piston dome, while in another, it may include an internal cooling passage. The undercut bowl and internal passages may be produced using the aggregate disposable mold.

Abstract: A diesel piston with a cast bi-metallic dome and a method of making the piston. In one form, the dome may include a laminate of a relatively high-temperature material, for example, stainless steel, and a relatively low temperature material, for example, aluminum or aluminum alloys, such that the portion of the dome made from the relatively high-temperature material is directly exposed to combustion within a cylinder into which the piston is placed. In another form, an aluminum coated stainless steel ring is used to form the dome. In one form, an ablation casting process may be used to manufacture the dome.

Abstract: A prism for use in scanning applications such as total internal reflection microscopy in which the prism is translated relative to an incident light beam. A geometry is disclosed which cancels walk of the beam footprint at the base of the prism. Walk of the beam footprint due to irregularities in a largely planar sample surface located at the prism base are cancelled by coupling movement of the incident light beam to movement of the sample in the field of view of an objective lens, for example as part of an autofocus arrangement.

Abstract: A mold for forming a plurality of rotors includes a plurality of lamination stacks, wherein each lamination stack defines at least one void therethrough; a tube having a central longitudinal axis, wherein each lamination stack is concentrically spaced apart from the tube to define a channel therebetween; a plurality of washers each having a shape defined by a first diameter and a second diameter that is greater than the first diameter, wherein each washer is configured to concentrically abut the tube and define a feed conduit interconnecting with the channel; and a shell disposed in contact with each lamination stack and concentrically spaced apart from each washer to define a plurality of ducts, wherein each duct is interconnected with the at least one void of at least one lamination stack. A mold system and a method of forming a plurality of rotors are also described.

Abstract: A procedure for casting a shorted structure around a plurality of induction motor rotors is described. The method comprises forming a wax representation of the shorted structure around a lamination stack; mounting a plurality of such lamination stacks in a mounting fixture and attaching a suitable gating and runner system; forming an investment by coating the structure with refractory followed by melting out the wax; casting molten metal into the investment while it is rotating and aligning the mold to allow the centrifugal force generated to promote mold filling; and, continuing to rotate the investment until solidification is substantially complete.