2026-04-23T15:43:30Zhttps://ebiltegia.mondragon.edu/oai/request

oai:ebiltegia.mondragon.edu:20.500.11984/60382024-03-04T14:49:12Zcom_20.500.11984_473col_20.500.11984_478

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Garcia-Michelena, Pablo author chamorro, xabier author Herrero-Dorca, Nuria author Bernal, Daniel author Hurtado, Iñaki author 2023 Nickel-based superalloys are widely employed to manufacture aero-engine turbines due to their high mechanical strength and resistance to corrosion and creep. Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM) is a suitable manufacturing technology because of the reactive nature of the alloying elements; however, the melting process is time-consuming and energy-demanding. This research focuses on increasing the overall efficiency of the process in two ways. Initially, studying the influence of metal-containing crucible composition and thermal properties on the melting. In a semi-industrial VIM facility, 2 kg of Inconel 718 alloy was melted employing Al2O3, ZrO2, MgO, and Al6Si4O13-based crucibles. The Al6Si4O13 and ZrO2-based crucibles reduced energy consumption by 28% and 23%, respectively, compared to the reference crucible of Al2O3. Subsequently, an optimized melting procedure is proposed to reduce the process cycle time and energy demand, saving 10%–20% for all crucibles compared to the standard melting procedure. In addition, the ZrO2 and Al6Si4O13 crucibles reduced total cycle time by 13% and 21%, respectively. During melting, intense dross formation was detected for all crucibles, dissipating faster for Al6Si4O13 and MgO crucibles. Therefore, the metal-crucible interface product was analyzed to understand these mechanisms better, and the four crucibles' chemical reactivity was examined. 2214-0697 https://katalogoa.mondragon.edu/janium-bin/janium_login_opac.pl?find&ficha_no=171706 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11984/6038 Vacuum induction melting Inconel 718 Thermal characterization Crucible Casting optimization ODS 7 Energía asequible y no contaminante ODS 9 Industria, innovación e infraestructura Effect of the crucible composition on the Inconel 718 vacuum induction melting process efficiency