Hot Isostatic Pressing Technology for Defence and Space Applications

Abstract

Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) technology has been established for the development of AISI-304 stainless steel and nickel base superalloy Inconel 718 integral turbine rotors, for liquid propulsion engine of Prithvi missile, and cryoengine of geostationary satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), respectively. Before making the full size rotors, the structure – property relationships in hot isostatic pressed (HIPed) 304 stainless steel and superalloy 718 were established. The HIPed steel and superalloy have shown near 100 per cent theoretical density, homogeneous, and fine grained microstructure. Their mechanical properties were found to be in agreement with those specified for the integral turbine rotors and hence, development of full size near net shaped integral turbine rotors was undertaken. The HIPed steel rotors subjected to the static engine tests have shown a satisfactory performance, and therefore a large number of rotors could be produced to fulfill the requirement of target labs. The HIP technology for the integral turbine rotors was found to be cost effective (about 50 per cent) over the conventional fabrication method which involves forging, machining, and welding of blades to the disk. The processing, structure, and properties of the HIPed 304 stainless steel and superalloy 718 in relation to the performance of integral turbine rotors for missile and space vehicle applications are discussed in this paper.

Defence Science Journal, 2012, 62(1), pp.73-80, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.62.372