Microstructural and Thermo-Mechanical Characterization of Yttria Ceramic Cores for Investment Casting, with and without Particulate Reinforcement

Yttria is an interesting material for the production of high performance ceramic cores for Directionally Solidified investment casting. DS casting of superalloys of the last generation challenge conventional silica ceramic cores, because of the high temperatures and the long times involved. Compared to silica, yttria is characterized by improved mechanical properties and higher chemical resistance at high temperatures. Submicronic and nanometric SiC reinforcements were tested in order to increase compression creep resistance of yttria. Oxidation resistance of both reinforcements was tested in conditions simulating the industrial process. The experimental results demonstrated the increase of compression creep resistance and showed that the industrial application of yttria ceramic cores reinforced with submicronic SiC is possible with minimal changes to current practices, thanks to a high enough oxidation resistance.