• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.616-623
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• 2012

Turbopump is a key component in liquid rocket engines, and reducing weight while maintaining structural safety is one of the major concerns of turbopump designers. To reduce the weight aluminium alloy castings instead of steel casings are introduced. The casting process is especially useful for enhancement of productivity and for reduction of product costs. But, since castings are used in space vehicle engines, reliability cannot be compromised therefore proper design, production process and thorough investigation should be performed to ensure structural integrity. In this study inlet casings for a fuel pump are casted with A356.0-T6 alloy and using one of them a burst test is conducted to ensure structural integrity. Structural analysis is performed for simulation, and with multiple strain gages strains are measured and compared with predictions.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.269-276
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• 2000

So far, the study on semi-solid process has been carried out to develop and research new advanced materials without some casting defects. In this study, A356 billets consisted of various dendritic shapes were prepared using electro-magnetic stirring process continuously. As-cast respectively has liquidus temperature of $625.6^{\circ}C$ and solidus temperature of $573.55^{\circ}C$ A356 slugs were reheated homogeneously at different temperatures of 580, 590 and $605^{\circ}C$, followed by squeezing in a mold insulated with applied pressures(0, 25, 50 and 70 MPa). In order to investigate on aging responce for casts, 50 MPa squeezed specimen among all specimens was prepared in aging treatments, which conditions are aging temperature of $160^{\circ}C$ and holding times of 0, 45, 90, 270, 360, 720, 1440 and 2880 min after solution treatment ($540^{\circ}C$ for 10 hr). SSM ingot with the output velocity of 150mm/min appeared more spheroidal shape and fine structure than that with the output velocity of 250 mm/min. According to increasing in reheating temperature, numbers of fatigue cycles, U.T.S and elongation increased at same time.

• Archives of Metallurgy and Materials
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.941-946
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• 2021

A356 Al composites reinforced by short carbon fiber were prepared through the 2-step process: fabrication of a composite precursor and ultrasonication of the precursor melt. The short carbon fibers were coated with 0.15~1.5 ㎛ thick SiC layer by a carbothermal reaction, and an amount of the carbon fiber reinforcement was determined to be 1.5 vol.% and 4.0 vol.%, respectively. The addition of the carbon fiber increased the hardness of A356 alloy. However, tensile strength did not increase in the as-cast composites regardless of the SiC coating and volume fraction of the carbon fiber, due to the debonding which reduced load transfer efficiency from matrix to fiber at the interface. After T6-treatment of the composites, a significant increase in strength occurred only in the composite reinforced by the SiC-coated short carbon fiber, which was considered to result from the formation of a precipitate improving the Al/SiC interfacial strength.