Hot isostalic pressing ("HIP") involves the application ot high pressures and temperatures Ihrough Ihe medium ol a pressurizing gas such as argon or nilrogen. HIP consolidales powders ol melals, ceramics, or carbides info fully dense, complex parls wilh nel or nearnet shapes. or info very high quality forging billers HIP .'heals" defects in castings by creep mechanisms and/or compressive plastic delormalion. The clean void surfaces are bonded togelher by diffusion. HIP is also used for diffusion bonding dissimilar materials, and for applying wear. or corrosion resistant coalings to parts exposed to stringent operating conditions.
By consistently improving materials' mechanical properties and by narrowing the scalter band of properties. HIP enables designers lo utilize a very high proportion of the physical strength of materials. This translates into higher reliability and longer service lile, or into smaller, lighter-weight parts, or both.
By reducing rejection rates and scrap losses, minimizing or eliminating machining costs, and consuming less energy, HIP can reduce the total production costs ol a product. following are some of the specific advantages imparted by HIP to several specific categories ol materials or processes.
Conlainerized niches based alloy powder is Hip'ed cut into segments, centerlessground, and forged into high pressure turbine disks wiln belier properties than wrought disks.![]()
HIP reduces tolal casilng costs by reducing rejections and scrap losses. Eliminates closed voids, micro. porosily, and shrinkage tears. Improves duclility and fatigue properties, often to Ihe equivalent of forged or wroughl parls. Improves reliability and Service life. Permils smaller, lighter-weighl castings to be used. Up,qrades the properties ol difficult-to-cast materials Such as lilanium and cerlain superalloys to acceptable levels. Rejuvenates mechanical properlies of service. faligued parls lo new or nearly new levels.
Eliminates voids and microporosity which are stress risers. This improves transverse rupture strength and wear resistance. Permits the use of fine grained, low cobalt mixes which have particularly good wear resistance but which are difficult to manufacture without voids and microporosity. Extends the service life of expensive canning tools, drawing dies, and rolling mills. Reduces rejection rates and scrap losses, and enables scrap to be recycled. Helps prevent very costly premature failures of tricone oilwell rock bits.![]()
Advanced engineered ceramics are brittle and have poor tolerance to thermal shock. Once cracks develop at flaws or microporosily, ceramics fail rapidly. By eliminating flaws and porosity, HIP provides striking improvements in ceramics' performance and useful lifetime. HIP'ing ceramics to net or near-net shape is also a major advantage because these materials are too hard to machine cost effectively.|
|
|
|
| A 4140 valve body HIP clad with IN 625 corrosive service. These valves are now in production, they cost far less than solid IN 625 valves. | Cast Nickel-base impeller | As sintered Ti 6AI 4V after HIPing, 545 X magnification, unetched Density is 100% of theoretical Note absence of large ronded pores and spheroidization of small non-metallic inclusions. |