Rolls-royce Corporation

Stanmore Implants Worldwide Limited

Xinhua Wu

Wayne Eric Voice

Michael Loretto

Paul Unwin

Gordon William Blunn

Junfa Mei

Joanne M Shipton, Legal Representative

Nicholas Wain

Dawei Hu

Michael Herbert Jacobs

Mark Andrew Ashworth

Martin Tuffs

Aijun Huang

A gamma titanium aluminide alloy consisting of 46 at % aluminium, 8 at % tantalum and the balance titanium plus incidental impurities has an alpha transus temperature Tbetween 1310&#xb0; C. and 1320&#xb0; C. The gamma titanium aluminide alloy was heated to a temperature T=1330&#xb0; C. and was held at T=1330&#xb0; C. for 1 hour or longer. The gamma titanium aluminide alloy was air cooled to ambient temperature to allow the massive transformation to go to completion. The gamma titanium aluminide alloy was heated to a temperature T=1250&#xb0; C. to 1290&#xb0; C. and was held at Tfor 4 hours. The gamma titanium aluminide alloy was air cooled to ambient temperature. The gamma titanium aluminide alloy has a fine duplex microstructure comprising differently orientated alpha plates in a massively transformed gamma matrix. The heat treatment reduces quenching stresses and allows larger castings to be grain refined.

Method of heat treating titanium aluminide

A component can be formed by a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process but it is necessary to reinforce intricate internal structures against collapse and deformation by the hot isostatic pressing process. The present method utilizes a low melting point salt or alloy reinforcement within the structure which can be released when molten through a drain from the internal structure. The reinforcement may be molten as a result of the hot isostatic process or through achieving a temperature with the component which causes the reinforcement to become molten but without damaging the component itself. The remaining parts of the reinforcement may be removed by use of a solvent or simple washing with a corrosive agent to remove any reinforcement debris.

Component forming method

A surgical implant comprises a core region and a porous surface region extending over at least part of the core region. The surface region has a predetermined pore volume fraction. A method of manufacturing a surgical implant comprises: (i) loading metallic powder having a predetermined particle size distribution around a pre-formed core in a sealable capsule; (ii) reducing pressure within the capsule to a predetermined pressure below atmospheric pressure; (iii) pressurising the capsule with a process gas to a predetermined pressure higher than the predetermined pressure of step (ii); (iv) sealing the capsule; (v) heating the pressurised sealed capsule at an elevated temperature and an elevated pressure for a predetermined time to produce an implant precursor; (vi) cooling the sealed capsule, and; (vii) heating the implant precursor for a predetermined time at an elevated temperature and a predetermined pressure below atmospheric pressure, whereby to generate porosity in the implant precursor.

Surgical implant

A sealing element for a turbine of a gas turbine engine includes a radially inner surface region provided with an integrally formed seal structure comprising a plurality of radially inwardly projecting walls. The walls may be abradable and may define cells for receiving an abradable sealing material.

Abradable seals

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Birmingham, United Kingdom

Xinhua Wu