Do they exist? Would it be a good idea?
Inconel precups?
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OK, maybe a bit more detail... would inconel be a good material for precups? I know it has excellent strength at high temperatures, but does this include good fatigue resistance as well?
I am considering either a) making a part model and drawing of the cups and seeing if I could get some made/machined in inconel or b) investment casting a duplicate in inconel myself.
I am considering either a) making a part model and drawing of the cups and seeing if I could get some made/machined in inconel or b) investment casting a duplicate in inconel myself.
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Well, I know I made rear stage jet engine compressor blades out of the stuff and they're good to over 1200F.
Creep is typically the limiter in this application, but not a concern in a precup. I think the only thing you may want to concern yourself with is the difference in rate of thermal expansion relative to existing precup material. I don't know the rate off hand but you can probably find something on www.matweb.com (huge material properties database).
If you haven't worked with it before, it machines a bit differently than steel.
Good luck. I'd like to see this work out.
Creep is typically the limiter in this application, but not a concern in a precup. I think the only thing you may want to concern yourself with is the difference in rate of thermal expansion relative to existing precup material. I don't know the rate off hand but you can probably find something on www.matweb.com (huge material properties database).
If you haven't worked with it before, it machines a bit differently than steel.
Good luck. I'd like to see this work out.
If I remember correctly Toyota OEM pre cups are inconel and are in the order of a few hundred bucks each. That is why stainless cups are so common. They are cheaper, but probably have a shorter life span (crack sooner) than the original ones? As far as I have read Inconel has fantastic high heat strength and corrosion resistance characteristics. Cource I could have dreamed all of this. I do have quite unusual dreams.
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OEM precups are indeed $200 ea. but I didn't think they were inconel??
I certainly can't machine inconel as my personal machines aren't nearly rigid enough to take the large passes required to avoid work hardening the metal. I bet I can get a machine shop to do it, but it might be crazy expensive. However I suspect I can investment cast inconel, and then turn the OD to spec with my lathe.
But all of that is moot if the OEM cups are inconel... cuz then that's no improvement.
I certainly can't machine inconel as my personal machines aren't nearly rigid enough to take the large passes required to avoid work hardening the metal. I bet I can get a machine shop to do it, but it might be crazy expensive. However I suspect I can investment cast inconel, and then turn the OD to spec with my lathe.
But all of that is moot if the OEM cups are inconel... cuz then that's no improvement.
Anything happening on this front? I'll be pulling my head in a bit and expect I'll be finding some ugliness in there so I'm definitely interested.