Application of Natrium Silicate as a Phase Change Material in Fixture Design

Abstract

The paper presents the results of theoretical, numerical, and experimental research related to the analysis of the possibility of using natrium silicate in the design of fixtures. Two possible aggregate states of natrium silicate (liquid and solid aggregate state) with its strong adhesion to metal materials as well as a number of other properties were used, and it was proven that it can find significant applications in the fixture of workpieces, especially when machining workpieces with thin walls and complex contours, as well as pockets with a large pocket depth to wall thickness ratio. The results of the performed analyses indicate a great potential for the application of natrium silicate as a new phase-change material. A mixture of natrium silicate and non-metallic materials such as fireclay flour acquires the properties of stone by hardening, while it decomposes when in contact with water. This mixture can solve the problems of technological operations on workpieces with thin walls and closed contours, known as deep pockets. The research results related to the proposed machining method were verified by using the example of machining a deep pocket with a complex contour. After the process of machining the complex contour of the thin-wall workpiece, the meanwall thickness value of 0,144 ± 0,004 mm at the meanpocket depth value of 60,052 ± 0,058 mm was obtained. The obtained mean values of the pocket depth and wall thickness as well as their mutual relationship, indicate the possibility of the practical application of natrium silicate as a phase-change material in the fixture design for machining thin-wall workpieces of complex geometry.