US 11,931,801 B2
Multi-grain selector devices, methods for manufacturing columnar grained articles using the selector devices, and columnar grained articles manufactured using the selector devices
Anthony Mark Thompson, Niskayuna, NY (US); Andrew Fox Thompson, Niskayuna, NY (US); and Judson Sloan Marte, Troy, NY (US)
Assigned to GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC, Greenville, SC (US)
Appl. No. 17/289,274
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
PCT Filed Nov. 27, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/062601
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 28, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/112087, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 4, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0394261 A1, Dec. 23, 2021
Int. Cl. B22D 27/04 (2006.01)
CPC B22D 27/045 (2013.01) 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A multi-grain selector device, the selector device comprising:
an outer body defining exterior surfaces of the selector device, the outer body comprising a cooling side configured to face a cooling plate of a casting furnace and an opposite mold side configured to face into a mold, the outer body of the selector device configured to be coupled with the mold,
wherein the outer body includes an array of multiple grain selector columns, each grain selector column of the multiple grain selector columns is formed from two or more linear transversely oriented, elongated channels that are fluidly coupled with each other in an end-to-end arrangement oriented along a growth direction that extends from the cooling side of the outer body toward the mold side of the outer body, each of the grain selector columns extending to growth openings on the mold side of the outer body, wherein each of the grain selector columns is configured to form a single grain column out of the corresponding growth opening that is part of a columnar grained article to be formed in the mold that grows along the growth direction,
wherein the growth openings of each of the grain selector columns in the array are arranged in a regular, repeating pattern along the mold side, wherein the growth openings include one array of larger growth openings and another array of smaller growth openings.