Energy technology companySiemens Energy已经开发了一个新颖的数字维修链，以在传统制造的燃气轮机叶片上打印出3D打印新功能。
有趣的是，全自动链利用了专门开发的激光粉床融合工艺 - Hybridtech - 而不是基于DED的3D打印技术，这通常是MRO应用程序的首选。除了修复涡轮叶片外，该链条旨在提供升级，特别是通过将复杂的冷却通道实施到刀片尖端以减轻裂缝和缺陷的风险。
刀片尖端燃烧的问题
The power output of about tenPorsche911s is reportedly what every blade in a typical Siemens gas turbine engine is responsible for converting into rotational energy. As you might imagine, the high gas velocities coupled with the already high operating temperatures of such an engine can result in significant heat-induced blade degradation.
A phenomenon known as burn-off can lead to material loss at the very ends of blade tips, increasing the gap between the blade and the outer ring segment. By design, this gap is supposed to be as tight as possible, so any material loss tends to cause a drastic drop in the power efficiency of the entire turbine engine.
Burn-off is also a cyclical problem, as the formation of wider gaps often results in an increase in the temperature of the blade due to an abundance of hot gas overflow. This in turn results in a faster rate of material loss, further increasing the distance of the gap.
The HybridTech approach
Siemens Energy’s new HybridTech repair chain leverages laser powder bed fusion to 3D print complex high resolution structures with internal cooling channels directly onto the tips of damaged blades. The high resolution is especially important here as the tips of turbine blades tend to have very limited cross-sectional areas.
全自动的CAD-CAM链链旨在与各种不同的刀片类型一起使用，因为许多零件可能在几何设计上可能有所不同，更不用说不同水平的尖端伤害了。
它通过首先处理刀片尖端的蓝光3D扫描来起作用，这使杂化技术算法可以变形并使其适应每个单独的涡轮刀片的形状。然后，直接嵌套在粉末床中，受损的组件被覆盖并直接在顶部打印，从而在最初投资铸造的叶片上启用了3D印刷功能。
Although the extent of the technology’s application is still largely unexplored, the company has already manufactured the first set of hybrid blades with integrated cooling structures. Siemens Energy is currently in the process of converting its existing standard repair procedure to the new one, and has stated that HybridTech is to be applied to other conventionally manufactured components in the near future.
Siemens already has a history of adopting 3D printing technology, so advancements in critical component repair shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company recently opened its高级制造转型中心（AMTC）in the western part of Singapore in Tuas. Considered a first-of-its-kind competence center, the 800 sq.m. AMTC comprises three elements; a Digital Enterprise Experience Centre (DEX), Additive Manufacturing Experience Center (AMEC), and Rental Labs.
Towards the end of last year, the company also opened a test facility to pilot anadditive manufacturing series production lineas part of the Industrialization of Digital Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (IDEA) project. The work is ultimately intended to enhance the serial production capabilities of laser PBF, increasing the technology’s productivity while cutting development and throughput times by 50%.
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Featured image shows heat-induced blade tip burn-off starting to set in. Photo via Siemens Energy.
