Alignment Plate Tooling for Multi-Blade Powder Bed Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current repair processes for damaged compressor blades in gas turbine engines are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and inefficient, particularly in aligning multiple components for additive manufacturing, leading to high costs and potential failures due to improper powder deposition and recoating processes.
Innovation Solution
A tooling assembly that aligns multiple components by positioning them on an alignment plate within a containment reservoir, where a fill material is dispensed to fix their relative positions, allowing for precise additive manufacturing and reducing the amount of additive powder required.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional welding/cladding technique is used to repair compressor blades, then repair materials can be bonded to blade tips, but the process requires tedious post-processing including heavy machining and secondary polishing to achieve target geometry and surface finish
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical welding/cladding processes with a powder bed additive manufacturing process. Instead of using focused power sources to melt and bond repair materials, the system uses a powder bed fusion approach where repair materials are deposited as powder and then selectively melted and fused using a laser or other energy source. This substitution eliminates the need for heavy machining and polishing post-processing while achieving the target geometry and surface finish directly during the additive manufacturing process.
2Ease of repair
If compressor blades are repaired one at a time using traditional methods, then each blade can be individually repaired, but the process is very labor intensive and results in very large overall labor costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual blade repair operations into a single batch processing operation. Multiple compressor blades are positioned simultaneously on a build platform within the additive manufacturing machine, and repair materials are deposited and fused onto all blades in parallel during the same manufacturing cycle. This consolidation transforms the process from sequential single-blade repair to concurrent multi-blade repair, dramatically increasing productivity while maintaining individual blade repair quality.
3Manufacturing precision
If blade tips are not aligned at the same vertical height for additive manufacturing, then the powder bed process cannot properly deposit and recoat layers, but achieving precise alignment is challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary alignment fixture or positioning system that mediates between the varied geometries of individual blade tips and the requirements of the powder bed additive manufacturing process. This fixture provides reference surfaces and mechanical constraints that guide each blade into the correct position and orientation, ensuring all blade tips are aligned at the same vertical height. The intermediary device simplifies the alignment task by providing physical guidance rather than requiring complex measurement and adjustment procedures.
4Quantity of substance
If the entire powder bed volume is filled with additive powder for blade repair, then sufficient powder is available for the build process, but a large volume of powder must be added, removed, and filtered or screened prior to reuse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts or removes the unnecessary powder from the build chamber after the additive manufacturing process is complete. Instead of leaving the entire powder bed filled with powder that must be removed and processed for reuse, the system selectively removes only the powder that is not needed for the next build operation. This could involve removing powder from areas where no blades are being repaired or where powder is not required for the upcoming build, thereby reducing the volume of powder that needs to be handled, filtered, and reused.
Data Source
AI summary
A tooling assembly and method of aligning a plurality of components for a repair process in an additive manufacturing machine includes positioning the plurality of components such that a repair surface of each of the plurality of components contacts an alignment plate, e.g., under the force of gravity or using biasing members. The method further includes surrounding the alignment plate with containment walls to define a reservoir around the plurality of components and dispensing a fill material, such as wax or a potting material, into the reservoir which is configured for fixing a relative position of the plurality of components when the fill material is solidified.