Double-Row Compressor Stators via Additive Blade Integration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing overlapping or interlaced pairs of compressor stator blades in gas turbine engines are inefficient, relying on separate blade fabrication and assembly through brazing or welding, which can be improved with advanced metal fabrication techniques.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using additive manufacturing to deposit and fuse metal layers, forming stator blades and support structures, and then removing these supports to create a double row compressor stator with overlapping or interlaced pairs, enhancing the manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If separate blade fabrication and assembly through brazing or welding is used, then manufacturing process is simpler, but manufacturing efficiency and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the fabrication of multiple stator blades into a single additive manufacturing process, creating overlapping or interlaced blade pairs in one integrated structure rather than fabricating and assembling separate blades, thereby improving manufacturing efficiency while maintaining process feasibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates support structures and blade root attachments into the preliminary additive manufacturing process, preparing the complete assembly including all necessary supports and attachment features in advance, which eliminates subsequent assembly steps and improves overall manufacturing productivity
2Productivity
If additive manufacturing with support structures is used, then complex geometries and manufacturing efficiency are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the temporary support structures after the additive manufacturing process is complete, eliminating the complex support elements from the final product while having utilized them during manufacturing to enable complex blade geometries and overlapping configurations
Solution Approach 2:
The support structures serve as intermediary elements during the additive manufacturing process, enabling the formation of complex overlapping blade geometries that would be difficult to manufacture otherwise, but are subsequently removed to leave only the functional blade assembly
3Loss of substance
If traditional brazing or welding assembly is used, then material waste is higher, but manufacturing precision for complex geometries is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing approach from subtractive (machining and assembly) to additive manufacturing, fundamentally altering how material is deposited and fused layer by layer to create precise complex geometries with minimal material waste, as material is added only where needed rather than cut from larger stock
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables more efficient and potentially lighter weight compressor stator blades with improved gas flow characteristics by allowing for complex geometries and reduced material waste, improving the overall performance of gas turbine engines.
Implementation Method 1
using additive manufacturing to deposit and fuse together progressive layers of metal material commencing at a substrate to form the first stator blade, the second stator blade
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a compressor stator having: a first stator blade with a first leading edge and a first trailing edge; a second stator blade disposed a circumferential distance from the first stator blade, the second stator blade having a second leading edge disposed an axial distance from the first leading edge and a second trailing edge disposed an axial distance from the first trailing edge; the method comprising: using additive manufacturing to deposit and fuse together progressive layers of metal material commencing at a substrate to form the first stator blade, the second stator blade, at least one intermediate support structure disposed between the first stator blade and the second stator blade, and at least one primary support structure disposed between the substrate and at least one of: the first stator blade; and the second stator blade; and removing the primary support structure and the intermediate support structure.