Impeller Additive Manufacturing With Stepwise Flow Path Polishing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing additive manufacturing methods for impeller production face challenges in achieving sufficient polishing of complex blade shapes and ensuring accuracy of the flow path, particularly when the gap between the disc and cover is small or the blade is highly curved, making it difficult to insert polishing tools effectively.
Innovation Solution
A manufacturing method that integrates additive manufacturing with repeated steps of forming and grinding, including intermediate portion flow path polishing and outer peripheral portion polishing, to ensure high accuracy and complete polishing of the impeller's inner surfaces, using techniques like laser metal deposition and strategic recess formation to facilitate tool access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If additive manufacturing method is used to form impeller, then manufacturing flexibility and complexity handling are improved, but polishing accessibility and surface accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The impeller manufacturing process is segmented into multiple iterative cycles, each consisting of additive manufacturing followed by selective polishing operations. This segmentation allows the complex impeller geometry to be processed in manageable stages, with each cycle improving specific surfaces while leaving others for subsequent cycles.
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process creates a preliminary impeller shape that can be progressively refined. The initial manufactured form serves as a base for subsequent polishing operations, allowing complex geometries to be established before precision surfacing is applied to accessible areas.
2Manufacturing precision
If polishing tool is inserted into flow path for polishing, then surface finish is improved, but tool accessibility deteriorates when gap is small or blade is highly curved
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of attempting to polish all surfaces simultaneously, the method applies polishing selectively to accessible areas in each cycle. The polishing action is applied partially to surfaces that can be reached by tools, while inaccessible areas are left for subsequent manufacturing cycles where geometry changes may improve accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process employs periodic alternating cycles of additive manufacturing and polishing operations. Each cycle builds upon the previous one, with polishing periodically applied to accessible surfaces, and additive manufacturing periodically adding material to reshape surfaces that were previously inaccessible to polishing tools.
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 method enables the formation of impellers with sufficiently polished blades and accurate flow paths, even in complex geometries, by iteratively enlarging the impeller diameter and polishing the inner surfaces stepwise, thereby improving the manufacturing accuracy and speed.
Implementation Method 1
a step of forming an impeller shaped body in which a disc component part constituting a part of the disc, a blade component part constituting a part of the plurality of blades, and a cover component part constituting a part of the cover are integrated by laminating a metal layer to extend toward an outer side in a radial direction with respect to the axis by an additive manufacturing method using a metal powder
Implementation Method 2
a step of grinding the impeller shaped body. The step of forming the impeller shaped body and the step of grinding the impeller shaped body are repeated a plurality of times. The step of grinding the impeller shaped body includes a step of polishing an inner surface of the impeller shaped body constituting a part of the flow path
Data Source
AI summary
A manufacturing method of an impeller, the manufacturing method includes: a step of forming an impeller shaped body in which a disc component part constituting a part of the disc, a blade component part constituting a part of the blade, and a cover component part constituting a part of the cover are integrated by laminating a metal layer to extend toward an outer side in a radial direction with respect to the axis by an additive manufacturing method using a metal powder; and a step of grinding the impeller shaped body, in which the steps are repeated a plurality of times, and the step of grinding the impeller shaped body includes a step of polishing an inner surface of the impeller shaped body constituting a part of the flow path.