Segmented Turbomachine Component Assembly With HIP-Filled Cavities
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing complex turbomachine components, such as impellers for centrifugal pumps and compressors, face limitations in achieving the required complex shapes due to the constraints of numerically controlled chip removal machining and electric discharge machining, which are inefficient and require multiple electrodes, leading to wear and slow processing times.
Innovation Solution
An additive manufacturing method involving the production of separate segments with a skin and inner cavities, followed by filling these cavities with bulk flowable materials and subsequent densification through hot isostatic pressing, allowing for the assembly of large turbomachine components using smaller machines and enabling the creation of complex shapes efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional chip removal machining or EDM is used to manufacture complex turbomachine components, then manufacturing precision can be achieved, but productivity is low and device complexity increases due to multiple electrodes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical chip removal machining and electrical discharge machining with additive manufacturing technology. This substitution enables the direct construction of complex three-dimensional geometries layer by layer, achieving both high manufacturing precision for complex shapes and significantly improved productivity by eliminating the need for multiple electrodes and sequential machining operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite structures combining metal skins with ceramic or refractory material fillings. The metal skins provide structural integrity and bonding surfaces, while the ceramic fillings enable complex internal geometries and fluid-dynamic surfaces that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional machining methods, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and productivity
2Productivity
If additive manufacturing is used to produce large turbomachine components, then productivity improves, but device complexity increases due to machine structure limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides large turbomachine components into multiple smaller segments that can be manufactured separately using standard additive manufacturing equipment. These segments are then assembled through bonding processes to form the complete large-scale component. This segmentation approach enables high productivity by using available smaller machines while managing device complexity through modular design and assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nested structures where inner cavities are formed within the component geometry, and these cavities are subsequently filled with bulk flowable materials. This nesting approach allows the additive manufacturing process to create complex internal geometries within the constraints of the machine build volume, maintaining productivity while managing structural complexity
3Ease of manufacture
If additive manufacturing produces segments with inner cavities, then ease of manufacture improves for large components, but manufacturing precision may be affected by the filling and densification process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes parameter changes during the densification process, applying controlled pressure and temperature conditions to compact the bulk flowable material filling. By carefully controlling these parameters, the process achieves both the ease of manufacture for large components with complex internal geometries and maintains manufacturing precision through proper densification that eliminates voids and achieves target density
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses bulk flowable materials as intermediaries to fill the inner cavities of additive manufactured segments. These materials serve as a medium that can be easily introduced into complex cavity geometries, then transformed through densification into solid structural material, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving the required manufacturing precision for the final component
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 efficient manufacturing of large turbomachine components with complex geometries, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods by allowing for the production of large impellers using smaller machines and improving the mechanical properties and bonding between segments.
Implementation Method 1
producing by additive manufacturing a plurality of separate segments of the turbomachine component
Implementation Method 2
subsequent densification through hot isostatic pressing
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~4B
AI summary
The method for manufacturing a turbomachine component comprises the following steps: (a) producing by additive manufacturing a plurality of separate segments (1S) of the tubomachine component (1), having a skin surrounding an empty volume (11V) corresponding to a massive part of the turbomachine component; (b) assembling the separate segments of the turbomachine component together forming a semi-finished component, with an empty cavity therein; (c) filling cavity of the semi-finished component with a bulk flowable material; (d) densifying and solidifying the bulk flowable material in the cavity.