Self-Breaking Inner Band for Turbomachine Thermal Stress Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Turbomachine components experience distortions and thermal stresses during additive manufacturing and in-service due to thermal expansion, which existing methods fail to adequately manage, leading to manufacturing challenges and operational inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A turbomachine component design featuring a self-breaking inner band with a plurality of teeth, connected between end walls, and a bellows wall to allow thermal expansion without cracking, fabricated using an additive manufacturing system that includes a method of irradiating powder layers and applying a breaking force or thermal cycle to separate the inner band, facilitating stress relief.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If additive manufacturing is used to fabricate turbomachine components, then complex shapes and internal geometries can be achieved within tight design tolerances, but thermal stresses cause deformations and distortions during the manufacturing process
Solution Approach 1:
The component is divided into an exterior portion and an interior portion that can be independently manufactured and then assembled. This segmentation allows each portion to be manufactured separately with controlled thermal stresses, and then joined together to form the complete complex geometry, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while achieving complex shapes
Solution Approach 2:
Support structures are pre-designed with self-breaking features that allow them to fracture at predetermined locations during or after manufacturing. This preliminary design of breakable supports enables the removal of restrictive supports that cause distortions, allowing the component to achieve its final precise shape without the deforming influence of the supports
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid support structures are used to maintain structural integrity during manufacturing, then component stability is improved, but thermal expansion during operation causes cracking due to constrained movement
Solution Approach 1:
The support structures are designed with self-breaking features that transition them from a rigid constrained state during manufacturing to a broken state during operation. This dynamic transformation allows the supports to provide necessary stability during manufacturing, then automatically fracture to enable thermal expansion and prevent cracking during operational thermal cycles
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal stresses that would normally cause harmful cracking are converted into a beneficial self-breaking mechanism. The supports are designed to exploit the thermal stress accumulation from thermal expansion, causing them to fracture at predetermined weak points. This converts the harmful thermal stress into a useful function that releases constraints and prevents cracking in the main 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
The design minimizes distortions during manufacturing and allows for thermal expansion during operation without cracking, enhancing the structural integrity and operational reliability of turbomachine components like fuel nozzles.
Implementation Method 1
Laser sintering or melting is a notable additive manufacturing process for rapid fabrication of functional prototypes and tools
Implementation Method 2
Selective laser sintering, direct laser sintering, selective laser melting, and direct laser melting are common industry terms used to refer to producing three-dimensional (3D) objects by using a laser beam to sinter or melt a fine powder in successive layers
Implementation Method 3
Turbomachine components experience thermal stresses during use as they receive compressed air at a first temperature and fuel at a second temperature, which may be hundreds of degrees cooler than the first temperature
Implementation Method 4
The self-breaking inner band includes a plurality of teeth disposed between the first end wall and the second end wall
Data Source
AI summary
A turbomachine component is provided. The turbomachine component formed from an additive manufacturing system. The additive manufacturing system defines an axial build direction, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction. The turbomachine component includes an exterior portion. The exterior portion includes a first end wall, a second end wall, and an outer band extending axially between the first end wall and the second end wall. The turbomachine component further includes an interior portion disposed within the exterior portion. The interior portion includes a self-breaking inner band extending axially between the first end wall and the second end wall. The self-breaking inner band includes a plurality of teeth disposed between the first end wall and the second end wall.