Workpiece Assembly Alignment for Batch Additive Blade Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current additive manufacturing methods for repairing and upgrading components like compressor blades in turbomachines are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and not suitable for batch processing, leading to inefficiencies and high costs.
Innovation Solution
A workpiece-assembly system that aligns multiple workpieces with a common build plane, using biasing members and clamping mechanisms to secure them in place, allowing for simultaneous additive printing, which enhances precision and reduces labor by enabling uniform layer application and concurrent processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional welding/cladding techniques are used for blade repair, then repair material can be bonded to the repair surface, but the process requires tedious post-processing machining and polishing that is labor intensive and time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary alignment of multiple blades using a fixture system with alignment pins and clamps before the additive manufacturing process. This preliminary positioning ensures that when repair material is deposited, the blades are already in their final spatial relationships, eliminating the need for post-processing alignment and reducing machining time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple blade repairs into a single additive manufacturing build process. By securing multiple blades in a fixture and printing repair material across all blades simultaneously, the process merges what would traditionally be sequential single-blade operations into a concurrent batch process, dramatically reducing total repair time.
2Strength
If traditional welding/cladding techniques are used for blade repair, then repair material can be bonded to the repair surface, but the process is labor intensive with large overall labor costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a self-aligning fixture system where blades automatically position themselves relative to each other through precision-machined alignment features. The blades essentially service their own alignment requirements without manual intervention, reducing labor intensity while maintaining precise spatial relationships for strong bonding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual positioning and alignment operations with a mechanical fixture system that uses alignment pins, clamps, and precision guides. This mechanical system automates the positioning function, substituting skilled manual labor with a repeatable mechanical process that achieves consistent alignment and bonding.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple blades are repaired sequentially one at a time, then each blade can receive individual attention, but the overall repair process is time consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual blade repair operations into a single integrated process by securing multiple blades in a common fixture and applying repair material across all blades simultaneously through additive manufacturing. This maintains the precision of individual blade alignment while achieving batch-processing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary alignment of multiple blades using a fixture system with alignment pins and clamps before the additive manufacturing process. This preliminary positioning ensures that when repair material is deposited, the blades are already in their final spatial relationships, eliminating the need for post-processing alignment and reducing machining time.
4Manufacturing precision
If additive manufacturing is used to print on pre-existing workpieces, then near net shape components can be achieved with reduced post-processing, but the workpieces must be precisely positioned and held at a common build plane
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a fixture system as an intermediary between the blades and the additive manufacturing process. This fixture includes a base plate, alignment pins, and clamps that mediate the positioning requirements, holding multiple blades at a common build plane without requiring complex positioning systems on the additive manufacturing machine itself.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are workpiece-assemblies, and systems and methods for aligning a plurality of workpieces with a build plane. A system may include an alignment plate, one or more elevating blocks, and a workpiece-assembly. A workpiece-assembly may include a build plate that has a plurality of workpiece docks, a plurality of workpiece shoes that have a slot configured to receive a portion of one or more workpieces respectively inserted or insertable into the plurality of workpiece docks, a plurality of biasing members respectively situated or situatable between the build plate and the plurality of workpiece shoes so as to exert a biasing force upon the workpiece shoes, and one or more clamping mechanisms coupled or couplable to the build plate and operable to secure the plurality of workpiece shoes within the respective workpiece docks.