Additive manufacturing for superalloys: producibility and cost

Multiple additive manufacture technologies were evaluated for applicability to gas turbine engine components. Generic features were designed to be used in the program that represented typical cost disproportionate geometries found on large static components. Deposits of similar size and shape were created utilizing Laser Powder, Electron Beam, and Shaped Metal Deposition on both flat and curved panels. Bulk deposits of Alloy 718 using the various deposition processes were made for mechanical property testing. Full scale and subscale sample cases were then created to demonstrate these features on slim ring substrates (e.g. 0.5” thick). All hardware was subsequently machined to verify that the depositors were capable of producing features to a desired dimension, non-destructively evaluated (i.e. FPI, ultrasonic, and radiographic inspections), and destructively evaluated to confirm that all processes were still capable of producing high quality deposits. Finally, an Alloy 718 sample case was fabricated which was an exaggerated representation of actual parts and was intended to demonstrate the full process potential of Additive Manufacturing. In addition to the deposition tasks; a cost analysis was also performed which evaluated various aspects of the value stream that were affected by the use of additive manufacturing. Appropriate cost models were subsequently created for the various processes using notional and actual hardware. (AU) © 2010 by The Materials, Metals, & Materials Society. All rights reserved.