The Use of Additive Technologies to Create Lightweight Parts for Gas Turbine Engine Compressors

Abstract

One of the most urgent questions in aviation engine development is how to reduce the mass of composition details, while meeting the demands for strength and reliability. The production of complex, critical aircraft engine details is constrained by the limited capabilities of traditional fabrication methods. However, complex-shaped parts can now be created using emerging additive technologies that will avoid many of the traditional manufacturing methods’ limitations and reduce material and time costs. In addition, using additive technologies facilitates the manufacturing of details such as cellular and lattice structures, the production of which is impossible with traditional methods. The use of cellular structures is one way to reduce the weight of parts. Lattice structures are used to provide rigidity and strength in industries where parts are exposed to compression, bending and impact loads. The cell structures can withstand significant deformation without fracture and have a high resistance to fatigue. Since the weight of such structures is much less than the original prototypes, using them creates new opportunities for future aircraft applications. This article discusses the issue of creating lightweight structures for compressor components containing different cellular structures and their manufacturing using additive technology methods. We have examined several simple models of cellular structures and studied their geometrical, mass and stiffness characteristics. Analysis of the stress states of the cellular structures was conducted on the samples, with testing intended for three-point bending and cantilever beams. The influence of the geometrical parameters of the cells on the mass and strength characteristics of the structures was determined. The method for determining the density and elastic modulus of the equivalent homogenous material using these parameters in the calculations was complex. A few models containing the cellular region were proposed and the designs of several fan blades containing the cellular region were discussed. Samples to determine the strength of the developed structural elements were made from titanium alloy powder using Powder Bed Fusion (PBF). Continuous model samples and samples with different cellular structures were manufactured to test.