METHODICAL EVALUATION OF PROCESS CHAINS FOR THE MANUFACTURING OF ROTATING ENGINE COMPONENTS – BLISK | IBR

In future, component requirements of blade integrated disks (Blisk) / integrally bladed rotors (IBR) as well as turbine and compressor discs will become more challenging as today exhibiting more complex and downsized geometries, tighter tolerances and are made of more difficult to machine materials (e.g. advanced Ni- and Ti-alloys). This means that the process portfolio is getting significantly broader as components will not be manufacturable as of today mainly using conventional technologies. Adaptive process chains are required, specifically developed for each component. To decide which process chains are feasible and which are most suitable the paper describes the approach of developing a modular evaluation methodology. The methodology considers process capabilities of the manufacturing technology as well as economic boundary conditions. Within the described systematic methodology, process capabilities are evaluated against different component properties (geometrical variation, workpiece material, etc.) and provide an overview on available technologies for certain designs. The process know-how was gained by shop-floor investigations identifying the process limits (e.g. accessibility). The methodology is explained in the following by means of Blisk/ IBR components.