The production of superalloy components for aircraft turbine engines and power generation, based on lost-wax investment casting, requires an increasingly high-performance manufacturing process in the face of ever-intensifying competition.

There is a need to reduce product and process development costs, which requires that the functionality and performance of manufacturing processes be guaranteed. Therefore, these demands cannot be met without the use of innovative development methodologies that represent a significant technological advancement over those currently in use.

The growing competitiveness in the production of high-tech components for aircraft engine turbines—which are critical both due to the use of special materials (e.g., superalloys) and the manufacturing process, cannot be achieved without a systemic understanding of all the factors that enable the success of the final product, with particular attention paid to the technological innovations currently available, which represent the state of the art in known processes.

 

In our industry, there are a number of process drivers—often interconnected and competing with one another—that must nevertheless be properly managed to ensure the correct design of the production process.

These drivers and technologies include:

• Product quality of “turbine blades” through the precision and consistency of the investment casting process:
  • The ability to maintain all process variables within a narrow range throughout the various steps of the process, to ensure the consistency and integrity of the final product;
  • The ability to identify when a process has deviated from its preset setpoints;
• Productivity
  • Process productivity in terms of reducing cycle time, minimizing the time between operations, and maximizing the number of components per cycle (referred to as the assembly configuration).
• Reliability
  • Reliability, understood as certainty regarding physical and structural integrity, is guaranteed, on the one hand, by the management of the various stages of the production process, and, on the other hand, by the existence of effective control systems that provide interpretive certainty regarding the diagnostic results. A process failure increases the final cost due to rework and the use of additional resources (materials, energy, etc.);
• Repeatability
  • The repeatability of the manufacturing process is a key factor in ensuring product quality and the ability to effectively optimize it. A key goal for the industry is to minimize process variability and maximize yield.

 

 

In light of the above, the research program—developed collaboratively by EMA (lead partner) and several partners from the POEMA Business Network—aims to develop and refine a more robust, reproducible, and cost-effective, through a systematic study of the many factors that contribute to its success, all geared toward effectively increasing the competitiveness of the proposing consortium in international markets.

 

The range of studies carried out within this collaborative research project—aimed at enhancing the technological and industrial competitiveness of the Network’s partners—is outlined below in terms of its specific objectives.