Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
On March 30th 2022, multinational conglomerate General Electric (GE) of Boston, Massachusetts spoke of its GE Aviation facility in Loyang, Singapore, which GE proclaimed was the first maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in the world that had been approved to use metal 3D printing for commercial jet engine part repairs. (GE Aviation Engine Services Singapore (GE AESS) had actually announced this back in December 2021 and it is unknown why GE were further discussing this now. GE Aviation of Evendale, Ohio is a subsidiary of GE.) GE AESS managing director Iain Rodger boasted that his teams were already using 3D printing to repair parts in GE Aviation CF6 engines, with their next goal being to include parts on the CFM56.
As an example, GE cited repairing high-pressure compressor blades. It argued that these have to run at high speeds and tight clearances within aircraft engines, needing continual repair and replacement due to the level of wear and tear that they face. GE contended that repairing these used to require what it described as “a long process of cutting, welding and grinding to create the proper shape.” In contrast, GE proclaimed that GE Aviation had established an automated 3D printing process to repair the blade tips, saving time as well as labour and machining costs. As part of this, the team created image-analysis software that maps the shape of a used blade and enables a new tip to be 3D printed, such that it needs hardly any further processing. Roger claimed that this had enabled GE AESS’s employees to repair twice as many parts a day compared to the conventional repair process, and that less equipment being needed for post-processing had reduced the necessary floor space by a third.
In Singapore, GE Aviation senior engineering manager Shih Tung Ngiam and his team designed tooling to prepare and 3D print parts efficiently and refine the repair process, including 3D printing, pre-processing, post-processing and inspection. (Ngiam also acts as an intermediary between the local team and the wider 3D printing community across GE Aviation and GE Additive.) Extensive tests were also done to ensure the quality and safety of the parts before the repair was deemed satisfactory. In 2020, Ngiam and his team designed a pilot production line to streamline the repair process, including an automated powder recycling system, with the full-scale production line going live by the end of the year. GE Aviation hopes that the approval process will become more streamlined as the aerospace industry becomes more familiar with 3D printing.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines for Beaufort bombers in Australia c1943” is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.
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