Optomec says that it has supplied an additive manufacturing (AM) machine to a company in the aviation engine maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) market.
The new machine combines two turbine repair process operations that are typically done manually, Optomec said.
The 3D printers use directed energy deposition (DED) to build 3D metal parts or add metal to worn engine components, restoring them to the geometric specifications set by the original turbine engine manufacturers.
‘[The Optomec AM process] saves time and cost relative to manual repairs,’ said Jamie Hanson, VP of business development. ‘Secondly, it requires far less heat input, so the base metal is far less affected by the repair. Finally, because the adaptive AM process adds less repair metal, the downstream machining costs are drastically reduced.’
This story uses material from Optomec, with editorial changes made by Materials Today.
