Additive manufacturing (AM) specialist Optomec has published a new whitepaper covering the use of automated laser cladding in gas turbine engine repair. According to an independent study, the technology can provide 184% return on investment (ROI) over manual processes.
The whitepaper is entitled ‘The Business Case for Automated Laser Cladding in Aviation Component Repair: Five Lessons Learned.’
‘The world’s leading aviation companies use automated laser cladding for maintenance, repair and overhaul – yet roughly 80% of all blade and vane repair is still done manually today,’ said Mike Dean, MD at Optomec. ‘The goal with this paper was to show how small and mid-size service centers can take advantage of laser cladding while achieving an ROI on their investment and improving MRO [maintenance, repair and operations] quality.’
The whitepaper, which is entitled ‘The business case for automated laser cladding in aviation component repair: five lessons learned’ also covers
- quality and throughput comparison of manual welding versus automated laser cladding for blade tip and z-form repair
- cost comparison for manual versus automated processing using customer data for Z-Form and tip repair
- return on investment, internal rate of return, and payback period with sensitivity analysis.
The document is available via the company website.
This story uses material from Optomec, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
