Onsite Structural Restoration Methods for Aircraft Components

The research objective of this proposal is to demonstrate feasibility of restoring the dimensional and structural capability of a notional damaged Ti-6Al-4V turbine blade using a combination of pulsed and continuous wave (CW) laser directed energy blown powder processes. The repair will be designed using physics-based, integrated process-structure-performance models instead of trial and error. The integrated models will be utilized in order to demonstrate feasibility of four metrics of repair design: (1) To maintain dimensional tolerance using the laser in a pulsed mode to attain rapid solidification of the melt pool for contour passes adjacent to the boundary; (2) To utilize location dependent application of the laser energy in order to mitigate overbuild and substrate melt-back around radii, curvature, edges, corners and overhang; (3) To mitigate build defects (porosity, lack of fusion, cracking) within interior tracks, contour tracks and at oblique intersections between interior tracks and contour tracks; (4) To utilize predictive models for material microstructure and yield strength in order to restore the strength capability for the damaged component.