Repair of Gas Turbine Engine Components in Aging Air Force Fleets

ABSTRACT: After original equipment manufacturing (OEM) support and replacement of gas turbine engine components expires, sustainment of aging Air Force fleets are required to maintain continued fleet operability. Additive manufacturing to repair metal engine components which meets Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) part manufacturing approval (PMA) is a viable approach to produce components that are no longer supported by OEM"s. Plasma transferred arc (PTA) additive manufacturing has over a decade demonstration of using wire and/or powder feeds to produce all the light metals used in engines in standard and custom alloy compositions at a cost less than the original standard manufactured part and with mechanical properties that exceed standard cast or ingot produced material. Because of the advanced state of development and demonstration of the PTA process, cupon specimens can be produced immediately and fully characterized providing time for optimizing repair processing and validating the properties of additive produced alloy are equivalent to pristine base alloy of the alloy in the part being repaired. Samples of blended/cutout repaired cupon specimens will be delivered to the Air Force. BENEFIT: Additive manufacturing can not only produce and/or repair parts for aging Air Force fleets, but can also be used similarly on platforms throughout DOD as well as in the commercial section including automotive.