Improved Manufacturing Technologies for Aircraft Engines

This SBIR project introduces an innovative manufacturing technology that can enable advanced and affordable manufacturing of aircraft engine components. Using micro-molding and casting techniques and application-specific materials, this process has successfully produced fine-featured grids and collimators for x-ray imaging using a tungsten powder/polymer casting composite. Recently, MSI has applied the technology to casting complex 3-D ceramic structures. Preliminary results are promising. An immediate application exists for ceramic strainers used by the investment casting industry to produce precision parts for the aerospace industry. This industry is continually pressured by their customers to reduce the size and number of detectable non-metallic materials in their castings. To accomplish this, the molten metal is poured and filtered through one or more ceramic strainers during the production process. MSI's manufacturing technology provides a cost-effective process for molding and casting micro-scale structures and surfaces over large areas (>40 cm diameter). This forming technology could advance the state-of-the-art in cost-effective, high-efficiency, ceramic strainers by offering: finer pore size, increased flow rate, greater accuracy, and improved filtration performance. Phase I will create and test a number of sample strainers and evaluate the technical feasibility of this manufacturing method for this application.