Siemens uses 3D printing technology to build turbine blades and test them

The gas turbine blades manufactured by 3D printing will be installed on a 13 MW SGT-400 industrial gas turbine manufactured by Siemens. The new turbine blades are produced from powdered high temperature resistant polycrystalline nickel superalloy with high temperature resistance, high pressure and strong centrifugal performance. .

Gas turbine blades are capable of withstanding high temperatures, high pressures and strong centrifugal forces, and their full-speed operation reaches 1600 km/h, which is twice as fast as the Boeing 737. It carries a load of 11 tons, which is equivalent to a fully loaded London double-decker bus. The maximum temperature of the blades when the turbine is working is 1250 degrees Celsius.

The gas turbine blades have been manufactured to date using either casting or forging processes, both of which are time consuming and labor intensive and expensive. Additives for the manufacture of gas turbine blades use a laser beam to heat and melt the metal powder layer by layer, and metal solids are formed layer by layer until the entire blade model is formed. Siemens engineers use additive manufacturing technology to produce a new gas turbine blade that can be reduced from two years to two months from design to production, greatly increasing production efficiency.

“This is a huge success in introducing additive manufacturing technology in the energy production sector,” said Max Sinai, CEO of Siemens Power and Gas Turbine. “Additive manufacturing is an important pillar of Siemens' digital strategy.”

The test was conducted at the Siemens Industrial Gas Turbine Testing Center in Lincoln, England. Siemens engineers from Germany, the UK and Sweden jointly developed material solutions for gas turbine blades, optimized manufacturing and installation processes, and completed the entire production from component design, material selection, quality control and simulated component life in 18 months. Processing chain.