Rapid fabrication method of pre-research turbine blade wax precision mould based on 3D printing technology

LU Zhongliang; ZHOU Jiangping; YANG Dongsheng; JING Hui; LI Dichen

doi:10.7527/S1000-6893.2014.0083

ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA >

2015 , Vol. 36 >Issue 2: 651 - 660

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7527/S1000-6893.2014.0083

Material Engineering and Mechanical Manufacturing

Rapid fabrication method of pre-research turbine blade wax precision mould based on 3D printing technology

LU Zhongliang ,
ZHOU Jiangping ,
YANG Dongsheng ,
JING Hui ,
LI Dichen

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1. State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China;
2. Co-innovation Center for Advanced Aero-engine, Beijing 100191, China

Received date: 2014-03-07

Revised date: 2014-04-25

Online published: 2014-05-07

Supported by

National Science and Technology Major Project (2012ZX04007-021)

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Abstract

Aimed at solving the high cost and long manufacturing cycle of aircraft pre-research turbine blades, a rapid fabricating method for turbine blade based on stereolithography is proposed. Wax mold and its cooling structure are designed with reference to the structure characteristic of the turbines blades. The shell and the inner cooling channels of the mold are prepared by stereolithography, and alumina powder is filled into the cavity of the mold by gel-casting, which can realize the fabrication of the wax mold of turbine blade. Temperature field distribution of the wax mold is simulated with ANSYS and turbine blade's precision is investigated by using coordinate measuring machine. Result shows that the conformal cooling channels ameliorate the temperature field uniformity of the wax mold significantly, shorten the cooling time of the wax mold and improve the quality of the wax mold apparently. Accuracy of the wax mold reaches CT4-CT5 level with low surface roughness of R_a=4.97 μm, which shortens the pre-research cycle of metal turbine blades and reduces the manufacturing cost magnificently.

Key words： stereolithography; gel-casting; cooling channel; turbine blade; investment casting

Cite this article

LU Zhongliang , ZHOU Jiangping , YANG Dongsheng , JING Hui , LI Dichen . Rapid fabrication method of pre-research turbine blade wax precision mould based on 3D printing technology[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2015 , 36(2) : 651 -660 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2014.0083

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