By Lijue Xue, Matt Donovan, Yangsheng Li, Jianyin Chen, Shaodong Wang and Glen Campbell

Jet engines need to run as hot as possible to extract maximum energy from fuel. Combustion components are subjected to extremely harsh environment, running at elevated temperature with high vibration and pressure, which results in varying degrees of wear and fretting. Interface surfaces on combustion parts, such as the air caps of fuel nozzles, frequently are worn beyond use and must be replaced during overhaul. Repair and replacement of these components can be very expensive and time consuming.

National Research Council Canada (NRC) has developed precision laser additive manufacturing technology for repair of worn gas turbine components. The repair system uses integrated 3D mapping and laser additive deposition. Through a joint effort by NRC and UTC Aerospace Systems, a case study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of repair of worn fuel injectors from a land based gas turbine engine. Continue reading →