Product Code: PIC2008_1005

Laser Material Processing in the Aero Engine Industry. Established, Cutting-Edge and Emerging Applications.
Authors:
Karl-Hermann Richter, MTU Aero Engines; Munich Germany
Presented at PICALO 2008

Laser machining processes are widely used in the manufacture and repair of aero engine components. This presentation provides examples of well-established, cut-ting-edge and emerging laser machining processes. A well-established process is laser drilling which has been in use for more than 25 years to produce cooling holes in combustors and particularly in high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades and vanes. To enhance the cooling efficiency a novel laser machining technique has been devel-oped to produce shaped holes. This technique is called laser caving and combines conventional laser drilling with laser ablation. Another example of a well-established process is laser metal deposition or laser cladding which is predominantly used to restore worn blade tips and seal fins. But the process also has the potential to restore complete airfoils of integral rotors, also known as bladed disks or blisks. In the FLEX-ILAS-project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research it was demonstrated that the quality of laser generated blisk blades is comparable to that of new ones.