Please choose your delivery country and your customer group
This contribution focuses on latest material design and manufacturing concept developments regarding vanes for both the cold and hot end of aero engine compressors. Apart from high dimensional and surface quality as well as aerodynamic performance, there are different requirements for vane design. Future aero engine compressor components like blades and vanes have to fulfil increased demands with respect to aerodynamic and mechanical performance, weight reduction as well as reduced life cycle and manufacturing costs. This results in the need for new design and manufacturing concepts. To meet these demands for low-pressure compressors, over the past years blades and vanes from carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) were has developed and processed. For manufacturing, die moulding is applied so that complex 3D shaped airfoils can be realized which exhibit enhanced aerodynamic and structure mechanical performance. Major advantages as compared to conventional titanium airfoils are weight savings as well as a reduction of manufacturing costs. Mainly for achieving cost savings also for high pressure compressors, Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) has been thoroughly investigating as an innovative, net-shape processing approach for nickel-base compressor components. Net-shape moulding techniques were presented as new competitive approaches for designing and manufacturing aero engine compressor vanes.MIM vanes were processed and extensively tested. High mechanical, dimensional and surface quality was achieved.