Apparatus and process for refining features in an additive manufactured part
AssigneeFlorida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
InventorRussell B Jones
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A part formed using an metal additive manufacturing process such as a turbine airfoil with an oversized feature such as an oversized hole, where the oversized hole is filled with a preform having a shape of a normal sized hole and secured within the part using a braze or weld material, and where the preform is removed to leave within the part the normal sized hole. The preform is made of a refractory material that can be removed from the part by exposure to oxygen.
Claims18
A process for forming a hole in a part formed by a metal additive manufacturing process comprising the steps of:
- forming a part with an oversized hole using a metal additive manufacturing process;
- inserting a preform having a shape of a normal sized hole into the oversized hole of the part;
- securing the preform in the oversized hole with a material that fills a gap between the oversized hole and the preform;
- and,
- removing the preform so that a normal sized hole is formed in the part.
A part formed by a metal additive manufacturing process with a hole having surface with a low tolerance that cannot be formed from the metal additive manufacturing process by itself, the part comprising:
- a wall having an oversized hole formed from a metal additive manufacturing process;
- a preform having a shape of a normal sized hole;
- the preform being formed from a refractory material that can be removed by exposure to oxygen;
- a braze material or a weld material filling a gap between the oversized hole and the preform to secure the preform to the oversized hole;
- and,
- wherein exposure of the preform to oxygen will remove the preform from the oversized hole and leave a normal sized hole within the wall.
A process of forming an air cooled turbine airfoil from a metal additive manufacturing process comprising the steps of:
- forming an air cooled turbine airfoil with a plurality of film cooling holes from an additive manufacturing process in which the film cooling holes are formed oversized;
- inserting a preform having a shape of a non-oversized film cooling hole into each of the oversized film cooling holes;
- securing the preforms to the oversized film cooling holes with a material having a melting temperature of at least as high as the material of which the air cooled turbine airfoil is made from;
- and,
- removing the preforms to leave non-oversized film cooling holes in the air cooled turbine airfoil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.