Siemens Successfully Tests 3D Metal Printed Power Generation Gas Turbine Blades
Siemens has run a successful test of power generation gas turbine blades produced wholly by metal-based 3D printing by UK-based Materials Solutions, which it bought last year. The blades in the Siemens test were made from a powder of high-performing polycrystalline nickel superalloy. The 3D technology made possible a new design with improved internal cooling geometry. Siemens said it was the first to test such blades under full-load engine conditions at 13,000 revolutions per minutes and temperatures above 1,250 Celsius (2,282 Fahrenheit) and declared the test a “breakthrough”.
A Siemens spokesman could not estimate how long it would take for 3D-printed gas turbine blades to go into commercial production but said the technology reduced the design-to-testing time to two months from two years.
Source: Siemens Successfully Tests 3D Metal Printed Power Generation Gas Turbine Blades
