Repair of aircraft engine parts made of heat-resistant nickel alloys using additive plasma technologies

• Published in: Avìacìjno-kosmìčna tehnìka ì tehnologìâ no. 5
• Main Authors: Konstantin Balushok, Sergey Chigileychik
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Aerospace University «Kharkiv Aviation Institute 01.10.2024
• Subjects: авіаційні двигуни; адитивні технології; вирощування; механічні властивості; плазмове наплавлення
• ISSN: 1727-7337; 2663-2217
• DOI: 10.32620/aktt.2024.5.04

In order to improve the maintainability of aircraft engine parts, the article examined the use of additive technologies in repairs. The article establishes that the use of additive technologies by the method of plasma surfacing in the repair of aircraft engine parts, such as turbine blades, sealing discs, NA parts, is very promising and will significantly increase the percentage of parts and assemblies restored after operation, which have a significant area of damage. Turbine blades are made of nickel heat-resistant alloys with a polycrystalline structure (ЖС6К-ВИ, ЖС6У-ВИ), or from alloys with directional crystallization (ЖС32-ВИ, ЖС26-ВИ). After operating for more than 6 thousand hours, in addition to the operational wear of the ends and side walls of the shroud flanges, thermal fatigue cracks up to 6 mm deep are observed on the blades received for repair. The technology of argon-arc surfacing and the surfacing materials existing for this process do not provide the heat-resistant properties of the restored surface necessary for the operation of the blades. The solution to the problem was achieved through the use of a compressed arc source with precision adjustment of the welding current and mechanization of the supply of filler material (powder), which would make it possible to surfacing with a limited penetration depth and, accordingly, mixing the deposited material with the base metal. The developed technology made it possible to restore damaged sections of blades after operation (shroud flanges, labyrinth scallops, z-shaped profiles and airfoil ends) on heat-resistant alloys using filler material equal to the strength of the base metal. For this process, powders of nickel and cobalt alloys with a fraction of +63...-160 microns are used, obtained by atomization with a jet of inert gas (argon). The main powders used are ЖС32-ВИ, ЖС6К-ВИ, В3К, Stellite 12, Stellite 6, ХТН61. Disc material – ЭП742-ИД. Working medium, air, oil and combustion products. The maximum heating temperature of labyrinth scallops is up to 680 ºC at a maximum medium pressure of up to 1.47 MPa. The maximum peripheral speed of the scallop end is 251 m/s. Material of seal mating parts ЭИ435 (cell δ = 0,1 mm). When developing the technology, the successful experience of restoring labyrinthine scallops of turbine blades was taken into account. The restoration of the labyrinthine ridges of the disk was carried out using a compressed arc source with precision control of the welding current and a robotic installation, which included a robot for moving the plasma torch and a manipulator for rotating the disk. This made it possible to carry out surfacing with a limited penetration depth and obtain a uniformly directed bead over the entire diameter of the disk. Testing of the restored disk in order to verify its performance was carried out as part of a run-in aircraft engine. To do this, after the next assembly of the run-in engine, the disk was installed in the MPT rotor. The test was carried out in 5 cycles, the duration of each cycle was 15 hours. No wear of the labyrinth ridges or cracks was detected. The functionality of the restored disk has been confirmed. NA parts are made of heat-resistant, low-aging, high-chromium nickel-based alloy ЭП648-ВИ. They operate in hot engine conditions at temperatures up to 900'C. As a result of operation, both end surfaces and flat surfaces in the tract area are subject to wear. To restore parts of the NA, the technology of additive growth by the method of microplasma powder surfacing was used. To confirm the operability of restored parts, a set of studies of samples grown using the same repair technology was conducted. At the same time, it was established that the chemical composition of the deposited metal corresponds to the requirements of the technical conditions-» the microstructure of the deposited metal after heat treatment corresponds to the normal heat-treated state of the alloy ЭП648-ВИ (ХН50ВМТЮБ-ВИ), the level of mechanical properties of the grown alloy with subsequent serial heat treatment (aging at 700ºC, exposure -16 hours) is not lower than the forging level used in serial production of the part.