Abstract: Method for forming an oxide dispersion strengthened alloy. An alloy material (24) is melted with an energy beam (28) to form a melt pool (30) in the presence of a flux material (26), and particles (36) of a metal oxide are directed into the melt pool such that the particles are dispersed within the melt pool. Upon solidification, an oxide dispersion strengthened alloy (44) is formed as a layer bonded to an underlying substrate (20) or as an object contained on a removable support.

Abstract: A gas turbine engine component (50, 100, 150, 160, 174, 206, 236), including: a surface (54) subject to loss caused by a wear instrument during operation of the component in a gas turbine engine and a performance feature (80, 82, 102, 152, 162, 172, 200, 230) associated with the surface. The surface and the performance feature interact in a manner that changes with the loss such that a change in performance of the gas turbine engine resulting from the loss is mitigated.

Abstract: System, methods for improving grain growth in a cast melt of a superalloy are provided. The system includes at least a mold having a shape defining a part of a turbo machine, e.g., a turbine blade. A cast melt, e.g., a superalloy, is poured into the mold, and one or more heating/cooling elements are arranged in the cast melt. The system further includes a controller operatively connected to the elements for controlling the electrical current of, e.g., a heating wire of the heating element, or controlling the flow-rate for, e.g., a coolant of the cooling element. By controlling, i.e., adjusting the current and/or flow-rate, via the controller, a temperature gradient may be induced to improve grain growth.

Abstract: A method for forming an impact weld used in an additive manufacturing process is provided. The method includes providing a metallic material for impact welding to a substrate. The metallic material is propelled toward the substrate with a sufficient velocity to form an impact weld for welding the metallic material to the substrate. Further, the method includes traversing the substrate in a direction relative to a direction from which the metallic material is propelled and repeating the propelling so that a layer of additive material is deposited on the substrate as desired. In addition, a method for forming an impact welding used in an additive manufacturing process via discharge actuated arrangement is provided.

Abstract: A method of processing a component (10) with an energy beam (13) comprises simultaneously scanning and heating a first portion (12) and second adjacent portion (14) of the component with an energy beam (13) At a point or area of divergence of the portions of the component, the energy beam is controlled to repeatedly move back and forth between the portions of the component. This simultaneous heating of adjacent portions (12, 14) of the component is configured to keep a thermally-induced distortion of the component within a predefined tolerance. This dual-path processing may be performed on a bed of fluidized powdered material including a powdered metal material and a powdered flux material.

Abstract: A method including spanning a relatively larger opening (50) with a support structure (72) to divide the larger opening into a plurality of relatively smaller openings (78); placing superalloy powder across the smaller openings and in contact with the support structure; and melting the superalloy powder to form a cladding layer (104) that spans the opening and is metallurgically bonded to the support structure.

Abstract: A method for forming an impact weld used in an additive manufacturing process. The method includes providing a wire having a powder filler metal core located within a sheath. The wire is then inserted within a conduit having an opening. Further, the method includes providing at least one energy pulse that interacts with the sheath to pinch off at least one segment of the wire, wherein the energy pulse causes propulsion of the segment toward a substrate with sufficient velocity to form an impact weld for welding the metal core to the substrate. In particular, the energy pulse is an electromagnetic pulse, a laser energy pulse or a high electric current pulse.

Abstract: An additive manufacturing apparatus (10) including: a container (12) configured to bound a bed of powdered metal material; a fluidization arrangement (18) configured to fluidize the bed of powered material; an articulation mechanism (40) disposed within the container and configured to support and to rotate a component (38) about at least one horizontal axis; and an energy beam (34) configured to selectively scan portions (36) of a surface of the bed of powdered metal material to melt or sinter the selectively scanned portions onto the component.

Abstract: Forming respective packets (20, 21, 46, 50, 52, 70, 82, 84) of filler metal powder (24) and flux powder (26) for adjacent placement on a working surface (30) for laser deposition of the metal. Each packet may be formed of a sacrificial sleeve (22) or adjacently seamed sheets (72A-D), which may include flux fibers such as alumina, zirconia, basalt, or silica. A packet (56) of flux may be disposed centrally inside a packet (56) of metal or vice versa. A connected stack (70, 82, 84) of three packets (74A-C, 86A-C) may be formed by seaming (76A-B) four stacked sheets (72A-D) around common edges and filling the three resulting spaces between the sheets with a respective vertical sequence of metal/flux/metal or flux/metal/flux powders. Quilting and intermediate stitching may provide for precise control of material distribution and facilitate feeding of material.

Abstract: A method for braze repair of tight cracks in a superalloy component is provided. The method includes directing energy, e.g., from an acoustic energy source, towards surfaces of the tight crack to break up one or more contaminants, corrosion products, or oxides at the surface. The directed energy may cause opposed walls of the tight crack to vibrate to break up the oxides, and to generate a modest heat for allowing infiltration of the tight crack with a braze material. The braze material is then melted at a melt temperature of the braze material but below the melt temperature of the component. The braze material is then solidified to repair the tight crack.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for solid freeform fabrication and repair of components on existing bodies (such as turbine blades), the innovative process and apparatus as well as the resultant product having the following advantages: a) Can build on existing 3-D surfaces. Not limited to horizontal flat surfaces, b) Usable for metals that are difficult to weld. c) Robust process that is adaptable to new damage modes. d) No shielding of the melt pool by inert gas is needed. e) Wide range of powder sizes.

Abstract: Nickel base superalloys, including in some embodiments 5% to 7% Fe, which were previously developed and used for their corrosion resistance, also possess favorable characteristics for use as a braze filler in repair or joining of superalloy substrates, such as those used to form turbine engine blades and vanes, heat exchangers, vessels, and piping. In particular, such corrosion-resistant nickel base superalloys have favorable characteristics for wide-gap brazing of gaps greater than one millimeter in superalloy substrates that preserves favorable material properties throughout the braze region in the substrate.

Abstract: An electrode (10) is presented including a sheath (14) formed of a ductile material, an outer coating (16) including a flux material, and a core (12) including at least one of flux material and alloying material. The ductile material may be an extrudable subset of elements of a desired superalloy material and the alloying material may include elements that complement the ductile material to form a desired superalloy material when the electrode is melted. The outer coating may be formed of a flexible bonding material or it may be segmented (18, 20) to facilitate bending the electrode onto a spool. Any hygroscopic material of the electrode may be included in the core to protect it from exposure to atmospheric moisture.

Abstract: A method for processing a part (10) with an energy beam A mask (70, 80) is arranged between a source of the energy beam and the part. The mask is configured with a beam-transmissive portion (71) in correspondence with mutually opposed portions (12, 14) of the part. Simultaneously heating the mutually opposed portions of the part is performed with energy beamlets passing through the beam-transmissive portions of the mask This simultaneous heating is configured to keep a thermally-induced distortion of the part within a predefined tolerance. Scanning of the mask with the energy beam may be performed without precisely tracking the mutually opposed portions of the part, thereby avoiding a need for complicated numerical programming for tracking a relatively complex geometry defined by the mutually opposed portions of the part.

Abstract: A method for forming three-dimensional anchoring structures on a surface is provided. This may result in a thermal barrier coating system exhibiting enhanced adherence for its constituent coatings. The method involves applying a laser beam (10) to a surface (12) of a solid material (14) to form a liquefied bed (16) on the surface of the solid material, then applying a pulse of laser energy (18) to a portion of the liquefied bed to cause a disturbance, such as a splash (20) or a wave (25) of liquefied material outside the liquefied bed. A three-dimensional anchoring structure (22) may thus be formed on the surface upon solidification of the splash or wave of liquefied material.

Abstract: Nickel base superalloys, including in some embodiments 5% to 7% Fe, which were previously developed and used for their corrosion resistance, also possess favorable characteristics for use as a braze filler in repair or joining of superalloy substrates, such as those used to form turbine engine blades and vanes, heat exchangers, vessels, and piping. In particular, such corrosion-resistant nickel base superalloys have favorable characteristics for wide-gap brazing of gaps greater than one millimeter in superalloy substrates that preserves favorable material properties throughout the braze region in the substrate.

Abstract: A flux (55) for superalloy laser welding and additive processing (20, 50), including constituents which decompose when heated in a laser induced plasma or to a melt temperature of the superalloy (42), creating one or more gases (46) that blanket the melt to protect it from air, while producing not more than 5 wt. % of slag relative to the weight of the flux. Embodiments may further include compounds providing one or more functions of surface cleaning, scavenging of impurities in the melt, and elemental additions to the superalloy.

Abstract: A method, including: replacing an original blade shelf (16) of a gas turbine engine blade (10) with a new blade shelf (64) that is located closer to a base (18) of the blade than the original blade shelf; adding mass to the blade until a mass of the blade with the new blade shelf is greater than a mass of the blade with the original blade shelf in order to maintain a same contribution by the blade with the new blade shelf as a contribution by the blade with the original blade shelf to a dynamic balance of a rotor arrangement.

Abstract: Methods for laser additive manufacture are disclosed in which a plurality of powder layers (48, 50 and 52) are delivered onto a working surface (54A) to form a multi-powder deposit containing at least two adjacent powders layers in contact, and then applying a first laser energy (74) to a first powder layer (48) and a second laser energy (76) to a second powder layer (52) to form a section plane of a multi-material component. The multi-powder deposit may include a flux composition that provides at least one protective feature. The shapes, intensities and trajectories of the first and second laser energies may be independently controlled such that their widths are less than or equal to widths of the first and second powder layers, their intensities are tailored to the compositions of the powder layers, and their scan paths define the final shape of the multi-material component.

Abstract: System, methods for improving grain growth in a cast melt of a superalloy are provided. The system includes at least a mold having a shape defining a part of a turbo machine, e.g., a turbine blade. A cast melt, e.g., a superalloy, is poured into the mold, and one or more heating/cooling elements are arranged in the cast melt. The system further includes a controller operatively connected to the elements for controlling the electrical current of, e.g., a heating wire of the heating element, or controlling the flow-rate for, e.g., a coolant of the cooling element. By controlling, i.e., adjusting the current and/or flow-rate, via the controller, a temperature gradient may be induced to improve grain growth.