Chinese scientists bring ‘shark skin’ technology to next-generation jet engine race that US Air Force plans to abandon
However, they fear that China will take this opportunity to catch up.
“We are losing our propulsion leadership to China,” he added.
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Chinese C919 passenger jet celebrates first anniversary of maiden flight
Chinese C919 passenger jet celebrates first anniversary of maiden flight
But as engine manufacturing shifts from traditional methods to 3D printing, the gap is quickly closing.
In December 2022, GE announced a turbine core structure made using laser 3D printing. Just a year later, Zhang’s team presented its paper, featuring a larger and more complex component than GE’s.
Previously, it was considered impossible to manufacture such a large hard alloy component using a 3D printer while maintaining precision at such a fine scale.
The intermediate casing is the most important and complex load-bearing structural component of an aviation engine. It not only connects the engine’s front intake fan and compressor, but also serves as the connection between the engine and the aircraft fuselage.
The middle casing needs to withstand the impact of high-pressure, high-temperature gases while transmitting thrust and torque from the engine to the aircraft. Despite being just 3 mm (0.11 inch) at its thinnest point, it can support more than 10 tons of load, posing significant design and manufacturing challenges.
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Robot prototype prints 3D biomaterials inside the human body, reducing surgical risks
Robot prototype prints 3D biomaterials inside the human body, reducing surgical risks
Using conventional 3D printing technology and commercial software, Zhang’s team created a prototype that is 25% lighter than traditional castings but strong enough to withstand impacts like bird strikes.
Laboratory tests confirm that it “meets the requirements for mechanical properties, weight reduction, and manufacturability,” Zhang and his colleagues wrote.
Although current ultrafast laser fusion additive manufacturing technology has achieved an accuracy of 3 micrometers, the stress and deformation caused by rapid heating and cooling during the material melting and solidification process still pose headaches for factories .
Despite this, researchers believe that this technology will revolutionize the aviation industry in the near future.
“Hollow fan blades will no longer be confined to traditional honeycomb or lattice structures, but may adopt topologically optimized internal skeletons combined with lattice structures or even metamaterials. The void rate can be increased to more than 45% and is expected to have better impact resistance,” Zhang’s team wrote in the paper.
By integrating design and additive manufacturing technology, piping and cooling channels can also be incorporated into the casing to improve cooling performance, the scientists said.
“Using shape memory alloys, we can also design and manufacture smart exhaust nozzles with adaptive tuning functions, eliminating complex mechanical structures and achieving significant structural weight reduction,” they added.
