Siemens Full-Load Tests Printed Gas-Turbine Blades

August 11, 2017

Additive-manufactured gas-turbine blades withstood full-engine-condition testing—13,000 rpm at temperatures beyond 1250 C—by Siemens, the company’s first such tests designed to validate blade designs boasting a new and improved internal-cooling geometry manufactured using AM technology. Material Solutions, Worcester, UK, manufactured the blades from polycrystalline-nickel superalloy, which were then installed on a Siemens 13-MW industrial gas turbine. Says Willi Meixner, CEO of the Siemens Power and Gas Division: “This exciting technology (can reduce) the lead time for prototype development by as much as 90 percent…and also provide spare parts on demand.”