Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
Scientists from the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University have proposed a new approach to the production of centrifugal compressor wheels (impellers) using electric arc growing technology. Until now, no one in the world has used additive technologies to produce such large items. At the same time, the new method allows for the production of parts several times faster and cheaper than the traditional method.
Impellers are a whole class of products that can be part of a centrifugal compressor, pumping unit or pump. Such devices are necessary for many industries, but are especially relevant in the energy sector – for moving gas through main gas pipelines. The traditional method of manufacturing impellers – mechanical processing of metal blanks – is quite long and expensive.
The Polytechnic University proposed using electric arc growing from metal wire, which melts due to the energy of the electric arc, to manufacture the impeller. During the melting process, the metal is transferred layer by layer, forming the product blank. Its strength is affected by a verified combination of movement speed during growing, as well as the wire feed speed, arc power, wire metal composition, etc.
With the traditional manufacturing method, the mass of the workpiece is seven times greater than the mass of the final part. Engineers mechanically process the metal like an artist who carves a sculpture from a piece of marble. In this case, most of the metal (86% of the mass of the original workpiece) turns into shavings, this is a long and expensive process. Our technology allows us to obtain a workpiece that is only 15% greater in mass than the final product, i.e. the material utilization factor (MUF) is 0.86. With the traditional method, the MUF is 0.14. We significantly save expensive material, and at the same time speed up the process of manufacturing the impeller several times, – said Oleg Panchenko, Head of the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport of SPbPU.
The sample manufactured in the Polytechnic laboratory successfully passed a series of bench tests, the conditions of which were similar to operational ones. The impeller was spun up to 18 thousand revolutions per minute.
After the tests, we scanned the impeller and compared it with the three-dimensional model that was used to prepare the control program for printing. The comparison did not reveal any deviations in the geometry of the tested impeller from the digital model. This means that the approach we proposed allows us to create a reliable product, explained Ivan Kladov, Lead Engineer at the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures at IMMiT.
Experts note that the technology developed at the Polytechnic University can be used to manufacture impellers on existing Russian production lines and will not require their significant restructuring.
The study was conducted with the support of the Development Program of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University for 2025–2036 as part of the implementation of the Priority 2030 program (national project Youth and Children).
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