Five Axis Laser Welding for
Repair of Turbine Engine Components
NCMS/CTMA Symposium: Track 1
Terry L. VanderWert
PRIMA North America, Inc.
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Outline

Laser welding technology overview
 A History of success
 Applications and benefits

Repair applications
 Potential benefits
 Barriers

Potential projects

Summary
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Laser Welding – A History of Success
Automotive – Body-in-White,
Gear box, Sensors
Medical –
70 m laser
welded joint
Pacemakers, Implants,
Surgical Instruments
Electronics – Hybrid packages,
Sensors, Transducers
Military –
Microwave devices, IR
Sensors, Gyroscope
Aerospace –
Fuselage Panels, Sensors
Turbine Engine Components
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Growing Success in Aerospace
Application – Repair of Turbine Engine Components
• Weld repair of worn blade tips,
knife edge seals, rotary seals
• Weld new sections of blades,
NGVs
• Weld sheet metal sections of
combustors
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Growing Success in Aerospace
Application - Aircraft Fuselage Panel Stringer Welding
Military jets:
$2,000/lb/100,000 hours
• Reduced weight
• 1 lb on the engine = 5-10 lbs
on the wing structure
Source: Mendez, P. F., Eagar, T. W., “New Trends in Welding in
the Aeronautic Industry”, 2nd Conference of New Manufacturing
Trends, Bilbao, Spain, November 19-20, 2002.
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Applications and Benefits for Aircraft
Fuselage Panel Stringer Welding
• Reduced weight (fuel savings)
• Eliminate fasteners and sealing material
• Modify designs to account for lower heat affected zone.
• Reduced costs – Welded joint made in half the time of a
riveted joint.
• Improved reliability
• No rivets to corrode or fatigue
• No moisture traps
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Potential Benefits of Laser
Welding for Repair Depots

Flexible
 Applicable to a wide range of metals and alloys and to a
wide range of components
 Sheet metal welding (+ cutting + drilling)

Low distortion produces ‘near net shape’ - means minimum
post-weld machining and blending operations for repaired
components

Readily automated – addresses growing
shortage of skilled labor/welders
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Barriers to Laser Welding in Repair Applications

Process not qualified

Highly concentrated beam creates
demand for good joint fit-up prior to
and during welding.

Penetration limited by laser power for
autogenous welding processes.

High capital equipment costs most
often demands high utilization –
requires ‘high volume’ applications or
multiple applications
Source: Industrial Laser Processes – An
Introduction, AMT Laser Systems Product
Group, 1999.
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Potential Projects
• Baffle plate welding
• Automated seam tracking/in-situ weld
quality monitoring
• Hybrid laser/arc welding
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Baffle Plate Welding
• Objective – Extend laser welding of baffle plates to repair
applications.
• Challenges – Tooling designed to address design (joint fit-up;
joint type that changes with location)
• Potential return
• Improved yield – less scrap, rework
• Improved process repeatability
• Reduced cost
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Automated Seam Tracking Weld Quality Monitoring
• Objective – Integrate adaptive tools to reliably track the
weld joint and monitor weld quality
• Challenges
• High speed machine motion
• Varying surface conditions
• Laser weld plume and ejection of material
• Potential return
• Greatly reduced set-up times - greater equipment
utilization
• Higher reliability - reduced inspection costs
• Reduced tooling costs
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Hybrid Laser/Arc Welding
• Objective – Adapt hybrid laser + arc welding process to repair
applications.
• Challenges – Integration and control of the laser and arc
welding equipment; develop weld process.
• Potential return
• Greater flexibility – wider range
of applications
• Higher weld speeds
• Improved tolerance to joint fitup
Source: Moore, P.L., et. al., “Development of Laser, and
Laser/Arc Hybrid Welding for Land Pipeline Applications”.
Arc
Laser
Laser/Arc
Hybrid
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Summary
Laser Welding - An Enabling Technology
• Laser welding is gaining traction as a means for aircraft and
turbine engine manufacturers to reduce weight and production
costs, and increase product quality.
• Consistent quality = reduced scrap, rework, inspection.
• Low distortion and high quality welds.
• Fast relative to conventional joining processes.
• Multi-axis laser welding systems with adaptive controls can
provide maximum versatility and minimum set-up times.
• PRIMA North America’s experience in laser welding and
integrated multi-axis laser systems can be valuable in adapting
this technology to repair depots.
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