Column
Weinhold’s Power Lines
Giving Form to Ideas
Selective Laser Melting for the
Energy Business
Michael Weinhold,
CTO Siemens Energy
Management
34 Living Energy · No. 11 | December 2014
burners saves a substantial amount of time. Instead of exchanging entire components, we remove the defective
parts and “grow” new structures to replace them. This
shows how the technology will impact on the entire value
chain, from rapid prototyping and design to manufacturing: It will also eliminate the need for warehousing of
spares.
Looking ahead, turbine blades will soon incorporate new
cooling structures that would have been impossible to
achieve via casting processes, raising not only their efficiency, but also their operational flexibility. Blueprints of
spare parts can be modified to allow for wear and tear,
­improving performance. The scope for other applications
Scale model: Author Michael Weinhold is scanned at the Youlittle.com company in Munich (opposite page); sitting on
an industrial gas turbine blade, the lifelike 3-D printed plaster figure enjoys the sun (above).
More pictures are featured in the Siemens Publications App
for iPad or Android tablets at
s iemens.com/publications-app
Living Energy at
Illustration: Elisabeth Moch, Photos: Detlef Schneider
What is selective laser melting (SLM)? This innovative
manufacturing process often reminds me of the
“beamer” device in the TV series Star Trek: Information,
given form, is translated into matter. A laser beam is applied to metal powder particles and welds them into threedimensional structures, layer by layer. Guided by a CAD
blueprint, the substance rapidly hardens into a complex
part. Compared to the more established 3-D plastic printing process, the versatile raw materials used in SLM
­include a range of metal alloys. Often, SLM is grouped in
the same category as laser sintering, although – in contrast to a sintering process – it fully melds the particles
­into a compact mass.
The stimulation of R&D, including research into suitable
materials, is creating a whole new global value chain.
­Many midsized companies now offer printers that can
produce durable, high-precision parts to the specifications of the aircraft and healthcare industries or for use
in power t­ urbines. Advances in materials and processing
will allow its application to more sophisticated parts –
in the future, even gas turbine blades.
The process was developed in connection with rapid
­prototyping, which remains a major area of application:
In the development process, parts can rapidly be printed
and checked against the scheme, massively speeding up
innovation cycles. I’m often surprised to see the different
areas where the technology is already being used to give
real-life form to ideas. Some weeks ago, I was in Barce­
lona, where work continues on the Sagrada FamÍlia basilica. The craftsmen on site use CAD files to print out detailed scale models of architect Antoni Gaudí’s intricate
­designs.
From the prototyping context, selective laser melting
is now maturing into additive manufacturing processes
in the aerospace and automotive industries as well as
in healthcare, where SLM machines print synthetic body
parts, dental prosthetics, or microstructures for growing skin.
The energy service industry is currently pioneering the
technology in the precommercial phase. Tree-dimensional printing of certain repair parts for gas turbine
in the energy domain is huge, e.g., in cooling structures
for power electronics, heat exchangers, or even switchgear.
In the future, our service branch will send not only parts, but
software for replacements printed on-site for faster service.
Another advantage is that while printing these new parts
“downstream” on the front line of service, we can i­ ncorporate
improved designs and dimensional structures achieved by
“upstream” designers whose ingenuity is ­becoming unconstrained by the limitations of traditional tooling. Ideally, a
new component is really an upgrade, leading to better performance and better servicing of our products.
The business of Siemens is affected in several respects.
­Selective laser melting will be part of product design and
life cycle management. It may be a while before we see it
applied in mass production, mainly due to cost considerations. But as printers become faster and more affordable,
we will see them in more and more manufacturing sites.
Siemens is a pioneering company when it comes to integrating digitalization into our designs and our workflows
by developing applications, materials, or software for
­additive manufacturing. Using innovative technology to
make ideas come to life is what we do best. p
Living Energy · No. 11 | December 2014 35