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Cirrus Scores With High-Volume Encapsulation THE encapsulation of turbine blades — tions as they travel to the take-off point The bismuth-tin alloy was chosen for to provide regular and precise workhold- its low-melting-point — 137°C — and for the machining process, grinding in a ing surfaces on these awkwardly shaped robotic cell. good dimensional stability. components — is becoming a highly The ground blades are then transpor MCP says that the melting point automated volume-production process. ted, again robotically, through a hot-oil means that neither the machine nor the In Cirrus Equipment's latest encapsul dip to melt off the alloy, which is blades are subjected to exceptional ating machine, small high-pressure aero recovered and returned to the main tank temperatures and that power require for re-use. Cirrus says that all the MCP ments are modest for both initial melt engine blades are encapsulated on alloy is reclaimed in this way. and the final melt-out. The physical thirty-second cycles with every operation automatic, apart from the loading stability of solidification is plainly Cirrus claims a number of novel phase. crucially important in a material prov features for the machine. The most notable are the fail-safe pick-and-place iding reference points and workholding Designed to use low-melting-point surfaces for machining. facility at the ejection station; the alloys as the encapsulant, this new four- walking beam cooling conveyor; and Mining and Chemical Products station eight-position rotary machine is the conveyorised melt-out system. Ltd, Alperton, Wembley, Middlesex Cirrus's most advanced to date in Temperatures are also very carefully HA0 4PE. Tel: 01-902 1191. automation capability. Along with two controlled throughout the process to identical units, it has been purpose ensure consistency of the encapsulated engineered and built to become an blocks. integral part of a turbine-blade produc tion line. The machine is operated under computer control by one operator, who loads blades individually into the first of four specially made dies. Sensing pins detect that the blade is correctly posit ioned in the die and inhibit further operation if it is not. A mimic panel indicates the status of each of the six locating pins. The die indexes to the second position where a low-melting-point alloy (supp lied by Mining and Chemical Products) is pumped from a heated main 750kg tank through a pour tank and resistance- heated pouring tube into the die. An electrical probe cuts off the pour when the level of alloy has risen to touch the probe and thus complete a circuit. The rotary table indexes the die with its now-encapsulated blade to a cooling station where the alloy solidifies. At the final station, the die is opened automati cally and a robotic arm transfers the potted blade to a fixture on a walking- beam conveyor. Cooled by chilled water, the conveyor lowers the temperature of the encapsula 28 AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING — September 1988
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology – Emerald Publishing
Published: Sep 1, 1988
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