LayerWise’ single-piece turbine blade model used in pioneering research at von Karman Institute
May 24, 2011 - Scientists at von Karman Institute in Belgium contracted LayerWise for producing a scaled turbine inlet guide vane model for a turbine research project. Based on CAD data, additive manufacturing specialist LayerWise built the metal vane specimen as a single part, complete with internal cooling cavity and fine instrumentation channels. Research based on detailed simulation and testing concludes that turbine cooling could be improved by ejecting a pulsating stream through the trailing edge, instead of a continuous stream. At the same time, the pulsed cooling significantly reduces the intensity of the shock waves. This opens up opportunities for jet engine and power plant turbine manufacturers to achieve higher turbine expansions, resulting in more compact engines and reduced development costs.