Adaptive Repair Strategies for Aero-Engine Components
Summary
Aero-engine components operate under extreme thermal, mechanical and chemical loads, leading to wear, impact damage and fatigue cracking. Traditional overhaul methods often involve complete part replacement or manual refurbishment, incurring high cost and extended downtime. Adaptive repair strategies combine advanced sensing, data-driven process planning and hybrid additive–subtractive techniques to restore component geometry and integrity with minimal intervention. In-machine scanning and high-precision optical measurement capture the as-worn surface and enable automated generation of repair toolpaths. Laser cladding, cold spray and directed energy deposition are then employed for material build-up, followed by adaptive recontouring to achieve original aerodynamic profiles. Real-time monitoring of temperature fields and deformation allows closed-loop control of heat input and residual stresses, reducing the risk of cracking. Anticipatory compensation of tool deflection and tailored heat-management schemes ensure dimensional accuracy and metallurgical soundness. These integrated workflows extend service life, lower material consumption and improve sustainability in global aviation maintenance.
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Adaptive Repair Strategies for Aero-Engine Components publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in adaptive repair strategies for aero-engine components across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Laser cladding: A material-addition process in which a focused laser beam melts feedstock powder or wire onto a substrate to build up or repair worn regions.
Recontouring: Precision machining of a repaired or additively manufactured surface to restore original aerodynamic geometry.
Adaptive repair: An approach combining real-time measurement and data-driven control to tailor repair processes to individual component conditions.
Residual stress: Locked-in stresses within a component after thermal or mechanical processing that can affect fatigue life and dimensional stability.
Tool deflection: Elastic bending of a cutting tool under machining forces, leading to deviations in the machined profile if uncorrected.
References
- Online Deformation Measurement of Laser Repair Substrate Based on Orthogonal Sampling Moiré. Applied Sciences (2022).
- Strategies for Increasing the Productivity of Pulsed Laser Cladding of Hot-Crack Susceptible Nickel-Base Superalloy Inconel 738 LC. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing (2020).
- A novel process chain for the automated repair of leading edges in aircraft engines. Production Engineering (2024).
- Anticipatory Online Compensation of Tool Deflection Using a Priori Information from Process Planning. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing (2021).
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