significant data of the slotting
production for developing the
two unconventional technolo-
gies are allocated. The results
and developments are prepared
and published by the
“Training, Dissemination,
Exploitation and Impact on EU
-Industry” work package. Par-
ticularly the new ADMAP-
G A S w e b s i t e
(www.ADMAPGAS.com) can
be highlighted as the informa-
tion platform where the actual
project state is always retriev-
able.
The ADMAP-GAS manage-
ment team welcomes all
readers to the first project
newsletter. Please find the
latest information on the
project enclosed.
Due to a high increase of mar-
ket demand for gas-engine
turbines in the aircraft indus-
try, efficient manufacturing
processes for the turbine com-
ponents are increasingly nec-
essary. The rising standard for
individual and adapted product
solutions leads to an increased
demand for efficient, reliable
and additional flexible manu-
facturing technologies accord-
ing to the turbine parts.
The ADMAP-GAS project
develops new Unconventional
Advanced Manufacturing
Processes for Gas-Engine Tur-
bine Components in order to
substitute the critical conven-
tional broaching process for fir
tree profiles that connect rotat-
ing blades and disks. There-
fore, the two manufacturing
technologies “High Speed
Wire-EDM Slotting” and
“Abrasive Water Jet Slotting”
will be developed, optimised
and evaluated, highlighting
their individual performance
and effectiveness for the ma-
chining task.
For this proposition the AD-
MAP-GAS project follows a
carefully designed way
wherein all partners have their
defined tasks. The two techni-
cal aspects (mentioned above)
- defined in WP1 and WP2-
are supported by the “Process
Evaluation, Integration and
Data Management” work
package, whereby the common
broaching process of fir trees
is analysed. Furthermore, the
Welcome to ADMAP-GAS!
The ADMAP-GAS Consortium
The ADMAP-GAS consortium
includes eight partners (2
world leading industrial part-
ners, 3 SME’s, 1 research in-
stitution and 2 outstanding
higher education partners)
from five European countries:
Laboratory for Machine
Tools and Production Engi-
neering (WZL) of RWTH
Aachen University;
University of Sheffield
Advanced Manufacturing
Research Centre;
The AMRC Limited;
DIAD Group;
TEKS SARL;
Charmilles Technologies
SA;
Berkenhoff GmbH;
Oelheld GmbH
ADMAP-GAS Pro-
ject Details
CALL IDENTIFIER:
FP7 AAT-2008-RTD-
1
GRANT AGREE-
MENT NO.: 234325
START DATE:
01/08/2009
DURATION: 36
Months
TOTAL BUDGET:
€4,323,946.00
EC CONTRIBUTION:
€2,883,657.00
ISSUE 1
Inside this issue:
Breaking New
Ground
2
The Development
of Abrasive Water
Jet Machining
2
The Development
of High-Speed
Wire-EDM
3
Development of
Dielectric for
Wire-EDM
3
Advantages and
disadvantages of
broaching proc-
ess
4
Minimum needs
and requirements
of the ADMAP –
GAS technology
4
The objective of ADMAP-
GAS is to substitute the critical
broaching process of fir tree
structures in gas turbine blades
and disks by the alternative
processes of “Abrasive Water
Jet Slotting” and “High Speed
Wire Electro Discharge Slot-
ting”. Thus failure risks and
machining costs will be drasti-
cally decreased. Energy con-
sumption will be reduced and
environment will be preserved.
New developments and adapta-
tions in generator technology
and process control will allow
a much higher cutting rate
during Wire-EDM in combina-
tion with a nearly damage free
rim zone. This High Speed
Wire-EDM & Abrasive Water
Jet Machining process will
allow to economically produce
fir tree profiles for blades and
disks in titanium- and nickel-
based super alloys. All these
characteristics result in less
production costs and higher
process reliability for the
whole production of turbine
components. With the proper
data management that will be
developed during this project,
the machines will be able to be
programmed for different ge-
ometries taking advantage of
their CNC flexibility, using
knowledge based manufactur-
ing technologies in which the
properties of both processes
can be used for the efficient,
cheaper and environmentally
safe production of gas turbine
components.
Breaking New Ground
The Development of Abrasive Water Jet Machining
key process parameters. Ex-
periments will be carried out
with the factors that had an
impact in the quality of the
surfaces machined. The data
collected can be then used to
build a mathematical model of
the system which can help
predict outputs and optimise
the parameters.
Research is also being carried
out on a control system.
Acoustic sensors are being
used to provide feedback in
form of acoustic emissions
generated during the cutting
process. The signal can be
analysed to create a relation-
ship between the acoustic
emission and the quality of cut.
Improvements on the water jet
capabilities are being investi-
gated by studying the nozzle
dynamics and re-designing the
cutting head. It is envisaged
that the new cutting head with
have a maximum location error
of 5 microns
Research has been carried out
characterising the abrasive
water jet machine to produce
fir-tree like geometry in In-
conel 718. The aim is to un-
derstand how the different
machining parameters such as
water pressure, stand-off dis-
tance, orifice diameter, abra-
sive material, etc. affect the
quality of the surfaces pro-
duced with respect to surface
roughness, tolerances and mi-
crostructural aspects.
Once the system is understood,
the next step is to optimise the
Page 2 ADMAP-GAS
Development of Dielectric for Wire-EDM
For the project, this means to optimise
the tailored product specifically to the
interaction of dielectric, additive, ma-
chine components and wire. Over the
next 6 months a series of experiments
will be conducted at the oelheld site to
optimise operational parameters of the
process.
In this task oelheld is supported by the
partner WZL with the Inconel material,
the partner Berkenhoff supplies wire and
the partner Charmilles is responsible for
the machine.
Initial results from the first tests of dif-
ferent dielectrics showed an increase of
the cutting speed.
The partner oelheld (as a manufacturer of
dielectrics) is trying to find a dielectric,
which meets the requirements of the
industry.
An appropriate dielectric avoids damage
to the surface of the material. Additional
goals are image fidelity (precise radii,
verticality), low surface roughness and
thin influenced /contaminated layers.
To achieve these aims, not only will the
dielectric be varied, but also certain addi-
tives can / will be used. Thus, the goals
are to find the best dielectric, to mini-
mise surface damage and to use an addi-
tive to achieve a passable speed.
ISSUE 1 Page 3
At the beginning of the project an impor-
tant task with the topic “Definition and
process analysis towards the targeted
application” has been carried out. For the
researches on Wire-EDM the manufac-
turing requirements on the final fir tree
compose the basis. In detail the results
include requirements on the surface in-
tegrity, surface roughness, manufactur-
ing tolerances as well as fir tree geome-
tries and geometrical aspects of the
boundary area of turbine discs. For the
researches a typical turbine material was
fixed: Inconel 718. The good mechanical
properties of this material in high tem-
perature ranges are on the one hand very
good for turbine application on the other
hand complicate these properties cutting
with conventional manufacturing proc-
esses. With this basis the four technical
tasks concerning development of High-
Speed Wire-EDM started their re-
searches:
modification of machine tool;
development of new wires;
new dielectrics and additives
technology optimisation and process
monitoring
The researches and developments done
in the first half of the project contain so
far the following topics. Firstly two com-
mon Wire-EDM machines were rebuilt
so that water- and oil-based dielectrics
could be handled. These machines were
put into operation and provide the basis
for trials. Furthermore special technolo-
gies and nozzles for flushing were tested
to reach the given requirements. In the
The Development of High-Speed Wire-EDM
field of wire developments electrodes
were proved to reach high cutting rates,
good surfaces and a minimised affected
rim zone. In addition new dielectrics and
additives for water- and oil-based dielec-
trics were developed. In the actual state
of the project the first results predict a
positive outcome of the project. Not only
high cutting rates but also thin affected
rim zones will be the fundament to come
into competition with the common
broaching process to produce fir trees.
The next step in the project concerning
High-speed Wire-EDM will be to con-
tinue the promising researches. In addi-
tion a process monitoring system will be
set up to characterise the process.
Broaching still presents many
important industrial advan-
tages, for example low tooling
and consumables cost per disk
produced, high tool life, rough-
ing and finishing in one stroke
with excellent geometrical and
surface quality, good process
reliability and repeatability,
limited need of human garrison
during cutting. However, the
initial investment (ie machine
tool cost & the number of
broaches to be purchased), the
necessary maintenance costs,
and the considerable floor
space requirements can be
extremely onerous. In addition,
the disks fixturing is complex
and inflexible and long time is
required to set up and change
over for different part num-
bers. The energy consumption
during the broaching process is
relatively high because of the
high cutting forces, whereas
the cycle time is the double
than the other processes, mak-
ing broaching the “bottleneck”
of the turbine disks production.
Furthermore, the situation is
no better for tooling: each fir
tree geometry requires a spe-
cific broach, the purchase price
of single tool is very high,
maintenance costs are relevant
and the lead-time is long. The
tool wear is inhomogeneous
due to chip thickness varia-
tions at the different tooth and
the worn tool substitution, and
in addition, the new tools setup
takes considerable time. It is
for these reasons that the aero-
nautical industry is looking for
new competing processes in
substitution of broaching.
Evaluation of Disadvantages/Advantages of Current Broaching Process
Integrated on the Aeronautic Production Lines
Definition of Minimum Needs/Requirements for New Processes to be
Competitive with Broaching
bility, low tooling costs per
part, reduced need of human
garrison during cutting. More-
over, it is important to under-
stand that the broaching proc-
ess can generate different fir
tree geometries by a simple
(but expensive!) change of the
cutting tool, the broach, with-
out any change of the broach-
ing machine itself.
In the ADMAP-GAS Project,
two different and competing
(!) technologies are developed,
tested and validated. This will
significantly increase the pos-
sibility of a successful substi-
tution for the broaching proc-
ess; in fact, three solutions will
be potentially available: Abra-
sive Water Jet Machining,
High Speed Wire-EDM or an
intelligent process combination
and integration of the two
processes developed.
The first stage of the project
will be to research and analyse
both Abrasive Water Jet Ma-
chining, High Speed Wire-
EDM. The second stage (M18)
will involve various trials on
the defined case studies. The
information gathered will al-
low comparisons to be made
against the current broaching
process. The best solution(s)/
will be presented at the end of
the project.
For the newly developed proc-
esses to be competitive with
broaching, it needs / requires
greater levels of productivity /
economic investment, higher
flexibility (in terms of lower
time and cost) for changing
component type, reduced time,
frequency and cost of worn
tools substitution, tools /
machine setup, consumables
refill and maintenance, lower
energy consumption and envi-
ronmental impact.
The innovative processes must
retain the positive attributes of
the current broaching process,
in terms of quality, reliability,
repeatability, slot length capa-
Page 4 ADMAP-GAS
ADMAP-GAS is a collaborative project of the Seventh
Framework Programme of the European Commission.
ADMAP-GAS addresses the relevance to the call by the
“development of techniques for increased flexible tooling”
for the manufacture of gas turbine components.
USFD have
contributed to the
press release, and
had some
publicity for
ADMAP-GAS in the
July 2010 issue of
Aerospace
International,
which was
distributed at the
Farnborough air-
show.
And Finally...
Dr Rosemary Gault
Project Manager
+44 7798 570 599
Mr David Welling
Project Co-ordinator
+49-241-80-28039
ADMAP-GAS Contact
Details
Mr Drazen Veselovac
Project Co-ordination
+49-241-80-27432
Find us on the Web!
www.ADMAPGAS.com
Important Dates:
18 month meeting in Geneva on 02nd
March 2011
ADMAP-GAS Wire-EDM Demonstrator
will be presented on ICTM, Aachen on
23.-24. February 2011— www.ictm-
aachen.com
ADMAP-GAS Wire-EDM Demonstrator
will be presented on AWK, Aachen on
26.-27. May 2011 - www.awk-
aachen.de
Page 5