November 30, 2018

Jet Engine Manufacturing Gets A Boost in MxD Pilot

Jet engine manufacturers deal with demanding production requirements as the commercial and defense industries strive for higher fuel efficiencies. Producing high-performance turbine blades is an important part of achieving this, but challenges stem from the inevitable shape variations that occur when casting the blades.

Key Outcomes
This MxD project developed an automated and adaptive machining process that digitally connects the casting supplier to the jet engine manufacturer.
Completion Date
November 30, 2018
Team Members

GE Aviation
Arconic
ITI-Global
University of Wisconsin
GE Global Research

Outcome

This MxD project developed an automated and adaptive machining process that digitally connects the casting supplier to the jet engine manufacturer. In this process, the unique geometric information for each casting is automatically transmitted to GE, where a machine learning algorithm classifies the parts and dictates the manufacturing parameters that enable a successful build. In the pilot, all 120 of the most at-risk castings were machined successfully, reducing the scrap rate to zero.