Business Wire
Optomec US Air Force
Optomec has secured a $1 million contract with the United States Air Force to deliver a ‘high volume production machine’ for the refurbishment of turbine engine components.
The machine is based on Optomec’s Direct Energy Deposition (DED) technology and will also be equipped with an automation system for batch processing, an oxygen-free controlled atmosphere and an adapted vision system. It comes a couple of weeks after Optomec announced it had recorded more than 10 million turbine blade refurbishments with its DED 3D printing technology.
Installed at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, the additive system will be designed to process tens of thousands of repairs every year, with an initial focus being placed on the refurbishment of turbine blade tips. It is believed that the US Air Force spends billions of dollars a year making these kinds of refurbishments to parts, with Optomec claiming to have demonstrated cost savings of up to 70%, as well as the ability to reduce lead times and supply chain dependencies.
Having delivered nearly 100 DED-powered machines for the repair of turbine blades, Optomec has now been called upon by the US Air Force to streamline some of its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations. In addition to the supply of an additive repair system, Optomec will also assist the organisation in developing ‘optimal process parameters for a range of target repairs.’
“Optomec is proud to be serving our military. We have been processing titanium for years, but not in high-volume, oxygen-free production cells, although Optomec has developed automated, high-volume production cells for other alloys,” commented Jamie Hanson, VP Business Development at Optomec. “The challenge given to us by the Air Force was to provide a system based on commercially proven capabilities that meet their production and technical requirements. We will be providing a first of a kind machine with automation that enables virtually uninterrupted production in an oxygen-free environment. This capability will help enable the broader aerospace industry by meeting its cost-reduction goals going forward.”
