Session: 18-05: Advanced Manufacturing and Design II

Submission Number: 179112

Real-Time Monitoring of the WEDM Trim Cuts During the Machining of Fir-Tree Slots in Turbine Discs Using Electrical Signals 

The use of materials with increasingly higher thermo-mechanical strength for turbine discs pushes conventional manufacturing processes to their technical and economic limits. As a result, wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) has been investigated in several studies as an alternative manufacturing method and has proven to be particularly effective and economical for producing fir-tree slots in turbine discs. However, the implementation of new manufacturing chains for safety-critical components is associated with extensive certification requirements and stringent quality assurance standards. These challenges can be mitigated through the integration of online process monitoring systems, which enable digital process acquisition and the early detection of deviations during production. In particular, the trim cuts in WEDM have a significant influence on the resulting surface integrity and overall component quality. Consequently, the monitoring of this process step is the focus of this research. Since the electrical discharge characteristics in trim cuts differ markedly of those in the main cut, a high-performance PXIe measurement system is employed. This system enables real-time acquisition and analysis of high-frequency, low-energy discharges. The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the process quality during the machining of fir-tree slots in real time for the trim cuts based on electrical current and voltage signals.

Presenting Author: Tim Herrig Manufacturing Technology Institute - MTI of RWTH Aachen University

Presenting Author Biography: Head of EDM/ECM department

Authors:

Daniel Schulze Brock Manufacturing Technology Institute - MTI of RWTH Aachen University
Timm Petersen Manufacturing Technology Institute - MTI of RWTH Aachen University
Tim Herrig Manufacturing Technology Institute - MTI of RWTH Aachen University
Thomas Bergs Manufacturing Technology Institute - MTI of RWTH Aachen University