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A Honeycomb-Structured Ti-6Al-4V Oil–Gas Separation Rotor Additively Manufactured by Selective Electron Beam Melting for Aero-engine Applications

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Abstract

Oil–gas separation is a key process in an aero-engine lubrication system. This study reports an innovative development in oil–gas separation. A honeycomb-structured rotor with hexagonal cone-shaped pore channels has been designed, additively manufactured from Ti-6Al-4V using selective electron beam melting (SEBM) and assessed for oil–gas separation for aero-engine application. The Ti-6Al-4V honeycomb structure showed a high compressive strength of 110 MPa compared to less than 20 MPa for metal foam structures. The oil–gas separation efficiency of the honeycomb-structured separation rotor achieved 99.8% at the rotation speed of 6000 rpm with much lower ventilation resistance (17.3 kPa) than that of the separator rotor constructed using a Ni-Cr alloy foam structure (23.5 kPa). The honeycomb-structured Ti-6Al-4V separator rotor produced by SEBM provides a promising solution to more efficient oil–gas separation in the aero-engine lubrication system.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology China under the National High Technology Research Program (No. 2013AA031103) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51528401). M. Qian was a Guest Research Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Porous Metal Materials, NIN for the project period of January 2012 to June 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Porous Metal Materials, Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research (NIN), Xi’an, 710016, China

    H. P. Tang, Q. B. Wang, G. Y. Yang, N. Liu, L. Jia & M. Qian

  2. Shenyang Engine Design & Research Institute, Shenyang, 110015, China

    J. Gu

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  1. H. P. Tang
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  2. Q. B. Wang
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  3. G. Y. Yang
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  4. J. Gu
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  5. N. Liu
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  6. L. Jia
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  7. M. Qian
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Correspondence to H. P. Tang.

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Tang, H.P., Wang, Q.B., Yang, G.Y. et al. A Honeycomb-Structured Ti-6Al-4V Oil–Gas Separation Rotor Additively Manufactured by Selective Electron Beam Melting for Aero-engine Applications. JOM 68, 799–805 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1778-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1778-9

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