Grant: Industrial Research Chairs

Due to the rising cost of fuel, air travel has become a very cost sensitive industry. To remain globally competitive, aero engine manufacturers such as Pratt and Whitney Canada (P&WC) have increasingly focused on reducing manufacturing costs. A contributor to the cost of gas turbine engines is a high buy-to-fly ratio (BTF) resulting from a heavy reliance of traditional manufacturing methods on material removal and waste (i.e. machining of wrought billets). Primary metal production is a significant contributor to the production of greenhouse gases and the Ni and Cr elements contained within engine parts are non renewable limited resources. Therefore a high BTF has a significant negative environmental impact. Aerospace companies are adopting more near net shape (NS) manufacturing to reduce BTF, overall manufacturing costs and develop green technologies. P&WC is pursuing a net shape method which combines furnace brazing with powder injected molding (PIM). The challenge is to create PIM parts and brazed joints that have mechanical properties and performance equal to parts made using traditional manufacturing methods. The goal of this research program is to develop and use a number of advanced thermal analysis techniques to gain a fundamental understanding of Ni-based superalloy brazing and PIM processing. This thermal analysis will be used to develop processing techniques which avoid the formation of detrimental boride compounds and porosity in the brazed joint. The analysis will also develop a deep understanding of the changes taking place during debinding, sintering and heat treatment of PIM parts. This program will allow P&WC to extend NS processing to the structural parts of their engine manufacturing operations, thus decreasing the BTF, cost and material waste. This will lead to a more competitive Canadian aerospace industry and economy, the development of green manufacturing technologies and an improved environment. Thirteen highly qualified professionals will be trained during the program, who will contribute to the aerospace industry for decades to come.