Grant: Industrial Research Chairs

Due to the rising cost of fuel, air travel has become a very cost sensitive industry. To remain globallycompetitive, aero engine manufacturers such as Pratt and Whitney Canada (P&WC) have increasingly focusedon 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 ofgreenhouse gases and the Ni and Cr elements contained within engine parts are non renewable limitedresources. Therefore a high BTF has a significant negative environmental impact.Aerospace companies are adopting more near net shape (NS) manufacturing to reduce BTF, overallmanufacturing costs and develop green technologies. P&WC is pursuing a net shape method which combinesfurnace brazing with powder injected molding (PIM). The challenge is to create PIM parts and brazed jointsthat 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 togain a fundamental understanding of Ni-based superalloy brazing and PIM processing. This thermal analysiswill be used to develop processing techniques which avoid the formation of detrimental boride compounds andporosity in the brazed joint. The analysis will also develop a deep understanding of the changes taking placeduring 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 manufacturingoperations, thus decreasing the BTF, cost and material waste. This will lead to a more competitive Canadianaerospace industry and economy, the development of green manufacturing technologies and an improvedenvironment. Thirteen highly qualified professionals will be trained during the program, who will contribute tothe aerospace industry for decades to come.