A technology has grown up

As I already explained in one of my last articles, we consider additive manufacturing to be one of the essential elements of the fourth industrial revolution. Over the last two years we’ve already seen some promising use cases for our own gas turbines for power generation and also for products for our industrial customers. To help more customers in the aerospace, automotive, and tooling industry benefit from the many advantages that AM brings, we decided to intensify our training, consulting, and engineering offerings for customers.

Turning customers into experts

Successful AM projects require an intensive collaboration and cooperation with customers. Therefore, we introduced training sessions that allow our customers to develop detailed process, material, and design expertise in order to become experts in the field of laser powder bed fusion. The training session, which is customized for every customer’s requirements, contains five modules:The first module is AM Fundamentals, the second is on Design Rules and Strategies for Laser Powder Bed Fusion, the third is on Materials and the Process, and the fourth is about AM component screening and the industrialization of AM. A training session on Software Solutions for AM as the fifth module completes the training course.

One of our first training sessions was with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). The company runs an installed power plant capacity of more than 10 gigawatts and secures a reliable supply of power and water for the entire Emirate. DEWA is extremely interested and sees a huge potential for using AM parts in their assets to optimize their operations and reduce downtime and service costs. Their initial feedback was very positive, and we’re looking forward to successful future projects together.

Consulting and engineering

Another important way to advance the industrialization of additive manufacturing in other industries is our consulting service. Because AM is a relatively young technology, many companies don’t yet have experience with it and so they need an expert partner who understands their needs and can give them recommendations that enable them to optimally benefit from the use of AM. Our consulting portfolio covers the full AM value chain. To unleash the full potential of AM, you have to do it right from the first step to the last.

Our AM engineering support completes our portfolio. We have more than 40 design for AM experts, who support our external customers with their knowledge.

Series production

We also used this expertise already within our company for our H-class gas turbine. After successful testing and validation of 3D-printed main swirlers for the platform combustion system (PCS) of the SGT-8000H gas turbine in our Clean Energy Centre in Ludwigsfelde, Germany, we now produce thousands of AM-parts every year. The main swirler delivers fuel and thoroughly mixes the fuel and air prior to combustion. One big step forward was a part consolidation that allowed us to print parts, that originally consists of 10 separate pieces, in only one step.

Our goal is to help even customers develop new AM component designs. We also offer customers the opportunity to optimize their parts so they can take advantage of the end-to-end digital AM chain. For this we rely on our unique AM Material Database. Our overall goal is to enable companies to manage the full complexity of metal AM.

What do you think of our ideas for sharing our experience in additive manufacturing and guiding customers toward AM industrialization? Will this help advance the industrialization of AM? I’m looking forward to receiving your comments.