Patent ID: 6269540
Filing Date: 2001-08-07
Classification: B22F,B23K,B23P,F01D,Y02P,Y10T

Abstract:
A process for producing or repairing a turbine/compressor blade by laser consolidation, comprising relatively moving a laser beam along a surface of a metal substrate to irradiate the metal substrate and simultaneously supplying a stream of metal to said surface via supply means having a fixed relationship to said laser beam, so that said laser beam melts a thin layer of the metal substrate and also melts the metal in said stream being delivered to the metal substrate and thus forms a band of fused metal on said surface, and repeating said step until a desired blade is built up or repaired;characterized in that said stream of metal is delivered by said supply means substantially along a path coincident with a normal to the surface, and in that said laser beam is one of a plurality of laser beams each orientated at an acute angle to the normal to the surface, said laser beams being spaced around the stream of metal.