Gas & Steam Turbine

Gas and Steam Turbines are critical power generating tools both for powering our day-to-day lives and for critical propulsion applications in the aerospace and other industries.  These devices commonly Gas and steam Turbine Aero blisk turbineoperate under extremely high loads and speeds and place high-performance demands on their components such as gears and airfoils.

REM’s ISF® Process is an isotropic superfinishing technology that has been utilized to polish the surfaces of Gas and Steam Turbine airfoil/compressor blade applications for over thirty years, due to its high process reliability/repeatability and its unique process features and benefits.

For airfoil and compressor blade applications, the ISF Process has been proven to produce extremely low surface roughness finishes (< 2µin / 0.5 µm ) on milled or shot-peened surfaces while maintaining critical blade geometries including leading edges, trailing edges, blade tips, and dovetails.  The surface texture generated by the ISF Process has been shown to maintain higher levels of cleanliness in operation, thereby not only increasing turbine efficiency due to the improved laminar flow properties of the ISF® Surface, but also maintaining this efficiency across the thousands of hours of operating life to the turbine.  Due to the unique chemical-mechanical nature of the ISF Process, it has also been shown to have passivating effects on stainless steel alloys, resulting in increased resistance to stress corrosion cracking.

For gear applications, the ISF Process is proven to increase gear life, especially in the high load and speed operating conditions which are commonly experienced in a turbine generator.  This increase in life is linked to improved load distribution, reduced surface friction, and improved resistance to scuffing.

The ISF Process represents a significant upgrade in process control, repeatability, and final product as compared to standard abrasive tumbling operations and hand/robotic belting operations.  Lastly, the ISF Process has successfully been used to repair/refurbish used, lightly damaged power transmission gears and gas/steam turbine compressor blades.

Common Gas & Steam Turbine Applications for the ISF Process:

  • Compressor Blades
  • Hot Section or Hot Side Airfoils
  • Blisks
  • Accessory Drive Gears

Component Benefits for Gas & Steam Turbine Applications:

Production Benefits for Gas & Steam Turbine Applications:

  • Eliminate Abrasive Tumbling
  • Eliminate Hand Polishing or Robotic Polishing
  • Potential to Reduce Milling Surface Finish Requirements
  • Potential to Eliminate Coating Requirements
  • Potential to Reduce Grinding Surface Finish Requirements

Common Gas & Steam Turbine Alloys REM can Assist with:

Common Gas & Steam Turbine Component Forming Methods the ISF Process can Improve:

  • Cast
  • Forged
  • Milled

Interested in learning more, ready to start a project, or have an application that you don’t see listed here?  Contact us today to see how we can help solve your surface finishing/polishing needs.