Development and implementation of robotized wire arc additive repair of a gas turbine diaphragm

The current practice of reconstruction of oxidized turbine parts (due to hot corrosion) using arc welding methods facilitates restoration of the nominal shapes and dimensions, as well as other attributes and features. Intense development of 3D additive methods and techniques contributes to the repair/modification of different parts including gas turbine (GT) hardware. The article proves the viability of the concept of using a robotized additive arc welding metal active gas (MAG) process to repair and modify gas turbine diaphragms using different filler materials from the substrate. The industrialized robotic additive process (hybrid repair) shows that very good results were achieved if the diaphragm is cast of nickel-iron and the filler material for welding the passes is austenitic stainless steel (for instance 308 LSi). This is one of the novelties introduced to the repair process that was granted a patent (US11148235B2) and is already implemented in General Electric Service Centers.