3D-printing process design of lattice compressor impeller based on residual stress and deformation

The application of a lattice structure in the lightweight design of compressor impellers can reduce their mass and moment of inertia, hence improving the effective carrying of aircraft and reducing the start and braking moments of the impeller. The feasibility of a processing-lattice compressor impeller is the prerequisite for its application. To control the residual deformation and residual stress effectively, a computer-aided design technique is used to simulate the manufacturing process of a compressor impeller. The residual deformation and stress of the compressor impeller during the additive manufacturing process is calculated. The material-stacking process and base-plate- and support-removal process of a TiAl6V4 impeller printed by an SLM280 metal 3D printer are simulated by the finite-element method. The results show that some change in the laser printing parameters leads to a significant impact on the residual stress and deformation amplitude of the impeller. The residual deformation and residual stress of the lattice compressor impeller with the same geometrical appearance after processing are less than the corresponding amplitude of the solid compressor impeller, which also shows that the printed lattice compressor impeller can more easily achieve the design requirements.