Sustainable Additive Manufacturing of IN718 Blades: Powder Recycling Strategies for Reduced Carbon Footprint

With the growing demand for aero-engine turbine blades, the resource consumption and environmental impact of superalloy powder in the manufacturing process have become increasingly significant. This study focuses on IN718 nickel-based superalloy powder and establishes a recycling method based on powder mixing. By mixing sieved recycled powder with new powder at a 1:1 mass ratio, comprehensive characterization tests, including powder morphology analysis, particle size distribution, blade printability evaluation, mechanical property tests (tensile strength at both 25 °C and 650 °C), and microhardness measurements, demonstrated that the blended powder maintained performance characteristics comparable to new powder, with no statistically significant differences observed. Furthermore, this study introduces the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology into the field of superalloy powder recycling, providing a novel technical approach for sustainable development in aerospace manufacturing. A quantitative analysis of environmental impacts throughout the blended powder recycling process indicates that this method can reduce carbon emissions by 45% and energy consumption by 48%.