RE-PAIR - Large-scale reuse of forged and cast steel components through new AM repair

Today, forgings and castings are used for the manufacture of larger rotationally symmetrical steel components - such as coupling elements, rotors, turbines and generators for the energy sector. These are socially critical products that are in the order of 15 meters long and up to 1 m in diameter. One of the biggest challenges today is that these complex components take a long time to manufacture. It is not unusual for the delivery time, i.e. from order to delivered product, to be between 15 weeks and up to a year. It is also not economically justifiable to keep these in stock. It is thus a problem for many industries in the energy sector to get hold of these components "on-demand", which is particularly important to ensure sustainable and continuous operation.

The technical solution that the project intends to further develop consists of manufacturing large rotationally symmetrical components with a more flexible, economically more defensible and also energy-efficient manufacturing method, namely additive manufacturing with powder arc welding (UP), called SAAM. This is done by additively depositing layer upon layer of steel onto a spent pipe, to progressively repair the product. The SAAM process is significantly faster than conventional additive manufacturing (AM), because the method is based on powder arc welding, which is a very productive welding method, but it is also significantly less explored. The challenge is to be able to control material supply with sufficient precision and to reach high demands on material properties in the product in order to achieve a sustainable circular design.