TURBINE BLADE MACHINING

To ensure more efficient grinding of its turbine blades, Rolls-Royce installed Midwest Engineered Products' CentraSep centrifuge for automatic filtering of cutting oil.

Aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has employed a new ac-powered centrifuge developed by Midwest Engineered Products to ensure cleaner cutting oil for its remanufactured grinders. The grinders are used at the company's Indianapolis facility to machine turbine blades for Rolls-Royce engines powering the C-130, P3 Orion, and other aircraft.

“The machining is critical,” said Pat Huser, Manufacturing Engineer at Rolls-Royce. “Blade parts are ground to a tolerance of 0.0006 in. and used in a section of the engine that reaches nearly 2000°F, so the oil is used under high pressure and must be clean and cool to avoid any burning of the parts as they are machined.”