blade

Rolls-Royce has officially opened a £110m advanced blade casting facility in Rotherham, England, UK.

The 150,000ft² facility is expected to produce more than 100,000 single crystal turbine blades a year, including high pressure (HP) and intermediate pressure (IP) single crystal blades.

Planned to commence operations in 2017, the facility will support the region with 150 jobs.

UK Minister of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Matthew Hancock said: "This new facility will house the most advanced blade casting facility in the world, and is a truly remarkable feat of engineering.

"Our aerospace growth partnership has put in place a long-term industrial strategy for the whole aerospace industry, and this investment by Rolls-Royce in new technology and modern manufacturing processes is testament to the ongoing strength of this sector."

"The 150,000ft² facility is expected to produce more than 100,000 single crystal turbine blades a year, including high pressure (HP) and intermediate pressure (IP) single crystal blades."

The facility will feature automated manufacturing techniques, including integrated wax fabrication lines, 3D structured light inspection and computed tomography (CT).

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It will make use of manufacturing methods developed within Rolls-Royce and at the Manufacturing Technology Centre near Coventry.

Rolls-Royce was supported by the UK Government to develop these techniques.

The turbine blades produced at the new plant will be used in various Trent aero engines, Rolls-Royce Trent XWB, which will power Airbus A350 XWB.

Each Trent XWB engine requires 182 HP and IP turbine blades, which are 10cm in height and 300g in weight, and undergo 200 processes before being installed.

The blades, which operate at temperatures of up to 200°, are placed in a disc that rotates at more than 12,000rpm. The turbine extracts energy from the engine’s combustor hot gas stream, and uses it to drive the fan and compressors.

Image: The facility is expected to produce more than 100,000 single crystal turbine blades a year. Photo: courtesy of Rolls-Royce plc.