Читать книгу Metal Additive Manufacturing - Ehsan Toyserkani - Страница 24

AM‐made parts have been utilized by the energy industry to harness the natural resources of our planet for many years; however, they have not been in the media radars as widely as their counterparts in the aerospace industry. Some of these applications in this sector are revolutionary when AM is used in deep underground and oceans. As mentioned before, AM has been advanced to be more efficient through the introduction of lightweight components, cost‐efficient services, and environmentally friendly materials. Several companies such as Chevron, Shell Global, BP Global, and GE Oil & Gas (Baker Hughes) have published stories about the AM adoption for prototyping and production in the energy industry. With pressure to make innovative solutions rapidly, engineers and designers in this industry use the rapid prototyping feature of AM as a key step in design verification. AM has also become an increasingly mainstream operation in the energy industry to fabricate end‐use functional parts at a low‐volume level. When AM‐made parts need to tooling, it can offer to make lightweight structures with complex internal features. Thus, next generation of energy, oil, and gas components are being benefited from the AM features substantially, especially parts that need to exhibit performance and environmental standards. Dense, corrosive‐resistant, and high‐strength components can be mainly developed by DED for demands in this industry. One crucial application of AM in this industry is seen in the development of spare parts. As mentioned before, DED‐based AM processes provide solutions through rapid, on‐demand printing and repairing of legacy components.

So far, there are reports that AM has been used for either prototyping, low‐volume production, or repairs of these parts: gas turbine nozzles, sand control screens, hydraulic components, nozzles for downhole cleanout tool, sealing accessories, liner hanger spikes, drill bits, and many more. Figure 1.17 shows multiple parts made for hydraulic devices used in the oil and gas industry.

Figure 1.17 Hydraulic parts made for the oil and gas industry.

Source: Courtesy of aidro [26].