Elmec was introduced to this engine by several clients who were having extreme difficulty procuring spare parts for the Mark 1533, at a reasonable cost. This model is no longer manufactured by Rolls Royce, and parts are in short supply. The key components most in demand are the hot section parts including the HP Turbine Blades. Elmec had already done work on this engine by Flow Testing fuel manifolds for clients.

The first part that we concentrated on was the Turbine blades. We obtained a sample and reverse engineered an exact pattern, then made the drawings from which we could calculate wax and metal shrinkages to yield a dimensionally accurate part which would work in the engine. Then we cast the parts. Our objective was not to simply duplicate the part but to improve on it by utilizing modern aircraft technologies into the process. We researched the finest alloys and developed a casting technique which could reproduce the superior metallurgical structure and properties of Directional Solidification in the crystalline structure, at a substantial cost saving to the client. ( See Investment Casting Page). We produced the tooling to make them serviceable in the latest mark 1535 engine. We now have a blade which is DS cast from CM186LC nickel based superalloy, with vastly superior properties to the OEM models. This alloy is used on the AirBus A200 Aircraft.

The later 1534 & 1535 models of the Avon required air cooled blades, so we developed and tooled up for the 14 different angles to create the path to distribute the cooling air from the shroud to the root section. Then we TIG welded the trailing edge Air Seal Plate in the correct Nimonic alloy to the root. This blade can now be used in the Mk 1534 and the Mk 1535. It can also be used to upgrade the performance of the 1533, provided some collateral modifications occur. We can however, simply leave it solid and still outperform the original blades, through metallurgical structure alone.

We have all the patterns to reproduce this advanced casting technology on the other two stages of turbine blades as well. This has never been done for these engines. IP and LP Turbine blades have always been forged. No one has ever cast these blades before, in any alloy, let alone a superalloy with vastly superior properties. Elmec fully intends to DS cast the entire hot section in the best alloys available to extend the serviceable life beyond anyone's expectations.

Our next project for 2001 will be the first stage Nozzle Guide Vanes for the Avons. We have already test cast many of them to verify the metal fill around the transitions. ( Left ) We are currently developing the tooling for the finish machining of the part, including the creation of the air cooling galleries.

One of the problems from which most natural gas fired turbines suffer, is restrictions in the fuel manifold system and the nozzles, caused by contaminant buildup. This causes fuel delivery problems in the engine, creating hot spots and vibration. We examine and clean the manifold system, perform the flow tests and balance the pressure and flow evenly over the eight nozzles. Shown-Client Avon 1533 manifold