The present invention is directed to in situ methods for maintaining turbine assemblies. One such method includes: disposing a maintenance apparatus on the rotor; positioning the maintenance apparatus proximate to the damaged region by rotating the rotor; and repairing the damaged region by operating a repair tool disposed on the apparatus. Another method includes: disposing a maintenance apparatus on the stator; positioning the damaged region proximate to the maintenance apparatus by rotating the rotor; and repairing the damaged region by operating a repair tool disposed on the apparatus.

A dual walled component includes a spar comprising a plurality of pedestals; a coversheet attached to a first set of pedestals from the plurality of pedestals; and a repaired coversheet portion attached to a second set of pedestals from the plurality of pedestals and to the coversheet, where the repaired coversheet portion includes a braze material.

A method may include removing a portion of a base component adjacent to a damaged portion of the base component to define a repair portion of the base component. The base component may include a cobalt- or nickel-based superalloy, and the repair portion of the base component may include a through-hole extending from a first surface of the base component to a second surface of the base component. The method also may include forming a braze sintered preform to substantially reproduce a shape of the through-hole. The braze sintered preform may include a Ni- or Co-based alloy. The method additionally may include placing the braze sintered preform in the through-hole and heating at least the braze sintered preform to cause the braze sintered preform to join to the repair portion of the base component and change a microstructure of the braze sintered preform to a brazed and diffused microstructure.

A method for repairing an at least externally coated hollow component. The direct mechanical machining of a coated component after use removes the need for a coating-removal and selective hollowing step and a selective repair of cracks, since a design adaptation leads to a component being engineered or used such that it can be used again as a result of external dimensional stipulations.

An extraction tool for extracting a shim located in a turbomachine and provided with a through-hole, includes an extractor pin configured to be inserted into the through-hole of the shim; a first gripping member with a first distal end intended to be positioned opposite the through-hole on a first side of the shim and arranged to retain a first end of the extractor pin; and a second gripping member including a second distal end intended to be positioned opposite the through-hole on a second, opposite side of the shim, and arranged to retain a second, opposite end of the extractor pin, after the extractor pin has been inserted into the through-hole of the shim.

Methods of manufacturing or repairing a turbine blade or vane are described. The airfoil portions of these turbine components are typically manufactured by casting in a ceramic mold, and a surface made up of the cast airfoil and at the least the ceramic core serves as a build surface for a subsequent process of additively manufacturing the tip portions. The build surface is created by removing a top portion of the airfoil and the core, or by placing an ultra-thin shim on top of the airfoil and the core. The overhang projected by the shim is subsequently removed. These methods are not limited to turbine engine applications, but can be applied to any metallic object that can benefit from casting and additive manufacturing processes. The present disclosure also relates to finished and intermediate products prepared by these methods.

Methods provided for remotely stopping a crack in a component of a gas turbine engine are provided, along with methods of remotely cleaning a surface area of a component of a gas turbine engine. The method can include inserting an integrated repair interface attached to a cable delivery system within a gas turbine engine; positioning the tip adjacent to a defect within a surface of the component; temporarily attaching the tip adjacent to the defect within the surface on the component; and drilling a hole into the base of the defect. An integrated repair interface is also provided.

A method for design in indenter apparatus for plastically straining a workpiece including a weld nugget, adjacent heat affected zones, and the adjacent parent-metal portions or new metal portions, throughout the weld nugget volume and heat affected zone, to produce threshold levels of uniform plastic strain which meet or exceed plastic strain levels that provide, when the weld nugget and heat affected zone is heat treated, a recrystallized grain structure metallurgically comparable to the grain structure of the parent-metal. The indenter provided by the optimization methods may be used to advantageously in a method for the repair of damaged rotors, including integrally bladed rotors, in gas turbine engines, such as in aircraft engines. Blades for gas turbine engines, including integrally bladed rotors, may be advantageously provided constructed by the methods taught.

A method is provided for servicing a jointed rotor blade of a wind turbine. The jointed rotor blade is positioned in a six o'clock position and a blade tip support element is secured to a tip section of the jointed rotor blade. A lift-support element is secured at a mounting location above the blade tip support element. A lifting line is coupled between the lift-support element and the blade tip support element. The tip section is separated from the root section of the jointed rotor blade such that the tip section is suspended above a support surface of the wind turbine via the blade tip support element and the lifting line. The tip section of the jointed rotor blade is serviced.

A method of furnace-less brazing of a substrate is provided. The method includes providing a substrate having a brazing region thereon; disposing braze precursor material containing a nickel powder, an aluminum powder, and a platinum group metal powder on the brazing region; and initiating an exothermic reaction of the braze precursor material such that the exothermic reaction produces a braze material that reaches a braze temperature above the liquidus temperature for the braze material. A braze precursor material is also provided.