A honeycomb-structured Ti-6Al-4V oil-gas separation rotor additively manufactured by selective electron beam melting for aero-engine applications

Oil-gas separation is a key process in an aero-engine lubrication system. This study reports an innovative development in oil-gas separation. A honeycomb-structured rotor with hexagonal cone-shaped pore channels has been designed, additively manufactured from Ti-6Al-4V using selective electron beam melting (SEBM) and assessed for oil-gas separation for aero-engine application. The Ti-6Al-4V honeycomb structure showed a high compressive strength of 110 MPa compared to less than 20 MPa for metal foam structures. The oil-gas separation efficiency of the honeycomb-structured separation rotor achieved 99.8% at the rotation speed of 6000 rpm with much lower ventilation resistance (17.3 kPa) than that of the separator rotor constructed using a Ni-Cr alloy foam structure (23.5 kPa). The honeycomb-structured Ti-6Al-4V separator rotor produced by SEBM provides a promising solution to more efficient oil-gas separation in the aero-engine lubrication system.