The failure of engines on jet aircrafts during the past few years has prompted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to issue an “urgent” recommendation to increase inspections of the engines on U.S. aircraft. Such uncontained engine failures are particularly dangerous, because flying engine parts could puncture fuel or hydraulic lines, damage flight surfaces or even penetrate the fuselage and injure passengers. At issue is older engines found on small number of jets, and the safety and economic impact damage and fracture risk can have on aircraft engines. For example, high-pressure turbine blades are commonly removed from commercial aircraft engines that had been commercially flown by airlines. These engines were brought to the maintenance shop for refurbishment or overhaul. The blades were removed and inspected for damage. The damage was cataloged into three modes of failure, which are thermal-mechanical fatigue (TMF), Oxidation/Erosion (O/E), and Other (O). These show the complexity of damage in turbine engines and the different mechanisms associated with cause of damage. Hence, life prediction of turbine engine is crucial part of the management and sustainment plan to aircraft jet engine. Fretting is often the root cause of nucleation of cracks at attachment of structural components at or in the vicinity of the contact surfaces. Previous effort presented a model to predict fretting fatigue in turbine engine, which is one of the primary phenomena that leads to damage or failure of blade-disk attachments. The influence of thermal effect and temperature fluctuation during engine operation on fretting fatigue damage were investigated. Leveraging these existing capabilities, the present effort focuses on modeling another important damage mechanism in turbine engine blades, which is erosion at high temperatures. Thus a reaction-diffusion model is implemented in addition to the thermo-mechanical one. The model provides a mean to investigate erosion initiation and propagation in turbine engine blades.

Ram air turbine (RAT) is an emergency power source to supply power in case of the main engine and auxiliary engine lost power. Which can extract energy from airflow through rotating turbine. So it is important to investigate turbine aerodynamic performances. According to some type of RAT, we established a numerical model based on Navier–Stokes equation in rotating frames of reference. Calculation domain is divided into three fluid domains. All three regions are linked in the form of interface. Aerodynamic performance of RAT is simulated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) soft. The extracted power and rotor power coefficient are analyzed under different running conditions. Next, we also investigate RAT aerodynamic performance at different pitch angle and turbine speed. The pressure and velocity distribution on the blade surface are studied. Besides, the method of multiple rotation frame (MRF) is used to simulate mixed flow field of the RAT which pitch angle is adjustable. The simulation results show that: turbine output power and rotor power coefficient can meet the needs of aircraft by adjusting the pitch angle under various operation conditions. The optimal operating point could be obtained by calculating RAT aerodynamic performance. The distribution of blade surface pressure and velocity could provide an important reference for the optimization of turbine blade designing. MRF can be used to calculate turbine aerodynamic performance.

Gas turbines are the most important components in thermal power plants, and these components such as turbine has been studied carefully. Gas turbine components operate predominantly under elevated temperature and high stress, and consequently gradual deformation becomes temporally inevitable. In turbine blades, creep is common failure mechanism, and it is an important factor for design assessment. The gas turbine blade is a component operating at high elevated temperatures, requiring a cooling systems to reduce the temperature. Common power enhancement approach is to spray water into compressor, and it is how humidity becomes an important factor in creep failure mechanism. The humidity variability results in temperature level change during the turbine operation, potentially affecting the blades creep life. In this paper, first different creep life prediction models were classified, and then a new model is proposed for creep life considering humidity based on Arrhenius equation. In our study, failure criterion is rupture. As a case study, the creep life of Nimonic-90 alloy turbine blade was predicted using proposed method and compared with FEA results which collected by literature surveys. Proposed model is capable of predicting creep life with only knowing dry temperature (WAR = 0), and there is no need to measure blade temperature variation during operation. The influence of humidity (%WAR) were studied on turbine blades creep life, and results show that creep life of turbine blade increase with increasing humidity percentage.

In order to eliminate occurrences of flutter of low pressure turbine blades it is necessary to understand the associated unsteady aerodynamics. For this reason, an experimental and numerical study of controlled flutter (travelling wave mode) in a linear turbine blade cascade oscillating in a torsional as well as translation motion is conducted. Unsteady aerodynamic forces and moments were measured on a subsonic eight-blade turbine cascade rig where central four blades are flexibly mounted each with two degrees of freedom. Thin blades in the cascade represent the tip section of the last stage rotor blades, which defines the turbine overall performance. A commercially available 3D CFD software ANSYS CFX is used to simulate the unsteady aerodynamic loading in the blade cascade. Experimental data and simulations are compared and influence of aerodynamic forces and moments on flutter is analysed.

For many years, thermodynamic analysis was considered to be the principal tool that is used to predict the performance of a power plant. Recently, the environmental effect and the cost of power plants have been considered as important as the thermodynamic performance in design of power plants. Thus, researchers started to adopt a relevantly new approach called the exergoeconomic analysis which combines the thermodynamic technicalities as well as the economic analysis to design power plants. The exergoeconomic analysis provides crucial information that helps in foreseeing not only the thermodynamic performance but also all economic variables related to power plants. Increasing the efficiency of the power plant has been the major concern in power plants. Thus, the global approach of reaching high turbine inlet temperatures to improve the efficiency of power plants, has exposed the turbine blades to some serious problems. Thereby, cooling the turbine blades has become an important aspect that needs to be taken care of during the power plant operation. In this paper, a cooled gas turbine with intercooler, recuperator and reheater is adopted where it is incorporated with a cooling system. An exergoeconomic analysis accompanied by a sensitivity analysis was performed on the gas turbine cycle to determine the exergo-economic factor and the relative cost difference in addition to study the effect of different variables on the gas turbine thermal and exergetic efficiency, net specific work and the total cost rate. Average cost theory approach was adopted from various thermo-economic methodologies to determine the cost calculation during this investigation. The results showed a reduction in the total coolant mass flow rate in the base case where no cooling systems are integrated from 3.349 kg/s to 3.01 kg/s, 2.995 kg/s and 2.977 kg/s in the case of integrating the cooling systems triple stage Maisotsenko desiccant, triple stage precooling Maisotsenko desiccant and triple stage extra cooling Maisotsenko desiccant, respectively. Accordingly, the thermal efficiency has increased to reach 52.69%, 52.89% and 53.12% by the integration of TS-MD, TS-PMD and TS-EMD cooling systems, respectively.

Gas turbine blades are subjected to elevated heat loads due to highly turbulent hot gases exiting the combustor section. Several internal and external cooling techniques are used to protect the blades from such hostile environment. Trailing edge of a turbine blade is usually cooled with array of staggered cylindrical pins, which connects the pressure and suction side internal walls and hence provide improved structural integrity. However, the heat transfer enhancement levels for array of pin-fins is generally lower than jet impingement and ribbed channels. In this study, we present a three-tier impingement cooling design for blade trailing-edge and part of mid-chord region. In this design, pressure and suction side internal walls are subjected to oblique jet impingement. Three different configurations have been studied where we have systematically varied the jet diameters and number of jets in an array for different tiers. Numerical simulations have been carried out for different flow conditions, which corresponds to Reynolds numbers (based on 1st-passage jet diameter) ranging between 3000 and 46000. First two plenums had high levels of heat transfer due to oblique jet impingement, where the suction side internal wall representative surface, had higher heat transfer compared to the pressure side internal wall. Third tier had the lowest heat transfer due to triangle-like configuration where jets were almost parallel to pressure and suction side surfaces, and hence their effectiveness was lower than the oblique jet impingement in upstream two tiers.

Engine turbine blades operate at a high speed of rotation and are subjected to high temperature and pressure prevailing gas from the combustion chamber, making the working condition very harsh. In particular, the leading edge of the blade, which is directly subjected to high-temperature gas impacts, is the hottest part of the turbine. Therefore, it is of great importance to improve the protection of the blade leading edge and enhance the understanding of this part of the flow field and temperature field. This paper will focus on the phenomenon of wake deflection and study the film cooling characteristics of the turbine blade under rotating condition. The characteristics of pressure surface and suction surface of the blade are verified by numerical simulation. The contents cover the influence of the film hole diameter, pitch, blowing ratio, rotation number and the development process, the film cooling efficiency on the outflow of coolant film. The result shows that Coriolis force, centrifugal force and secondary flow induced by rotation will change the mainstream flow along the blade, which will lead to changes of pattern concerning the development of the film on the blade surface. In the process of wake development, deflection occurs in different directions at different positions, and the greater the rotation number is, the more obvious the degree of deflection will be. Studying the model with film holes on the leading edge of the blade, these phenomena can be observed along the downstream on the pressure and suction surfaces. Also, models with film holes independently set on the pressure and suction surfaces can be used as proof of these features. At the same time, this paper studies the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the leading-edge gas film under rotating condition and focuses on the influence of rotation on the outflow and the development processes of the wake. The gas film cooling models in rotating state of different film hole diameters and film hole radial spacing will also be compared to further understand the flow and heat transfer characteristics of film cooling on the leading edge of the blade.

This paper reports the experimental and numerical studies on the effects of rotating speed and blowing ratio on the film cooling performance of the hole near the leading edge on the suction side of the turbine blade. The chord and height of the blade are 60mm and 80mm respectively. The film hole with diameter of 0.8mm is located in the mid span on the suction side at axial location of 8%. The injection angle of the hole is 45° to the suction surface of the blade and is nearly perpendicular to the axial direction. Both experimental and numerical studies were carried out with rotating speeds of 300rpm, 450rpm and 600rpm, and with blowing ratios of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0. CO 2 was used as the coolant. Experimental data was measured by applying the Thermochromic Liquid Crystal (TLC) technique and the Stroboscopic Imaging Technique. Mainstream and coolant were heated to 308K and 318K respectively. Numerical studies were performed to assist the analysis of the experimental results. The SST turbulence model was applied in the simulations. Results show that the film cooling performance of the hole near the leading edge is different from that of the hole further downstream on the suction side. This is because the direction of the jet is nearly perpendicular to the axial direction, which increases the effect of the Coriolis force. Besides, the mainstream from leading edge also has effects on film cooling performance. With the increase of the blowing ratio, the film coverage area and spatially averaged film cooling effectiveness increase first and then decrease. The maximum film coverage and averaged film cooling effectiveness appear at blowing ratio of 1.0 and rotating speed of 300rpm. Moreover, the upward deflection angle of the film trajectory increases slightly with the increase of the blowing ratio. Higher rotating speed intensifies the deflection of the film trajectory. Therefore, the film coverage and the averaged film cooling effectiveness decrease rapidly.

Ni3Al based superalloy is a kind of intermetallics, it is a relatively new superalloy, its superior high temperature characteristic makes it the fifth generation aero-engine turbine blade material. The machinability of Ni3Al based superalloy is poor, and its process parameters have significant influence on grinding force and surface integrity. The creep feed grinding experiments of Ni3Al based superalloy IC10 were carried out with different process parameters. The experimental results show that the workpiece speed has the greatest effect on grinding force, surface roughness and 3D surface topography, followed by grinding depth, the wheel speed has the smallest influence. Grinding force is positively correlated with grinding depth and workpiece speed, and negatively correlated with grinding wheel speed. Similarly, surface roughness is positively correlated with grinding depth and workpiece speed, and negatively correlated with grinding wheel speed. The higher the workpiece speed, the deeper the grooves and the higher the peaks of the surface topography. In order to maintain high surface quality, small workpiece speed and grinding depth should be chosen during grinding process.

With global energy demands continually growing and environmental impacts a major concern in power production, maximizing the efficiencies of power plants is of top priority. EthosEnergy 2 has sponsored a project at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to study and analyze the brush seals in steam turbines in pursuit of increasing steam turbine thermodynamic efficiency. Brush seals are incorporated circumferentially around the turbine blades in their housing. The brush seals provide a very minimal clearance height that compensates for start-up rotor deviation and minimizes high-pressure steam blow-by around the edges of the blades. Brush seals minimize the clearance height between the blades and housing, which allows the turbine to produce more work. However, overtime brush seals can be damaged, greatly reducing efficiency. The seals that are repeatedly showing excessive wear and damage, occur in the high-pressure sections of steam turbines with high Reynolds numbers. The bristle breakdown is attributed to high Reynolds numbers and aerodynamic flutter. The purpose of this research is to design a prototype and empirically model steam turbine conditions with air to map out the fluid-solid interaction, determine the modes of bristle failure, and ultimately reproduce and record bristle flutter. A pressure vessel and pressure system was designed to test linear strips of brush seals with air as the working fluid. The pressure vessel accommodates varying clearance heights to identify the correlation of clearance height and the effects on fluid flow. The system also incorporates a high-speed camera that can capture the phenomena of flutter, precisely identify the modes of failure, and record fluid-solid interaction and the interaction of the bristles with each other. Designing a prototype to empirically model this problem serves as a fundamental and critical step in understanding the fluid interaction with seals in high-pressure steam turbines and will identify brush seal modes of failure. The prototype’s ability to model steam turbine conditions and rapidly test various seal designs will facilitate better brush seal designs to be constructed and will ultimately increase the thermal efficiencies of steam turbines, aid in accommodating the increase in global energy demands, and reduce the detrimental environmental impacts of producing power. The system successfully produced and recorded brush-seal-bristle flutter while modeling high-pressure steam turbine conditions. Matching Reynolds and Euler numbers of the steam turbine stages provided the ability to scale the steam turbine to our prototype, with air as the working fluid. Brush seal breakdown was occurring in steam turbines at Reynolds numbers above 20,000. The prototype repeatedly produced brush seal flutter at Reynolds numbers above 25,000, validating the theory that brush seal breakdown is dependent predominantly on the Reynolds number.

With the current increase in electricity consumption and energy demand, most of the research focus is shifted towards the means of increasing the power plants efficiency in order to produce more electricity by using as less fuel as possible. Gas turbine power plants specifically have been under the study in the recent years due to its feasibility, low capital cost, simple design, compact size and higher efficiency compared to steam turbine power plants. There are a lot of operating conditions that affect the performance of the gas turbine which includes the inlet air climatic conditions, mass flow rate and the turbine inlet temperature. Many improvements and enhancements became applicable through the advancement in the material and cooling technologies. Cooling techniques could be used to cool the inlet air entering the compressor by utilizing evaporative coolers and mechanical chillers, and to cool the turbine blades in order to avoid a decline in the life of turbine blades due to unwanted exposure to thermal stresses and oxidation. Internal convection cooling, film cooling and transpiration cooling are the three main techniques that can be used in the process of turbine blades cooling. The main objective of this proposal is to improve the durability and performance of gas turbine power plants by proposing the usage of integrated system of solid desiccant with Maisotsenko cooler in the turbine blade cooling and inlet air cooling processes. Four configurations were presented and the results were an increase in the efficiency of the gas turbine cycle for all the cases specially the two stage Maisotsenko desiccant cooling system where the efficiency increased from 33.33% to 34.17% as well as maintaining the turbine inlet temperature at a desired level of 1500°K.

Incompressible jets transversely issuing into a spatially-developing turbulent boundary layer is one of the most challenging and crucial types of three dimensional flows due to its fluid-dynamic complexity and technological applications; for instance, film cooling of turbine blades, chimney plumes, fuel injection, etc. In this investigation, Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of a jet in a crossflow under different streamwise pressure gradients (zero and favorable pressure gradient, hereafter ZPG and FPG) is performed. The goal is to accurately model the interaction between the wall-normal laminar jet with the incoming spatially-developing turbulent boundary layer in order to elucidate the physics behind the thermal coherent structures in crossflow jets at different streamwise pressure gradients (ZPG vs. FPG) and low velocity ratios (∼ 0.5). The analysis is done by prescribing accurate turbulent information (instantaneous velocity and temperature) at the inlet of a computational domain for simulations of spatially-developing turbulent boundary layers. The methodology is based on the Dynamic Multiscale Approach (DMA) by Araya et al. (JFM, Vol. 670, pp. 581–605, 2011). The major effect of strong FPG on crossflow jets has been identified as a damping process of the counter-rotating vortex pair system (CVP).

Thermal protection of components such as turbine blades is often done with thermal barrier coatings which are typically ceramic materials. Methods to manufacture ceramic coatings are being developed to create microstructures that optimize thermal protection without degrading mechanical properties of the coating. The coating requires sufficient mechanical properties to remain in place during loads associated with the operation of the component. The work presented in this paper is part of a broader effort that focuses on novel processing techniques. A fabrication method of interest is the inclusion of spherical micron-sized pores to scatter photons at high temperatures along with nano-sized grains to scatter phonons. Pores are sized and distributed so that mechanical strength is maintained. In the current work, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is modeled. Three-dimensional microstructures representing YSZ are computationally generated. The defect sizes and orientations are generated to match an experimentally observed distribution. The defects are either randomly or regularly placed in the microstructural models. Stress-displacement analysis is used to determine effective bulk material properties. Comparisons are made to prior two-dimensional work and to experimental measurements available in the literature as appropriate. The influences that defect distributions and three dimensional effects have on the effective bulk material properties are quantified. This work is a preliminary step toward understanding the impacts that micron sized pores, voids and cracks have on thermal and mechanical characteristics. The goal is to facilitate optimizing the microstructure for thermal protection and strength retention.

A hollowed NACA-0012 airfoil with removable inserts was developed to study the complex flow through two interior chambers. The geometry represented an internally cooled gas turbine blade with internal impingement in several locations. A fully turbulent water flow passed the airfoil. Within the airfoil, a second fluid at a different temperature was mixed through the insert nearest the leading edge and recirculated to the aft chamber for additional internal cooling before exiting the airfoil as film cooling on the suction side and at the trailing edge. Time-averaged, three-dimensional temperature and three-component velocity measurements were collected using Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI) based techniques. Magnetic Resonance Velocimetry (MRV) and Thermometry (MRT) are techniques for measuring the velocity and temperature of fully turbulent flows at sub-millimeter-scale resolution. The benefits of these techniques over similar measuring techniques include the ability to collect full-field, three-dimensional, nonintrusive, non-optical measurements for conjugate heat transfer simulation validation in complex, turbulent flows. Multiple MRI-based techniques can be combined within the same experiment to explore the interaction between the mean fields of multiple quantities. The experimental setup employed in this work produced time-averaged velocity and temperature data illustrating flow details through the airfoil’s interior chambers and heat flux through the entire airfoil and at specific locations.

Friction dampers are commonly used in jet and turboprop engines to decrease vibration stresses of turbine blades by irreversible conversion of mechanical energy into heat. Effectiveness of the energy transfer depends on dampers design, material and operational conditions. Optimization of dampers design is a complex task usually associated with nonlinear contact problems analysis and complicated experimental verification. It also coupled with high time costs causing the engineering task to be modified into compound research problem. The paper presents time effective numerical technique for gas turbine blades underplatform dry-friction dampers efficiency study. The presented technique is based on finite-element method with a numerical model reduction by Craig-Bampton and Guyan algorithms. The model consisted of dummy blades pair with wedge damper between the platforms. Technique allows considering three dimensional shapes of parts, nonlinear contact forces, friction, various operational loads and conditions. The model was verified by experiment completed on special test rig based on vibration shaker and 3D laser vibrometer. Relationship between the blades oscillation amplitude and the centrifugal load on the damper was obtained. Optimal operational range with maximum damper efficiency was defined. Impact of so called anti-phase and in-phase modes of adjacent blades on damper efficiency was investigated.

The key intent of the article is to describe clearly the strength issue of blades for aircraft engines, on the basis of which to create a calculation algorithm and apply it to a particular blade. The work then deals with a strength analysis of a rotor blade used in the gas turbine of an AL-7F-1 turbocharger aircraft engine. The article describes comprehensively in terms of strength the influences which act on the blade during operation. Generally, these loads can be divided into static load, which includes the tensile stress generated by the rotating mass of the blades, bending and torsion moments caused by the kinetic energy of the flowing gas. The last part of the article is dedicated to the issue of compensation of the bending moments acting on the turbine blades, resulting in analytical calculation of the blade inclination angles in the critical cross section.

Cylindrical pins, often called pin fins, are used to create turbulence and promote convective heat transfer within many devices, ranging from computer heat sinks to the trailing edge of jet engine turbine blades. Previous experiments have measured the time-averaged heat transfer over a single pin as well as the flow fields around the pin. However, in this study, focus is placed on the instantaneous heat flux around the centerline of a low aspect-ratio pin within an array. Time-mean and unsteady convective heat flux are measured around the circumference of an isothermal heated test pin via a microsensor located at the surface. The pin is positioned at various locations within a staggered array in a large-scale wind tunnel. Reynolds numbers from 3,000 to 50,000, based on pin diameter and maximum velocity between pins, are tested with a streamwise spacing of 1.73 diameters between rows, a spanwise spacing of 2 diameters, and a pin height of 1 diameter. The time-averaged and standard deviation of convective heat flux around the pin is higher over most of the pin surface for pins in downstream row positions of an array relative to the first row pin, except in the wake which has similar levels for all rows. For a given pin position in the array, as the Reynolds number increases, the point of minimum heat transfer moves circumferentially upstream on the pin fin, corresponding to earlier transition of the pin boundary layer. Also, for a given Reynolds number, the minimum heat transfer point on the pin circumference moves upstream for pins further into the array, due to the high turbulence levels within the array which cause early transition. For a single pin row with no downstream pins, heat transfer fluctuations are very high on the backside of the pin due to the significant unsteadiness in the pin wake, but heat transfer fluctuations are suppressed for a pin with downstream rows due to the confining effects of the close spacing. The results from this study can be used to design pin-fin arrays that take advantage of unsteadiness and increase overall convective heat transfer for various industry components.

Vibro-impact situations in beams arise in several applications including turbine blades, vibration energy harvesting, etc This paper presents dynamic analysis of vibro-impacting tapered beam having tip mass and impacting against two stops. It is well known in the literature that typical frequency response of a uniform cantilever impacting against single stop shows resonance frequency shift along with hysteretic jump and drop phenomena. This paper investigates interesting perturbations in the frequency response curves on account of addition of another stop for a tapered counterpart. A piecewise linear modeling is used to consider spring-damper model for impact and tapered beam mode shapes are obtained using differential transform method. It is demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically that more taper in the beam in general increases the peak amplitude ratio and two stops play important role in enhancement of peak amplitude ratio while keeping the frequency shift the same.

Thermal barrier coatings are often used to protect a component by reducing temperature excursions. Such coatings are in use on engineered products such as turbine blades. The work presented is part of a broader effort that is focusing on new and novel processing techniques for thermal barrier coatings. Manufacturing methods are being developed to create microstructures that optimize thermal protection while not degrading the mechanical properties of the coating. Sufficient mechanical properties are necessary so the coatings do not fail as a result of loadings associated with the operation of the component. One fabrication method investigated is the inclusion of spherical micron-sized pores to reflect heat radiation at high temperatures along with nano-sized grains to reflect phonons thus providing thermal protection. Pores are sized and distributed so that sufficient mechanical strength is maintained. In the current work the model material used is a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). Two-dimensional microstructures representing YSZ are computationally generated. The size and distribution of defects that have been experimentally observed to develop during bulk processing are incorporated into the computationally generated microstructural models. Heat transfer and stress-displacement analyses are performed to determine effective bulk material properties. Comparisons are made to experimental measurements available in the literature as appropriate. The influence that defect dimensions and distributions have on the effective bulk material properties are quantified as a first step understanding the impacts that micron sized pores, voids and cracks have on thermal and mechanical characteristics which will facilitate optimizing the microstructure for thermal protection and strength retention.

Utilizing the advantages of additive manufacturing methods, redesigning, building and testing of an existing integral Savonius / Darrieus “Lenz2 Wing” style vertical axis wind turbine is predicted to improve power generation efficiency. The current wind turbine blades and supports made from aluminum plate and sheet are limiting the power generation due to the overall weight. The new design is predicted to increase power generation when compared to the current design due to the lightweight spiral Darrieus shaped hollow blade made possible by 3D printing, along with an internal Savonius blade made from aluminum sheet and traditional manufacturing techniques. The design constraints include 3D printing the turbine blades in a 0.4 × 0.4 × 0.3 m work envelope while using a Stratasys Fortus 400mc and thus the wind turbine blades are split into multiple parts with dovetail joint features, when bonded together result in a 1.2 m tall working prototype. Appropriate allowance in the mating dovetail joints are considered to facilitate the fit and bonding, as well as angle, size and placement of the dovetail to maximize strength. The spiral shape and Darrieus style cross section of the blade that provides the required lift enabling it to rotate from the static condition are oriented laterally for 3D printing to maximize strength. The bonding of the dovetail joints is carried out effectively using an acetone solution dip. The auxiliary components of the wind turbine which include the center support pole, top and bottom support, and center Savonius blades are manufactured using lightweight aluminum. Design features are included in the 3D printed blade parts so that they can be assembled with the aluminum parts in bolted connections. Analysis of the 3D CAD models show that the hybrid aluminum and hollow 3D printed blade construction provides a 50% cost savings over a 3D printed fully solid blade design while minimizing weight and maximizing the strength where necessary. Analysis of the redesign includes a detailed weight comparison, structural strength and the cost of production. Results include linear static finite element analysis for the strength in dovetail joint bonding and the aluminum to 3D printed connections. Additional data reported are the time frame for the design and manufacturing of the system, budget, and an operational analysis of the wind turbine with concern for safety. Results are analyzed to determine the advantages in utilizing a hybrid additive manufacturing and aluminum construction for producing a more efficient vertical axis wind turbine. Techniques used in the production of this type of wind turbine blade are planned to be utilized in similar applications such as a lightweight hovercraft propeller blade design to be tested in future research projects.