The majority of the world’s electricity is produced by steam turbines consisting of a cascade of turbine blades designed to optimize the efficient conversion of kinetic steam energy to ...

Steam turbine blades require a very precise shape, with contoured curves that narrow toward the tip. Wire arc 3D printing had not previously been used to make a rotating component of this scale.

In the brake element, the steam- is delivered to the blades in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of the disks. Fastened to the shaft of the brake turbine is a hollow pulley provided ...