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The Department of Energy’s Turbine Airfoil Manufacturing Technology Program was initiated at PCC Airfoils, Inc./General Electric Power Generation Group. The specific program goal is to define manufacturing methods for single crystal (SX) technology to be applied to airfoil components for power generation applications. A number of technical issues are being addressed and these form the task structure of the program and will be discussed including: • Alloy Melt Practice to Reduce Sulfur Content in Alloys • Modification/Improvement of SX Casting Process • Core Materials and Design • Grain Orientation Control Melt desulfurization has successfully reduced sulfur to below 1 part/million with accompanying improvements in oxidation resistance compared to undesulfurized material. Casting variables have been identified which can optimize casting quality. Core material evaluations to date indicate the initial core compositions need to be optimized to eliminate core break during processing operations. Grain orientation control addresses the formation of a database to enable decisions to be made concerning the establishment of grain limit defect criteria. Liberalizing the defect criteria will have a positive effect on the producibility and yields associated with the SX castings. The planned testing has been formulated.

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