Case Study: Ingersoll Rand achieves higher compressor efficiency with PostProcess automated surface finishing

Ingersoll Rand - Customer Case Study

Ingersoll Rand, a global industrial manufacturing company, faced a significant challenge in manufacturing shrouded impellers for its compressors. While additive manufacturing (AM) allowed them to create the complex part monolithically, the as-printed metal components, especially within tiny internal channels, had a surface finish that was too rough to meet their exacting aerodynamic performance standards. Their existing manual finishing methods were inconsistent and unable to produce the required quality, preventing them from commercializing the new design. They brought this dilemma to PostProcess.

The solution implemented by PostProcess was the automated Hybrid DECI Duo system, which uses proprietary software and chemistry to finish parts. This system consistently achieved the required surface finish, producing a 70-80% reduction in average roughness (Ra) in under 20 minutes per part, allowing the impellers to pass aerodynamic testing. PostProcess provided Ingersoll Rand with a repeatable, efficient, and cost-effective process that uniformly treated the entire part, enabling the successful implementation of their new high-performance compressor design.

Ingersoll Rand

Ioannis Hatziprokopiou

Mechanical Engineer