Design Optimization and Validation of a Power Turbine Blade for an Aero-Derivative Gas Turbine Upgrade

Author(s):  
Paolo Del Turco ◽  
Michele D’Ercole ◽  
Nicola Pieroni ◽  
Massimiliano Mariotti ◽  
Francesco Gamberi ◽  
...  

Major limitations for power turbine blades for oil & gas and industrial applications are Creep and HCF (High Cycle Fatigue). Power Turbine blades, being normally uncooled, are generally not affected by high temperature gradients; therefore LCF (Low Cycle Fatigue) doesn’t constitute their main limiting life factor. If creep is often not a limiting factor for aircraft engines blades, where inspection, maintenance and replacement intervals are more frequent, it becomes one of the key drivers for an industrial gas turbine where required flow path components life is at least one order larger. To avoid HCF failures, it would be desirable to avoid stimuli crossing natural frequencies in the entire operative range. However, due to the wide operative range and high number of stimuli present, the avoidance of potential resonance crossings is often not possible. This is the one of the reasons why a prototype validation campaign is usually performed, where, during the test, vibratory stress levels are compared to HCF endurance limits. This paper describes the processes used in GE Infrastructure Oil&Gas to verify, design, develop and test a PT (Power Turbine) blade for an upgraded 35 MW-class aero-derivative gas turbine. Initial assessment phases, new material selection, concurrent engineering efforts, bench testing characterization and final validation on FETT (First Engine to Test) are described. A particular focus is given to the analytical tools (i.e. modal cyclic symmetry analysis) used during the design phase and validation tests.

Author(s):  
Zhexin Wang ◽  
Yuwen Su ◽  
Jingpeng Feng

The material selection method is critically evaluated to enable high pressure (HP) turbine blades to deal with in-service damaging phenomena such as creep, low cycle fatigue and high cycle fatigue, oxidation and corrosion. The material selection method is analyzed in order to improve the service life of the aero engine. To increase the turbine inlet temperature, HP turbine blades need improved creep and fatigue resistance. more quality. By the typical working condition of HP turbine blade, using CES Edu Pack (CES) material selection software was used to select suitable materials for HP turbine blade material. Nickel based alloys are selected for HP turbine blades, such as Nickel-Cr-Co-Mo superalloy.


Author(s):  
Firat Irmak ◽  
Navindra Wijeyeratne ◽  
Taejun Yun ◽  
Ali Gordon

Abstract In the development and assessment of critical gas turbine components, simulations have a crucial role. An accurate life prediction approach is needed to estimate lifespan of these components. Nickel base superalloys remain the material of choice for gas turbine blades in the energy industry. These blades are required to withstand both fatigue and creep at extreme temperatures during their usage time. Nickel-base superalloys present an excellent heat resistance at high temperatures. Presence of chromium in the chemical composition makes these alloys highly resistant to corrosion, which is critical for turbine blades. This study presents a flexible approach to combine creep and fatigue damages for a single crystal Nickel-base superalloy. Stress and strain states are used to compute life calculations, which makes this approach applicable for component level. The cumulative damage approach is utilized in this study, where dominant damage modes are capturing primary microstructural mechanism associated with failure. The total damage is divided into two distinctive modules: fatigue and creep. Flexibility is imparted to the model through its ability to emphasize the dominant damage mechanism which may vary among alloys. Fatigue module is governed by a modified version of Coffin-Manson and Basquin model, which captures the orientation dependence of the candidate material. Additionally, Robinson’s creep rupture model is applied to predict creep damage in this study. A novel crystal visco-plasticity (CVP) model is used to simulate deformation of the alloy under several different types of loading. This model has capability to illustrate the temperature-, rate-, orientation-, and history-dependence of the material. A user defined material (usermat) is created to be used in ANSYS APDL 19.0, where the CVP model is applied by User Programmable Feature (UPF). This deformation model is constructed of a flow rule and internal state variables, where the kinematic hardening phenomena is captured by back stress. Octahedral, cubic and cross slip systems are included to perform simulations in different orientations. An implicit integration process that uses Newton-Raphson iteration scheme is utilized to calculate the desired solutions. Several tensile, low-cycle fatigue (LCF) and creep experiments were conducted to inform modeling parameters for the life prediction and the CVP models.


Author(s):  
Mauro Filippini ◽  
Stefano Foletti ◽  
Giuseppe Pasquero

In gas turbine engines for aerospace propulsion, the application of coatings on HP and LP stage blading where the highest temperatures are experienced is a common practice to prevent environmental degradation. However, since the strength of the coating is lower than that of the substrate material, upon loading the static strength of the coating may be exceeded and coating cracking may occur. In order to assess the effect of cracking in the coating on polycrystalline nickel superalloy MAR-M002, a number of combined cycle fatigue (CCF) and low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests with and without dwell have been carried out, at temperatures up to 870 °C. In order to experimentally assess the potential detrimental effect of coating cracking, controlled cracking in the coating prior to fatigue testing has been generated by using a special procedure. CCF tests have carried out by superimposing to strain controlled zero to maximum LCF cycles with dwell time stress controlled smaller HCF cycles, simulating the high loading ratio vibrations occurring in the blades. The loading mode applied in the CCF tests, even if much simpler than effective service conditions, is sufficiently representative of the loading experienced by the materials in correspondence of critical geometrical features of the turbine blades, where HCF amplitudes due to blade vibrations are superimposed to major (ground-air-ground) LCF cycles occurring during the regular service of the gas turbine engines. Comparison of the CCF and of the LCF tests with dwell with conventional LCF tests is presented herein, with special consideration of the effect of coating cracking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-677
Author(s):  
Z. A. Duriagina ◽  
V. V. Kulyk ◽  
O. S. Filimonov ◽  
A. M. Trostianchyn ◽  
N. B. Sokulska

The influence of various factors on the workability of critical metallic parts of a gas turbine engine (GTE) is analysed and systematized. As shown, compressor blades fail as a result of foreign-objects’ damage, gas corrosion, and erosion. Compressor blade roots in most cases fail due to fretting wear caused by vibrations, while the fir-tree rim of turbine discs fails due to low-cycle fatigue (LCF) damage and creep. An increase in the radial gaps between the rotor and stator of the turbine reduces the thrust force and causes changes in the gas-dynamic loading of the engine components. Additional oxidation of metal parts is observed under the action of hot gases from the combustion chamber. The principles of material selection for manufacturing turbine blades and disks, concepts of alloying heat-resistant alloys, and modern methods of surface engineering due to applying protective oxidation-resistant coatings, in particular, chemical vapour deposition (CDV), physical vapour deposition (PVD), air plasma spraying (APS), etc., are also described. To predict the lifetime of turbine disks, it is proposed to use the modified Walker model and Miner’s rule. To specify the time before the failure of the metal blades of the turbine, it is proposed to use the finite element method. To monitor the working-surfaces’ deformations of the gas turbine engine, it is recommended to use optical-digital methods.


Author(s):  
Dr. Ramakotaiah Maddumala

A turbine blade is a machine component which makes up the turbine section of a gas turbine. These blades are responsible for extracting energy from the high temperature, high pressure gas produced by the combustor. The turbine blades are often the limiting component of the gas turbine. To survive in this difficult environment , turbine blades often use exotic materials like super alloys and many different methods of cooling , such as internal air channels and thermal barrier coatings. A common failure mode for turbine machine is high cycle of fatigue of compressor and turbine blades due to high dynamic stress caused by blade vibration and temperature has significant effect on gas turbine blades. The stresses with detrimental effect to the nozzle and blade were principally of thermal type, developed due to high temperature gradients across the air foil wall. These generate thermal fatigue mechanism and high steady state load leading to creep mechanism. In this project, a turbine blade is designed and modelled in NX Unigraphics software which is an advanced high-end CAD/CAE/CAM. The design is modified by changing the base of the blade to increase overall efficiency. Since the design of turbo machinery is complex and efficiency is directly related to material performance and material selection is of prime importance. In this project few materials are considered for turbine blade –titanium alloy and Nickel alloy. Optimisation will be done by varying the materials by performing structural analysis and thermal analysis on the turbine blades for both the designs


Author(s):  
Keisuke Makino ◽  
Ken-Ichi Mizuno ◽  
Toru Shimamori

NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. has been developing various silicon nitride materials, and the technology for fabricating components for ceramic gas turbines (CGT) using theses materials. We are supplying silicon nitride material components for the project to develop 300 kW class CGT for co-generation in Japan. EC-152 was developed for components that require high strength at high temperature, such as turbine blades and turbine nozzles. In order to adapt the increasing of the turbine inlet temperature (TIT) up to 1,350 °C in accordance with the project goals, we developed two silicon nitride materials with further unproved properties: ST-1 and ST-2. ST-1 has a higher strength than EC-152 and is suitable for first stage turbine blades and power turbine blades. ST-2 has higher oxidation resistance than EC-152 and is suitable for power turbine nozzles. In this paper, we report on the properties of these materials, and present the results of evaluations of these materials when they are actually used for CGT components such as first stage turbine blades and power turbine nozzles.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document