Additive Manufacture of Prototype Turbine Blades for Hot-Fired Engine Performance Validation Trials

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Adair ◽  
Michael Kirka ◽  
Daniel Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Engine Performance ◽  
Nickel Superalloy ◽  
Additive Manufacture ◽  
Machining Processes ◽  
Engine Operation ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
3D Print

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a rapidly developing technology with tremendous potential in both developmental and production applications. Solar Turbines Incorporated is committed to AM technology for gas turbine applications. The ability to metal 3D print novel designs of turbine blades capable of actual turbine engine operation would effectively reduce design validation cycle time, and allow acquisition of key performance data early in a design campaign. In support of Solar’s advanced manufacturing development and ongoing engine efficiency improvement goals, Solar initiated a project to print a full set of Mercury™ 50 stage 2 turbine blades to be run in a development engine. Solar leveraged years of experience with design and serial production of AM components in support of this project. A significant challenge faced when printing turbine blades is producing metal with mechanical properties sufficient to withstand the rigors of engine operation. As a rotating component within the hot section of the engine, turbine blades experience high centrifugal and pressure loads at elevated temperatures. After investigation of possible alloys capable of meeting the requirements of the Mercury™ 50 design envelope, the gamma prime (γ’) strengthened nickel superalloy Inconel™ 738LC was selected to provide the best opportunity for successful development engine testing. Solar partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to produce the Inconel™ 738LC blades with Electron Beam Melting (EBM) powder bed fusion process. Once a rough blade shape was printed, the fir-tree attachment, blade tip shroud, and air flow path surfaces were finished using both conventional and non-conventional machining processes. In-process monitoring, metallurgical evaluations, mechanical testing, and non-destructive inspection techniques were used to validate the printed blade material integrity and conformance to geometric design intent. Planned future activities include assembly of the AM blades onto a disk for spin pit testing to validate the mechanical integrity and design margin of the blades. The final phase of the project will be to install the bladed disk assembly into a Mercury™ 50 engine at Solar Turbines to conduct a series of hot-fired engine performance tests.

CROLOY 9V

Alloy Digest ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Corrosion Resistance ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Ferritic Steel ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Heat Treating ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Oxidation And Corrosion ◽  
The U.S

Abstract CROLOY 9V is a ferritic steel modified with columbium. It was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Compared with Croloy 9M (the 9Cr-1Mo alloy) Croloy 9V provides improved strength, toughness and fatigue life with good oxidation and corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures. The alloy should be of interest to designers of a wide variety of equipment used to produce energy. Impressive test data indicate that Croloy 9V is capable of meeting the requirements of a variety of other applications. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, microstructure, hardness, elasticity, and tensile properties. It also includes information on corrosion resistance as well as forming, heat treating, machining, and joining. Filing Code: SA-402. Producer or source: Babcock & Wilcox Company.

Oxidation Behavior of Prospective Silicon Nitride Materials for Advanced Microturbine Applications

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjoern Schenk ◽  
Tom Strangman ◽  
Elizabeth J. Opila ◽  
R. Craig Robinson ◽  
Dennis S. Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Environmental Barrier ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Oxidation Test ◽  
Environmental Barrier Coating ◽  
Barrier Coating ◽  
Engine Testing

Various laboratory tests have shown that high-pressure water vapor environments combined with elevated temperatures and intermediate gas velocities (current facilities limited to about 50 m/s) can cause grain boundary degradation and material recession in silica formers. Recent tests include burner rig testing conducted by NASA [1], Honeywell Engines & Systems [2], Siemens Power Generation [3], CRIEPI in Japan [4, 5], “Keiser rig” testing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) [6], and engine testing in the Allison 501K industrial gas turbine [7]. This paper presents a summary of oxidation test data of candidate silicon nitride materials for advanced microturbine applications. These data are of interest to microturbine component designers in order to determine the limits of safe unprotected component operation with respect to the given turbine environment, as well as to understand the behavior of ceramic microturbine components once local spallation of the protective environmental barrier coating has occurred. This paper intends to give materials and engine development engineers some guidance with respect to the different test facility capabilities and the prevailing oxidation/recession mechanisms to better understand/interprete the oxidation test results when developing new ceramic material compositions and environmental barrier coating systems.

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of IN738LC Nickel Superalloy Castings

2014 ◽  
Vol 782 ◽  
pp. 437-440
Author(s):  
Jiří Zýka ◽  
Irena Andršová ◽  
Božena Podhorná ◽  
Karel Hrbáček
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Nickel Superalloy ◽  
Nickel Base Superalloy ◽  
Gamma Prime ◽  
Structure Correlations ◽  
Nickel Base ◽  
Precipitate Strengthening

IN738LC is a cast nickel-base superalloy developed for applications requiring high strength at elevated temperatures. Its balanced composition provides a good combination of tensile and creep-rupture properties as a result of gamma prime precipitate strengthening enhanced by solid solution and grain-boundary strengthening. Experimental castings are used in heat treated state. This alloy is used widely, for example, for manufacturing of gas turbine blades. Recently, customers demand different weight of castings hence different conditions during solidifying and cooling of the castings originate, resulting in different castings microstructure. When approving the castings, mechanical values are measured by tensile test on test bars made from the cast blade roots. This work investigates mechanical properties casting structure correlations, particularly grain, casting defects, carbides.

scholarly journals Cementitious Radioactive Waste Hosts Formed Under Elevated Temperatures and Pressures (Fuetap Concretes)

1981 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Dole ◽  
J. G. Moore ◽  
G. C. Rogers ◽  
G. A. West ◽  
H. E. Devaney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fly Ash ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Portland Cement ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Waste Forms ◽  
Oak Ridge National Laboratory ◽  
High Level

ABSTRACTConcretes formed under elevated temperatures and pressures (FUETAP concretes) are effective hosts for transuranic (TRU) and high-level defense and commercial wastes.Tailored cement formulations developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) use Portland cement, fly ash, sand, and clay additives. These FUETAP concretes are cured under mild autoclave conditions, then the unbound water is removed.This paper summarizes the FUETAP development program. These continuous studies address the major questions concerning the performance of radioactive waste forms.

Mechanical Properties Evaluation of Generation-I SX-SiC

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Srinivasan ◽  
K. Y. Chia ◽  
S. K. Lau ◽  
R. S. Storm ◽  
M. K. Ferber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Mechanical Property ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Stress Rupture ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
High Toughness

Mechanical properties of a developmental high strength and high toughness SiC, Generation I SX, have been evaluated under a Department of Energy (DOE)/Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) subcontract. The mechanical properties determined included flexural strength, tensile strength, and fracture toughness at room and elevated temperatures. Stress rupture, dynamic fatigue and creep at elevated temperatures also have been evaluated. The strength limiting factors have been identified at room and elevated temperatures. The strength controlling mechanisms are discussed. The microstructure-mechanical property relationship has been established.

Microstructural and Mechanical Characterization of a Hybrid Oxide CMC Combustor Liner After 25,000-Hour Engine Test

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karren L. More ◽  
Larry R. Walker ◽  
Yanli Wang ◽  
Edgar Lara-Curzio ◽  
Tracie M. Brummett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Damage ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Ceramic Matrix Composite ◽  
Microstructural Characterization ◽  
Oxide Ceramic ◽  
Field Exposure ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Combustion Gases ◽  
Combustor Liner

A hybrid oxide ceramic matrix composite (CMC) outer combustor liner was tested in a Solar Turbines Incorporated Centaur® 50S engine between 2003 and 2006, accumulating >25,000 hours of field exposure. The hybrid CMC liner, which was ∼76 cm in diameter, had an alumina matrix with a Nextel 720 fiber-reinforcement (A/N720). The CMC, produced by ATK-COI Ceramics, Inc., was coated with a ceramic insulation layer known as FGI (Friable Graded Insulation) developed by Siemens Energy Incorporated. Post-test microstructural and mechanical evaluation was conducted on the field-exposed liner at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to determine the types of surface and structural damage that occurred to the combustor liner during engine exposure to elevated temperatures (>1200°C), thermal cycling (stop-start cycles), and combustion gases (especially water vapor). In this study, numerous sections were cut from the liner for mechanical and microstructural characterization that exhibited varying amounts of FGI and/or CMC degradation. In this way, damage accumulation was assessed (1) within the CMC and FGI layers, both on the gas-path surface and below the surface and (2) as a function of liner position (fore-to-aft) in the engine. The amount and type of damage observed was directly related to the starting CMC and FGI microstructures. The tensile strength of the hybrid liner after field exposure was found to be 19 MPa. The FGI layer remained well bonded to the CMC and the fracture surface of the CMC exhibited scissor-like features, which is typical of composites with ±45° fiber architecture. The stress acting on the CMC at failure was 53 MPa.

scholarly journals Fabrication of a Simple Materials System for Study of Hg in a Stainless Steel

1998 ◽  
Vol 540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen ◽  
Anthony W. Mccormick ◽  
Bernard J. Kestel ◽  
Peter M. Baldo ◽  
Nestor J. Zaluzec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
In Situ Tem ◽  
Engineering System ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Materials Engineering ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
Intense Radiation

AbstractThe Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), currently under construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is expected to employ a Hg target encased in a stainless steel. Little is known about the metallurgical behavior of this materials engineering system, which will occur in a service environment involving elevated temperatures and intense radiation. Under normal equilibrium conditions, however, Hg is known to be insoluble in and non-reactive with solid Fe and Cr but to form one or more intermetallics with Ni. Hg has been implanted into alloy 304L. After implantations at 400 and 500 °C to a fluence of 3×1016 cm−2 sub-micron sized precipitates of Hg are formed, as judged, for example, from their solidification behavior on cooling during TEM observation. The formation of such a system of microtargets and possible studies employing them as in situ TEM specimens are discussed, which can provide useful empirical information in conjunction with SNS target development.

scholarly journals Characterization Of Ceramic Matrix Composites Fabricated By Chemical Vapor Infiltration

1989 ◽  
Vol 168 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Stinton ◽  
D. M. Hembree ◽  
K. L. More ◽  
B. W. Sheldon ◽  
T. M. Besmann
Keyword(s):  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Ceramic Matrix Composites ◽  
Chemical Vapor Infiltration ◽  
Matrix Composites ◽  
Infiltration Process ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Sic Composites

AbstractA process for the preparation of fiber-reinforced SiC composites by chemical vapor deposition has been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Composites are prepared by infiltrating fibrous preforms with reactant gases that decompose at elevated temperatures to deposit silicon carbide between and around the fibers. Because the infiltration process utilizes both temperature and pressure gradients, SiC is deposited under conditions that vary considerably from the hot face to the cool face of the composite. Matrix characterization of composite samples by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy are described.

Plug-in scripts for EFTEM automation

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 546-547
Author(s):  
N. D. Evans ◽  
M. K. Kundmann
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Multiple User ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Short Period ◽  
User Facility ◽  
Instrument Control ◽  
And Control ◽  
Research Equipment

Post-column energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) is inherently challenging as it requires the researcher to setup, align, and control both the microscope and the energy-filter. The software behind an EFTEM system is therefore critical to efficient, day-to-day application of this technique. This is particularly the case in a multiple-user environment such as at the Shared Research Equipment (SHaRE) User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Here, visiting researchers, who may oe unfamiliar with the details of EFTEM, need to accomplish as much as possible in a relatively short period of time.We describe here our work in extending the base software of a commercially available EFTEM system in order to automate and streamline particular EFTEM tasks. The EFTEM system used is a Philips CM30 fitted with a Gatan Imaging Filter (GIF). The base software supplied with this system consists primarily of two Macintosh programs and a collection of add-ons (plug-ins) which provide instrument control, imaging, and data analysis facilities needed to perform EFTEM.

Electron and ion irradiation-induced dissolution of mechanical twins in the intermetalic U3Si: An in situ HVEM study

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 652-653
Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen ◽  
Robert C. Birtcher
Keyword(s):  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Ion Irradiation ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Argonne National Laboratory ◽  
Heavy Ion ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Mechanical Twinning ◽  
In Situ Experiments

The uranium silicides, including U3Si, are under study as candidate low enrichment nuclear fuels. Ion beam simulations of the in-reactor behavior of such materials are performed because a similar damage structure can be produced in hours by energetic heavy ions which requires years in actual reactor tests. This contribution treats one aspect of the microstructural behavior of U3Si under high energy electron irradiation and low dose energetic heavy ion irradiation and is based on in situ experiments, performed at the HVEM-Tandem User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. This Facility interfaces a 2 MV Tandem ion accelerator and a 0.6 MV ion implanter to a 1.2 MeV AEI high voltage electron microscope, which allows a wide variety of in situ ion beam experiments to be performed with simultaneous irradiation and electron microscopy or diffraction.At elevated temperatures, U3Si exhibits the ordered AuCu3 structure. On cooling below 1058 K, the intermetallic transforms, evidently martensitically, to a body-centered tetragonal structure (alternatively, the structure may be described as face-centered tetragonal, which would be fcc except for a 1 pet tetragonal distortion). Mechanical twinning accompanies the transformation; however, diferences between electron diffraction patterns from twinned and non-twinned martensite plates could not be distinguished.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document