Effect of APS Flash Bond Coatings on Furnace Cycle Lifetime of Disks and Rods

Air plasma sprayed (APS) flash coatings on high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) bond coatings are well known to extend the lifetime of thermal barrier coatings. Recent work compared flash coatings of NiCoCrAlY and NiCoCrAlYHfSi applied to both rods and disk substrates of alloy 247. For rod specimens, 100-h cycles were used at 1100°C in wet air. Both flash coatings significantly improved the lifetime compared to HVOF-only and VPS-only MCrAlY bond coatings with no statistical difference between the two flash coatings. For disk specimens tested in 1-h cycles at 1100°C in wet air, the NiCoCrAlY flash coating significantly outperformed an HVOF-only NiCoCrAlYHfSi bond coating and a NiCoCrAlYHfSi flash coating. The flash coatings formed a mixed oxide-metal zone that appeared to inhibit crack formation and extend lifetime. In addition to the flash coating increasing the bond coating roughness, the underlying HVOF layer acted as a source of Al for this intermixed zone and prevented the oxide from penetrating deeper into the bond coating. The lower Y+Hf level in the Y-only flash coating appeared to minimize oxidation in the flash layer, thereby increasing the benefit compared to a NiCoCrAlYHfSi flash coating.

Vibration Based Condition Monitoring of Helicopter Gearboxes Based on Cyclostationary Analysis

The core of a helicopter drivetrain is a complex planetary main gearbox (MGB) which reduces the high input speed generated by the engines in order to provide the appropriate torque to the main rotors and to other auxiliary systems. The gearbox consists of various shafts, planetary gears and bearings and operates under varying conditions under excessive friction, heat and high mechanical forces. The components are vulnerable to fatigue defects and therefore Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) have been developed in order to monitor the health condition of the gearbox, focusing towards early, accurate and on time fault detection with limited false alarms and missed detections. The main aim of a HUM System is by health monitoring to enhance the helicopters’ operational reliability, to support the maintenance decision making, and to reduce the overall maintenance costs. The importance and the need for more advanced and accurate HUMS have been emphasized recently by the post-accident analysis of the helicopter LN-OJF, which crashed in Norway in 2016. During the last few decades various methodologies and diagnostic indicators/features have been proposed for the monitoring of rotating machinery operating under steady conditions but still there is no global solution for complex structures. A new tool called IESFOgram has been recently proposed by the authors, based on Cyclostationary Analysis, focusing on the accurate selection of a filtering band, under steady and varying speed conditions. Moreover the Cyclic Spectral Coherence is integrated along the selected frequency band leading to an Improved Envelope Spectrum. In this paper the performance of the tool is tested on a complex planetary gearbox, with several vibration sources. The method is tested, evaluated and compared to state of the art methods on a dataset captured during experimental tests under various operating conditions on a Category A Super Puma SA330 main planetary gearbox, presenting seeded bearing defects of different sizes.

Characterization of an Additively Repaired Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

A major disadvantage regarding integrally bladed rotors (IBRs: also referred to as blisks) is the ability to repair damage. Since it is a single part, anything beyond a minor dent requires full removal and either an expensive replacement or a complicated repair. Repair approaches gaining attention include additive metal build-up techniques such as blown powder directed energy deposition (DED). As a start and to attain confidence in such repairs, the characterization of additively modified specimens is required. The work presented here involved the tensile and fatigue testing of stock, annealed Ti-6Al-4V and DED repaired specimens. Thin, dog-bone standard test coupons, consisting of half stock material and half additively manufactured (AM) material with a bond line in the center of the specimen gauge section, were mechanically characterized via tensile and fatigued tests. The behaviors of these “50/50 AM repaired” Ti-6A1-4V coupons were compared to 100% stock Ti-6A1-4V coupons. In addition, metallography and post-test fractography were performed to study the microscopic characteristics and failure initiation sites with special attention to the grain structures in the vicinity of the bond lines. The AM repaired coupons did show a slight degradation in mechanical properties compared to the stock material of this study (tensile strength and elongation as well as fatigue life), with the microstructural dissimilarities explaining the variances. Even so, the AM repaired specimen properties were acceptable and compared favorably to other published results for stock annealed Ti-6A1-4V.

Modeling Thermally Grown Oxides in Thermal Barrier Coatings Using Koch Fractal

Growth of the Thermally Grown Oxide (TGO) between the bond coat and thermal barrier coating (TBC) during service is one of the most common causes of failure within thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems. Initially this oxide will provide protection from oxidation for the substrate, but stress build up will contribute to delamination of the topcoat. Research has been carried out over the stresses caused by this TGO growth, and how to best mitigate these induced stresses. The interface topography plays a critical role for air plasma sprayed (APS) TBCs in development of stress profiles across the TGO/TBC interface [1, 2]. The APS TBCs fail by cracking in the TBC close to the TGO-TBC interface. Most models treat TGO as a sinusoidal wavelength interface. However, most TGO surfaces have been experimentally observed to have fractal like patterns at the interfacial region of the bondcoat and topcoat. Fractals provide us a better understanding of interactions at rough interfaces between two materials adhered to one another. In this work, we model the topography of the TGO using a Koch fractal. We find the geometry selected to model the TGO layer has a direct effect on the stress generation and creep strain during simulation.

Complex Design Method of Ceramic Blades and Metal Disk Connection

This paper presents a complex approach to designing ceramic blades dovetail joints. Two ceramic materials were considered: diamond reinforced silicon carbide and hot pressed silicon nitride (only in contact testing). The model blades were made from diamond reinforced silicon carbide due to its availability and mature technology. Part 1 describes the models of mechanical and thermal contact and contains experimental data on contact strength and thermal contact conductance. Part 2 investigates the effect of stress concentration and scale factor on the fracture of ceramic test pieces. Part 3 proposes a theoretical-experimental method to estimate friction coefficient in a dovetail joint. We also investigated the character of the ceramic blades fracture during the rotor spin-up. Part 4 deals with automating the design process of the ceramic blades dovetail joints using experimental data.

Modeling the Torsional Cyclic Response of Direct Metal Laser Sintered Inconel 718

The aerospace propulsion industry has seen strides in the use of the additive manufacturing (AM) technology in the rapid prototyping and geometric design flexibility of aerospace parts, with concurrent efforts on 3D printing turbine engine blades of Inconel 718 material [1] for use in aircraft engines. The tensile, compressive and axial fatigue response of AM Inconel 718, along with associated constitutive modeling of the material response exhibited under these mechanical test conditions have been reported. However, in addition to understanding the axial behavioral response exhibited by this material, assessing the role of cyclic shear stresses, through experimental testing and constitutive modeling can provide preliminary insight into the mechanical behavior of AM Inconel 718 under multiaxial loading conditions. This study has presented a novel approach to constitutively model the experimental cyclic shearing deformation of as-built direct metal laser sintered (DMLS) Inconel 718, manufactured along varying build orientations in the xy, yz and xz planes, compared with wrought annealed Inconel 718. Specimens were subjected to completely reversible torsional fatigue tests at room temperature, under angle of twist control. The experimental cyclic shearing response was modeled through the use of the Chaboche model, from which optimized constants are reported with build orientation; and the specimen deformation, under angle of twist control, was captured through a finite-element simulation model of the cylindrical gauge section of the specimens. Overall this study yields a comprehensive understanding of the experimental and modeled cyclic shearing response of an additively manufactured metal, which is vital to develop these components to be conducive for the multiaxial fatigue conditions to which they are subjected to in the gas turbine industry.

Laser Additive Manufacturing of Titanium Aluminides for Turbomachinery Applications

The defect-free processing of TiAl alloy TNM™-B1 by means of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is demonstrated by manufacturing of an automobile turbocharger wheel. Similar precision cast material was used as reference. TNM™-B1 was manufactured crack free with a density > 99.5% using elevated process temperatures above the brittle-to-ductile transient temperature (BDTT). The preheating temperature was provided by an induction preheating system. To minimize oxygen pick up during the LPBF process, the process atmosphere was actively cleaned using a gas-purification system. Produced test samples were analyzed in as-built and heat-treated condition regarding density, micro structure and phases by means of a Light Optical Microscope (LOM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Micro hardness was measured according to Vickers. Oxidation measurements were performed by means of carrier-gas hot extraction. Mechanical properties were determined using room temperature tensile tests. The final automobile turbocharger wheel was analyzed for defects using a Micro-Computer Tomography scanner (MCT). Besides bulk test samples, thin-walled specimens can be manufactured with sufficient density. Depending on the process parameters, an oxygen content < 1000 ppm could be reached. The as-built microstructure consists of lamellar (α2+γ) colonies and nearly globular γ as well as β/β0 at the grain boundaries. High cooling rates in the magnitude of 105 to 106 K/s provide small grain sizes of 1–7 μm. Hardness measurements reveal an increased hardness (515-560HV0.3) compared to cast material (390HV0.3). Samples for tensile tests show tensile strength around 840 MPa and a total elongation of 1.1% for LPBF-manufactured and hot isostatic pressed (HIP) samples. The CT analysis of the turbocharger wheel confirms that complex geometries made of TiAl can be additively manufactured free of cracks.

Foreign Object Impact Damage in Ceramic Matrix Composites: Experiments and Computational Predictions

Foreign object impact of Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) materials and components in a gas turbine engine environment could be detrimental to engine performance and hence must be accounted for in the design of such components. This paper is concerned with experiments and computational modeling of foreign object impact phenomenon in Silicon Carbide-based CMC. Controlled impact experiments were conducted on the CMC material using a gas-gun apparatus with spherical hardened steel projectile. The internal damage state within the CMC specimens was assessed using X-ray computed tomography scan technique. The computational modeling involved explicit dynamic finite element simulation of the impact process wherein either delamination mechanism is modeled or both ply damage and delamination mechanisms are modeled in a coupled manner. The delamination mechanism is modeled explicitly using cohesive-zone fracture mechanics approach, whereas, the ply damage mechanisms are modeled implicitly using simplified continuum damage mechanics approach. The simulation results were found to be in reasonable qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, it is shown that modeling both the ply damage and delamination mechanisms are essential to predict the correct delamination pattern even for intermediate velocity impacts that leads to predominantly delamination damage. The predictive nature of the modeling approach is demonstrated and approaches to enhance the models are also discussed.

High Temperature Fatigue Assessment of a SiCf/SiC Ceramic Matrix Composite Using Advanced Monitoring Techniques

Laboratory based experiments to assess the “damage tolerance” of any new material system are a pre-requisite to engineering design, especially for aerospace components. In the case of CMCs, macro-scale specimens are preferred containing representative fibre-matrix architectures that support the definition of mechanical properties under service representative stress states. The combination of complex internal structure and inevitable processing artefacts within CMCs provides numerous sites for damage initiation. Damage then progresses in an inhomogeneous manner prior to ultimate failure at some critical location. Traditional techniques employed for strain measurement (extensometry/strain gauges) prove to be ineffective tools when testing these advanced composites. More complex characterization is essential in order to assess the localised response of the material. Advanced techniques, specifically digital image correlation and acoustic emission, have been applied to the evaluation of an CVI/MI silicon carbide reinforced/silicon carbide CMC tested at the elevated temperature of 800°C under fatigue loading. The spatial and temporal indications of damage were correlated to the observable forms of damage initiation and progression. Ancillary use of an in-situ SEM loading stage provided insight into the crack opening and closing mechanisms active within this material when under cyclic stress.

Development of High Speed and High Temperature Atomic Layer Thermopiles

This work aims to provide a technique with which high frequency heat flux measurement data can be acquired in systems with high operational temperatures and high-speed flows with quantifiable and accurate uncertainty estimates. This manuscript presents the detailed calibration and application of an atomic layer thermopile, for heat fluxes with a frequency bandwidth of 0 to 1MHz. Two calibration procedures with a detailed uncertainty analysis. The first procedure consists using a laser to deliver radiation heat flux, while the second consists of a convective heat blowdown experiment. The use of this probe is demonstrated in a high-speed environment at Mach 2. The sensor effectively captures the passage of the normal shock wave and the values are compared with those computed using surface temperature measurement. Finally, a numerical study is carried out to design a cooling system that will allow the sensor to survive in high temperature conditions of 1273K while the sensor film is maintained at 323K. A two-dimensional axisymmetric conjugate heat transfer analysis is carried out to obtain the desired geometry.