High Strength Materials at Elevated Temperatures for High Pressure Turbines

This firm does not wish to sumbit public abstract for the proposal High engine overall pressure ratios (OPR) enable more efficient operation for gas turbine engines, but also require higher turbine inlet temperatures. The temperature capabilities of hot section hardware have been improved through alloy development, manufacturing processes, air cooling, and thermal barrier coatings (TBC). However, turbine air cooling creates thermodynamic penalties to the engine cycle, as well as manufacturing cost and complexity. It is therefore highly desirable to develop alloys with coating systems which may be run without air cooling up to temperatures of 3500 F, in order to attain peak efficiencies. In the proposed project, Hitemco and Williams International will develop advanced alloys with the addition of bond coats and thermal barrier top coats (TBC) to address this need. We will perform a detailed alloy, top coat and bond coat investigation to identify the best candidate material system to attain 3500 F turbine inlet temperature capability without cooling air. A relevant gas turbine engine component for testing in Phase II will be identified, and preliminary design with the coating will be performed. A plan for fabricating and testing the components in Phase II will be developed.