Computational design of erosion-resistant, damage-tolerant, galvanically compatible coatings for compressor airfoil leading edges in gas turbine engin

Turbo-shaft engines operating in desert environments are continuously exposed to erosive media, such as sand particles. This environment leads to compressor airfoil erosion resulting in significant performance loss of the engine, reducing fleet readiness and increasing maintenance costs. Additionally, high-energy particle impact can introduce significant foreign-object damage (FOD) leading to airfoil deformation. Under the proposed SBIR program, QuesTek Innovations LLC, a leader in the field of materials design, in collaboration with Directed Vapor Technologies International (DVTI), proposes to develop novel erosion-resistant, damage-tolerant, and galvanically-compatible coatings for compressor airfoils in turbine engines. QuesTek will lead the SBIR program and will utilize its well established and successful Materials by Design methodology to design novel functionally-graded hierarchical coating architectures specific to the airfoil substrate material. Multiple strategies capable of achieving the desired combination of erosion resistance, impact damage tolerance and galvanic compatibility with the underlying substrate will be considered in this Phase I program. DVTI will use its proprietary directed vapor deposition (DVD) technique to apply these coatings on compressor airfoils. In the program QuesTek will partner with a leading OEM to define the material requirement matrix, processing requirements, and ultimately lead implementation of new coated airfoils into fielded systems.