Advanced Characterization Techniques that Improve Durability of Fracture Critical DoD Components

Many DoD systems employ fracture critical and/or retirement for cause methodologies for asset deployment, operation and management. They are a key element in the design and certification of turbine engines including the F100, F119, and F135. Critical to this approach is the characterization of structural materials and development of life prediction methodologies and then application of these to component design, validation and assessment. In addition, mission cycles for hot section components such as turbine airfoils are quite complex and test methodologies such as strain- controlled TMF have not been sufficiently standardized and matured to provide repeatable results across a broad range of facilities and environments. This challenge is exacerbated by the complex loading profiles these components experience. This can lead to loss of durability in key hot section components. The demonstrated success of the Phase I effort, together with the anticipated results from the Phase I Option, will drive the development of a next-generation TMF testing approach in Phase II that is intended to directly address the key technical issues TMF testing demands, and to significantly impact the cost of testing by reducing test setup time, and reducing cumulative rig time.