Test Method for Inducing Steep Thermal Gradients in Thin-Walled Structures

Test Devices, Inc. (TDI) will demonstrate the technical feasibility of and develop a detailed design for a test facility to impose representative steep through-wall temperature gradients, heat flux, and thermo/mechanical loads on turbine airfoils tested outside a running engine. The proposed facility will test actual turbine airfoils and/or specimens of similar material composition and geometry (including TBCs), and provide for representative cooling flows in order to examine the effects of film cooling. The facility will provide the capability to simulate operating strain histories, i.e. Thermal Mechanical Fatigue (TMF), which will be used to make more realistic service life predictions for turbine components.