Replication and Demonstration of Thermal Mechanical Fatigue on Gas Turbine Engine Rotors in a Spin Test Environemnt

The proposed effort will create the technology and systems necessary to create thermal gradients in jet engine components in a vacuum spin pit. The gradients created will create a strain state in the component under test which much more closely match the conditions in these components in engine service. All testing in the past has been conducted isothermally, and the results obtained have not been sufficently reliable for life prediction, since the test does not include the important effects of thermal gradients on the disk strain distribution and therefore on disk fatigue life. This project will produce the tools necessary to create, control, and manage thermal gradients in disks as they are being spun at high speed in a vacuum, concentrating on developing the systems and processes necessary to supply heat at the hotter region and remove heat at the cooler regions.