Garrett Auxiliary Power Division of Allied-Signal Aerospace Company is developing methods to design ceramic turbine components with improved impact resistance. In an ongoing research effort under the DOE/NASA-funded Advanced Turbine Technology Applications Project (ATTAP), two different modes of impact damage have been identified and characterized: local damage and structural damage. Local impact damage to Si3N4 impacted by spherical projectiles usually takes the form of ring and/or radial cracks in the vicinity of the impact point. Baseline data from Si3N4 test bars impacted by 1.588-mm (0.0625-in.) diameter NC-132 projectiles indicates the critical velocity at which the probability of detecting surface cracks is 50 percent equalled 130 m/s (426 ft/sec). A microphysics-based model that assumes damage to be in the form of microcracks has been developed to predict local impact damage. Local stress and strain determine microcrack nucleation and propagation, which in turn alter local stress and strain through modulus degradation. Material damage is quantified by a “damage parameter” related to the volume fraction of microcracks. The entire computation has been incorporated into the EPIC computer code. Model capability is being demonstrated by simulating instrumented plate impact and particle impact tests. Structural impact damage usually occurs in the form of fast fracture caused by bending stresses that exceed the material strength. The EPIC code has been successfully used to predict radial and axial blade failures from impacts by various size particles. This method is also being used in conjunction with Taguchi experimental methods to investigate the effects of design parameters on turbine blade impact resistance. It has been shown that significant improvement in impact resistance can be achieved by using the configuration recommended by Taguchi methods.
The 718 family of nickel-base superalloys is used extensively in the design of critical aerospace components, namely in the hot section disks of gas turbine engines. The reliability of such components is often dependent upon, among other factors, their as-machined surface integrity. Surface integrity is often related to tool-surface interactions. The interactions may result in varying degrees of carbide cracking (possibly resulting in matrix cracking), carbide pull-outs, surface tearing, surface roughness, and grain distortion.
A number of earlier publications discussed the benefits of probabilistic analysis and probabilistic lifing in application to critical rotating engine components. One of the important variables in both probabilistic and deterministic lifing analysis is the level of residual stress in the component. Near surface residual stresses directly influence the fatigue life of critical engine rotating components. Depending on sign and magnitude a near surface residual stress gradient can either inhibit or accelerate fatigue initiation and crack propagation. A major barrier to introducing subsurface residual stress information into the life calculation process is the necessity to make accurate and reliable nondestructive measurements on as produced hardware. The paper reviews several NDE technologies that could be candidates for both production and in-service non-destructive residual stress measurements. The importance of having accurate residual stress information and its use in the probabilistic design and life management process is illustrated on several examples. A linkage with several ongoing industry R&D programs is discussed.
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