Development of a Cobalt Base Superalloy for Heavy Duty Gas Turbine Nozzles

Abstract

This paper describes an improvement in creep strength and thermal fatigue and hot corrosion resistance of a cobalt base superalloy developed for the applications of heavy duty gas turbine nozzles. The developed alloy has superior resistance to creep, thermal fatigue and hot corrosion over that of conventional alloys. The optimization of alloying elements which improve the creep properties and restrain the coarsening of carbides is discussed. A reduction in the volume fraction of eutectic carbides promoted the prevention of fast thermal fatigue cracking and also increased the hot corrosion resistance of the developed alloy. The mechanical properties were evaluated by general method for gas turbine materials. Thermal fatigue property was examined by introducing cyclic thermal stress into test pieces. During the test, crack propagation of the test pieces was observed. Hot corrosion resistance was evaluated by molten salt corrosion tests. After tests, mass loss of specimens was measured and penetration depth of sulfidized scale was observed. The developed alloy showed good properties which can allow a wide temperature margin for high temperature gas turbine nozzle designing. The developed alloy can be applicable to other gas turbine hot sections. Application of the developed alloy could realize an increase in gas firing temperature or extension of lifetime for current conditions.