On Thermomechanical Fatigue of Single-Crystal Superalloys

Abstract

Thesis cover: Design by Maria J. SegersällPrinted by: LiU-Tryck, Linköping, Sweden, 2014 ISBN 978-91-7519-211-6 ISSN 0345-7524 Distributed by: Division of Engineering Materials, Department of Management and Engineering Linköping University SE-58183, Linköping, Sweden © 2014 Mikael SegersällThis document was prepared with L A T E X, October 17, 2014 AbstractThanks to their excellent mechanical and chemical properties at temperatures up to 1000°C, nickel-based superalloys are used in critical components in high-temperature applications such as gas turbines and aero engines. One of the most critical components in a gas turbine is the turbine blade, and to improve the creep and fatigue properties of this component, it is sometimes cast in single-crystal form rather than in the more conventional polycrystalline form. Gas turbines are most commonly used for power generation and the turbine efficiency is highly dependent on the performance of the superalloys.Today, many gas turbines are used as a complement for renewable energy sources, for example when the wind is not blowing or when the sun is not shining, which means that the turbine runs differently compared to earlier, when it ran for longer time periods with a lower number of start-ups and shutdowns. This new way of running the turbine, with an increased number of start-ups and shut-downs, results in new conditions for critical components, and one way to simulate these conditions is to perform thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) testing in the laboratory. During TMF, both mechanical strain and temperature are cycled at the same time, and one fatigue cycle corresponds to the conditions experienced by the turbine blade during one start-up and shut-down of the turbine engine.In the work leading to this PhD thesis, TMF testing of single-crystal superalloys was first performed in the laboratory and this was then followed microstructure investigations to study the occurring deformation and damage mechanisms. Specimens with different crystallographic directions have been tested in order to investigate the anisotropic behaviour shown by these materials. Results show a significant orientation dependence during TMF in which specimens with a low elastic stiffness perform better. However, it is also shown that specimens with a higher number of active slip systems perform better during TMF compared to specimens with less active slip sysiii tems. This is because a higher number of active slip systems results in a more widespread deformation and seems to be beneficial for the TMF life. Further, microscopy shows that the deformation during TMF is localised to several deformation bands and that different deformation and damage mechanisms prevail according to in which crystal orientation the material is loaded. Deformation twinning is shown to be a major deformation mechanism during TMF and the interception of twins seems to trigger recrystallization. This is certainly negative for the mechanical properties of single-crystal superalloys since no grain boundary strengthening elemen...

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Crack growth in single crystal gas turbine blade alloys under service-like conditions

“…Figure 3 -Function of the grain selector in single-crystal casting of a turbine blade. Figure from PhD thesis by Segersäll, reproduced with permission from the author45 .…”

Crack growth in single crystal nickel base superalloys under isothermal and thermomechanical fatigue

“…Function of the grain selector in single-crystal casting of a turbine blade. Figure from PhD thesis by Segersäll, reproduced with permission of the author42 .…”