Post Engine Test Characterization and Flight Test Experience of Self Sealing Ceramic Matrix Composites for Nozzle Seals in Gas Turbine Engines

Abstract

The advancement of self-sealing ceramic matrix composites offers durability improvements in hot section components of gas turbine engines. These durability improvements come with no need for internal cooling and with reduced weight. Building on past material efforts, ceramic matrix composites based upon a silicon carbide or carbon fiber with a novel self-sealing matrix have been developed for gas turbine applications. The specific application being pursued on this effort is an F100-PW-229 nozzle seal. Ground engine testing has been completed that exceeds the full design life. The ground testing has demonstrated a significant durability improvement from the baseline metal design. Residual properties have been determined by extracting tensile and microstructural coupons from the ceramic matrix composite seal. This was done as a function of design life. Nondestructive interrogation was used as a guide in setting cutting diagrams. The results from this effort will be presented.

Fiber‐Reinforced Ceramic Matrix Composites for Aero Engines

“…All three types of CMCs are being considered for hot section parts in jet engines. PIP and CVI composites have been used as exhaust flaps and seals in some military jet applications Bouillon et al, 2005). MI composites are the leading CMC for hot section parts such as combustor liners (Brewer, 1999), shrouds (Luthra and Corman, 2006), and ultimately vanes.…”

“…This leads to increased stress intensity on remaining fibers and the crack tip that then grows and embrittles with further oxidation ingress. As a result, SiC-based composites show degradation under stress rupture (Morscher and Cawley, 2002); however, in general, BN interphases are more durable than C interphases (Lin and Becher, 1997;Morscher, 1997) with the exception of some novel multilayer C-SiC interphase and SiC-SiBN matrix CVI composites (Bouillon et al, 2005). This mechanism is dominant at intermediate temperatures (∼600-1000 • C) (Heredia et al, 1995;Morscher and Cawley, 2002) where oxidation of the SiC is not fast enough to form enough SiO 2 to seal cracks and where the temperatures are too low for creep mechanisms to become dominant.…”

Modelling the Tensile Damage and Fracture Processes of Fibre-Reinforced Ceramic-Matrix Composites Under the Effect of Pre-Exposure at Elevated Temperatures

“…Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) with excellent properties such as high temperature resistance, low density, metal-like fracture behaviour, insensitivity to cracks, and no catastrophic damage, can replace the superalloys to meet the needs of the hot-section components in the higher temperature environments of an aero engine. It is not only beneficial to greatly reduce weight, but it also can save the cooling air or even need no cooling, thus increasing the total pressure ratio, and further increasing the working temperature by about 400 -500 °C, and reduces the structural weight around 50 -70 % compared with the traditional superalloy [1,2,3,4].…”

Microstructural evolution and self‐healing mechanism of a 2D C/SiC‐BCx composite under constant load in static wet oxygen and dynamic combustion atmosphere

“…B‐C ceramic and Si‐B‐C ceramic were used to modify SiC matrix by CNRS‐SEP and University of Bordeaux‐1 in France . A400, A410, and A500 materials have been successfully prepared with multi‐layered self‐healing matrix and undergone the harsh tests as healing of F100‐PW‐229 engine . Our previous works investigated the fabrication and mechanical properties of 2D C/SiC‐BC x composites .…”