Radiant Thermal Test System for Turbine Blades Using a Novel Pattern Search Algorithm

Abstract

We established and validated a radiant thermal test system using a miniaturized quartz lamp heating device designed with a novel search algorithm to meet aero-engine blade heating requirements. The device can perform rapid, high-temperature gradient tests on new-material aero-engine blades, which cannot be achieved through electromagnetic induction. The algorithm, derived from the Monte Carlo method and pattern search, can solve the problems of the classical iterative search algorithm by searching lamp parameters and reducing the algorithm's time complexity. These searched power parameters enable the system's closed-loop control to achieve temperature gradients easily. The corresponding heating process was also simulated using commercial numerical analysis software, serving as a numerical validation for the algorithm-based system. The device could meet the thermal fatigue test requirements for the blade at six different temperature control points, including a maximum temperature exceeding 1150 K, a maximum temperature difference exceeding 160 K within 20 mm, and a heating rate exceeding 30 K/s. Thus, the device provides a promising technique for rapid, high-temperature heat treatment of complex small components, and the algorithm makes designing miniaturized quartz lamp heating devices more accessible and versatile for small components.