Papers by Author: A. Tony Fry

Abstract: Ceramic Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) have been developed for advanced gas turbine engine components to improve the engine efficiency and reliability. The integrity and reliability of these coatings is of paramount importance. Accurate prediction of service lifetimes for these components relies upon many factors, and is not straightforward as knowledge of the service conditions and accurate input data for modelling are required. The main cause of failure of coatings is through debonding which develops as a consequence of thermally induced strains between the metallic bondcoat and the alumina TGO layers due to the differences in the thermal expansion coefficients of the individual layers. Thermal transients due to the power cycles of turbines will then cause these fractures to grow between the TGO and the bondcoat. When these fractures reach a critical size they can grow rapidly and cause the TBC to spall off. Thermal cycling of TBCs is used therefore to evaluate and rank TBC performance. Within the laboratory this is often conducted under isothermal conditions. Whilst this test method has performed adequately in the past it does not fully simulate service conditions. Work has been underway therefore to develop a more complex test method, which better simulates the service conditions experienced by the TBC. The approach here employs a gas torch to heat the operating face of the TBC whilst cooling the rear of the substrate with compressed air, thereby imparting a heat flux on the specimen. The specimen is then cycled by removing the gas torch and cooling with compressed air on the front and rear faces. Tests have been conducted on a TBC system consisting of an IN738 substrate with a CN334 bondcoat and EBPVD TBC. Thermal cycling tests have been performed under both isothermal and heat flux conditions. During the course of the tests the samples were examined non-destructively using a thermal camera to identify early indications of spallation. This paper reports on the performance of the flame rig equipment and the results from the exposures on the TBC system.

Abstract: Hole drilling along with X-Ray diffraction, is one of the most widely used techniques for measuring residual stress, but the conventional approach is limited in the near surface detail that can be resolved. Because of concerns regarding the levels of induced residual stress that might develop during machining and surface treatment processes, there is significant interest in developing a technique that can obtain near surface residual stress information by the application of fine increment hole drilling. Through a cross comparison with X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction the procedure of fine incremental drilling has been validated, and the advantages of this technique demonstrated.

Abstract: Hole drilling is one of the most widely used techniques for measuring residual stress, but the conventional approach is limited in the near surface detail that can be resolved. Because of concerns about the levels of induced residual stress that might develop during machining and surface treatment processes, there is significant interest in developing a technique that can obtain near-surface residual stress information by the application of fine-increment hole drilling. Critical information can be lost if conventional, large depth increments are used and the fine incremental hole drilling approach, using depth increments as small as 20µm, offers a cost effective and rapid solution, with the possibility of measuring near surface stresses. Results focus on three different machining studies and a shot peened specimen, all cases where the stress field changes rapidly through the depth, particularly close to the surface. A systematic assessment of machining parameters is not within the scope of this paper and is not presented, but work has focused on highlighting the application and potential of the fine increment hole drilling approach.

Abstract: Three commercial martensitic steels have been oxidised in steam at 600 and 650 °C for times up to 10000 h. The partition of minor elements within the oxide scales has been determined. Silicon forms an additional oxide layer beneath the spinel. Chromium, molybdenum and tungsten concentrate in the spinel and manganese is present in both the spinel and magnetite. Several proposed mechanisms for steam oxidation have been examined to explain the observed effects of alloy composition. Modification of the oxide defect structure and oxidant gas penetration through microcracks were identified as the mechanisms most able to explain the influence of alloy composition.