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Surface Processing for Enhanced Environmental and Creep-Fatigue Resistance
Title: Dir. of Research and Development
Phone: (434) 977-1405
Email: derekh@directedvapor.com
Title: President and CEO
Phone: (434) 977-1405
Email: harryburns@directedvapor.com
The ongoing drive to increase the performance and efficiency of propulsion systems has led to increasingly severe operating environments, particularly for the components in the hot sections of turbine engines. One potential life-limiting area of future engines is the turbine disk where significant dwell fatigue may occur if engine temperatures are elevated. The mechanism for this reduction is not fully clear but is related to effects of grain boundary creep and surface oxidation / corrosion. The study proposed here will seek to develop advanced surface chemistry and modification techniques for the nickel-base superalloys used for turbine disks to limit dwell fatigue damage and promote higher operating temperatures in the engine. Key factors that will be studied include: (i) computational approaches to designing novel coating compositions that exhibit minimal interdiffusion and hence excellent compatibility with the substrate owing to chemical activity matching; (ii) the deposition, oxidation and compatibility testing of selected compositions; and (iii) the deposition of selected coated systems. Preliminary mechanical testing of the coated systems will be carried out. A targeted significant outcome of this study is the establishment of novel and cost-effective surface modifications that confer greatly improved component reliability and durability.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *