Structural Metallic Systems For Advanced Gas Turbine Applications
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Department Name: Materials Science & Metallurgy
Abstract
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Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Lead Research Organisation)
- ROLLS-ROYCE PLC (Co-funder)
- Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Collaboration)
- Ohio State University (Collaboration)
- Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
Publications
Abdallah Z
(2014)
A Critical Analysis of the Conventionally Employed Creep Lifing Methods.
in Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
Alabort E
(2015)
Superplasticity in Ti-6Al-4V: Characterisation, modelling and applications
in Acta Materialia
Ang J
(2011)
Quarternary and Quinary Additions to Directionally-Solidified X-X 3 Si Eutectics of Chromium and Vanadium
in MRS Proceedings
Ardi D
(2014)
Surface Roughness, Areal Topographic Measurement, and Correlation to LCF Behavior in a Nickel-Based Superalloy
in Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Ardi D.T.
(2015)
Surface topography and the impact on fatigue performance
in Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties
Aveson J
(2014)
Origins of misorientation defects in single crystal castings: A time resolved in situ synchrotron X-ray radiography study
in MATEC Web of Conferences
Aveson J
(2013)
On the origin of sliver defects in single crystal investment castings
in Acta Materialia
Aveson J
(2012)
Observation of the initiation and propagation of solidification cracks by means of in situ synchrotron X-ray radiography
in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
| Description | Through this research initiative, new, high performance steels, nickel, cobalt, titanium and niobium-based alloys have been developed for the most demanding applications with gas turbine engines. In addition, an enhanced understanding of the performance and degradation of these materials was established. These achievements are enabling new gas turbine designs as well as providing significant commercial savings to UK industry through reduced servicing costs. |
| Exploitation Route | The research conducted in this programme was performed in close collaboration with the industrial partners. This automatically ensured that the research was matched to UK industrial need and that a route for commercial exploitation was immediately available. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Energy Transport |
| Description | The objectives of the Strategic Partnership in Structural Metallic Systems for Gas Turbines were: 1. To undertake the fundamental materials research necessary to improve the efficiency and environmental sustainability of gas turbine engines. 2. To train the next generation of world-class materials scientists and metallurgical engineers in structural metallic systems that will be critical to the future health of the discipline in UK academia and industry. These objectives were met through collaborative research and training activities run between academia and industry. This utilised the capabilities of a wide section of the academic community to develop new materials technologies that will give improvements in the performance of gas turbines, as well as performing the fundamental science required to ensure that they are safely used to the limits of their capabilities. The research was performed under the guidance and support of the industrial partners who will ultimately use these materials technologies, thereby providing intrinsic pathways to commercial exploitation. The realisation of these technologies will help maintain the commercial competitiveness of the UK gas turbine industry, helping secure a very significant number of jobs within UK manufacturing, as well as the possibility of further job creation. New alloys have been developed that provide significant performance benefits over existing materials. For high pressure turbine disc applications, several new nickel and cobalt based alloys have been devised, one of which is now being assessed for commercial scale-up. To facilitate the fabrication of such components from these new, high strength alloys, two new molybdenum alloys have been created for forging die applications. A new chromium based alloy has also been designed that offers potential for low pressure turbine blade applications. Work on turbine tip sealing has focused on developing test facilities that enable the study of the interaction of the turbine tip and the porous ceramic abradable at high temperatures, typically 1,100 °C. It has been shown that at higher temperatures the abradability of the tip decreases and that this is associated with the softening of the anchor phase at higher temperatures allowing the abrasive to be pulled out. This has led to the development of anchor phase alloys with greatly increased strengths. Recent work has focused on understanding the effect of electronic structure on dislocation motion. It has been shown that differences in electronegativity, cause changes in the local shear modulus, causing changes in the dislocation width and giving dramatic changes in the yield stress. This work has led to collaborations being formed with RWTH Aachen and the Belgian Nuclear Institute (SCK). ?-TiAl and a2-Ti3Al have insufficient slip systems to allow a general plastic strain at a lamellar boundary. Dislocation glide or twinning at such boundaries will therefore be associated with elastic misfit strains. These can be relaxed by the formation of cracks, which can then grow by fatigue. Preventing the formation of such flaws requires a quantitative understanding of the possible deformation modes. This is being carried out using digital image correlation and electron backscatter diffraction. It has been found that longitudinal twinning can occur at stresses of ~100 MPa, lower than that required for dislocation motion. In situ observations in the scanning electron microscope have shown that this gives rise to the nucleation of cracks particularly at higher temperatures. The growth of these cracks in fatigue is now being investigated. |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Transport |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | EPSRC Standard Research Grant |
| Amount | £7,939,564 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/M005607/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2014 |
| End | 09/2019 |
| Title | Research data supporting Gamma Prime Precipitate Evolution During Aging of a Model Nickel Based Superalloy |
| Description | Excel spreadsheets containing the particle size distributions (PSDs), compositions of each phase, lattice parameters and proximity histograms of composition across the precipitate - matrix interfaces. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Description | Analysis of cobalt-based alloys |
| Organisation | Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Access to facilities for the preparation of new cobalt-based alloys |
| Collaborator Contribution | Characterisation and analysis of the new cobalt-based alloys |
| Impact | The following paper was produced from this work: Mechanical properties and lattice misfit of ?/?' strengthened Co-base superalloys in the Co-W-Al-Ti quaternary system Zenk, C.H., Neumeier, S., Stone, H.J., Göken, M., Intermetallics, 55, pp. 28-39, 2014. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Assessment of chromium based alloys |
| Organisation | Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Design and preparation of the alloys under investigation |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to specialist testing equipment. |
| Impact | The following paper was written based on this collaboration: Microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr-Ta-Si Laves phase-based alloys at elevated temperatures Ayan Bhowmik, Steffen Neumeier, Jon S. Barnard, Christopher H. Zenk, Mathias Göken, Catherine M.F. Rae & Howard J. Stone Philosophical Magazine DOI:10.1080/14786435.2014.971086 |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Development of cobalt-based superalloys |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborative development of new cobalt-based superalloys. Sharing of equipment and expertise. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative development of new cobalt-based superalloys. Sharing of equipment and expertise. |
| Impact | Gamma prime strengthened cobalt & nickel based superalloy, D Dye, M Knop, H-Y Yan, M Hardy and H J Stone, GB Patent application GB1312000.1, filed 4th July 2013. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Ohio State |
| Organisation | Ohio State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | we have worked together on the structure of defects in deformed superalloys |
| Collaborator Contribution | we have provided matera=ials and interpretation of results |
| Impact | there have been 4 publications in peer reviewed journals |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Small-scale testing |
| Organisation | Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have developed new test methods for measuring toughness of hard coatings |
| Collaborator Contribution | EMPA carried out the test on equipment they had designed |
| Impact | Papers: 10.1063/1.4867017 10.1063/1.4939758 10.1557/jmr.2011.268 10.1016/j.actamat.2013.08.023 |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | University of Erlangen |
| Organisation | Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have hosted a PhD student looking at defects in the TEM of novel Cobalt alloys |
| Collaborator Contribution | We provided time on the microscopes and expertise to take images and interpret these. |
| Impact | Work is ongoing and will result in at least one high quality publication |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Title | A nickel alloy |
| Description | A new nickel-based superalloy for high temperature structural applications in the aerospace industry. |
| IP Reference | EP20140157622 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2013 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Title | ALLOY STEEL |
| Description | The invention provides an alloy steel having the following composition: Ni 5-14 wt %; Cr 4-16 wt %; Co 7-14 wt %; Mo 1-5 wt %; W 0-5 wt %; Ti 0-0.8 wt %; Al 0.1-3 wt %; the balance being Fe save for incidental impurities. This provides an ultra-high strength corrosion resistant steel with good toughness, which does not significantly creep at temperatures up to 450° C. The high quantity of alloying to elements, particularly chromium, also gives the alloy good corrosion resistance. The alloy is particularly suitable for main shafts of gas turbine engines. |
| IP Reference | US2012080124 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2012 |
| Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
| Impact | Now being considered for use by industry. |
| Title | Alloy |
| Description | A new cobalt-based superalloys for high temperature structural applications. |
| IP Reference | EP20140173730 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2013 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Title | Alloy composition |
| Description | The composition of a new, high strength molybdenum based alloy |
| IP Reference | EP20140161255 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2013 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Title | An alloy steel |
| Description | The invention provides an alloy steel having the following composition: Ni 5-14wt%; Cr 4-16wt%; Co 7-14wt%; Mo 1-5wt%; W 0-5wt%; Ti 0-0.8wt%; Al 0.1-3wt%; the balance being Fe save for incidental impurities. This provides an ultrahigh strength corrosion resistant steel with good toughness, which does not significantly creep at temperatures up to 450°C. The high quantity of alloying elements, particularly chromium, also gives the alloy good corrosion resistance. The alloy is particularly suitable for main shafts of gas turbine engines. |
| IP Reference | EP2439288 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2012 |
| Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
| Impact | . |
| Title | CHROMIUM ALLOY |
| Description | A hypereutectic chromium alloy consisting of 9 to 12 at % tantalum, 4 to 15 at % silicon, 0 to 7 at % molybdenum, 0 to 7 at % aluminium, 0 to 7 at % titanium, 0 to 5 at % rhenium, 0 to 2 at % silver, 0 to 2 at % hafnium, 0 to 2 at % lanthanum, 0 to 2 at % cerium, 0 to 2 at % yttrium and the balance chromium and incidental impurities. The hypereutectic chromium alloy has good oxidation resistance and good fracture toughness. The chromium alloy may be used to make gas turbine engine turbine blades, turbine vanes, turbine seals, combustion chamber tiles, exhaust nozzle segments or steam turbine components. |
| IP Reference | US2013121823 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2013 |
| Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
| Impact | - |
| Title | High Temperature High Strength Steel Alloy for Gas Turbine |
| Description | The invention provides an alloy steel having the following composition: Ni 5-14 wt %; Cr 4-16 wt %; Co 7-14 wt %; Mo 1-5 wt %; W 0-5 wt %; Ti 0-0.8 wt %; Al 0.1-3 wt %; the balance being Fe save for incidental impurities. This provides an ultra-high strength corrosion resistant steel with good toughness, which does not significantly creep at temperatures up to 450° C. The high quantity of alloying to elements, particularly chromium, also gives the alloy good corrosion resistance. The alloy is particularly suitable for main shafts of gas turbine engines. |
| IP Reference | US20120080124 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2011 |
| Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
| Impact | . |
| Title | Molybdenum Alloy Composition |
| Description | A molybdenum based alloy composition comprising between 15% and 20% niobium and 0.05% and 0.25% carbon |
| IP Reference | EP2796581 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2014 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | None yet. |
| Title | A chromium alloy |
| Description | A new alloy formulation for a chromium alloy for high temperature service |
| Type Of Technology | New Material/Compound |
| Title | Alloy optimisation tool |
| Description | Computer programme for the automatic determination of the best alloy for a given set of property targets |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Description | Bainitic Steels and other recent developments |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Workshop on bainitic steels and phase transformation phenomena. University of Leoben, Austria. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Beyond mere metals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A web article about coatings on metal components for public engagement. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/article/beyond-mere-metals/ |
| Description | Chair of Diamond peer review panel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Dr Howard Stone has chaired one of the Diamond peer review panels since Dec 2011 . Awarding Body - Diamond Light Source, Name of Scheme - Peer Review Panel . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2013,2014 |
| Description | In search of advanced intermetallics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A web article about intermetallic compounds for public engagement. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/article/in-search-of-advanced-intermetallics/ |
| Description | Lectures on phase transformations in steels |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A comprehensive set of lecture videos on phase transformations in steels. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD896F39D159E244E. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD896F39D159E244E |
| Description | Making metals take the heat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A web article about the development of new high temperature structural materials for public engagement. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/article/making-metals-take-the-heat/ |
| Description | Nanostructure bainite |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | BBC Naked Scientist radio programme and podcast on the nanostructured bainite. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/2152/ |
| Description | Online cartoons to explain nanostructure |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Online cartoons to explain nanostructure available at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5715F1F7DEBB2240. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5715F1F7DEBB2240 |
| Description | Processing nickel-base superalloys |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A web article about how nickel based superalloys are produced and processed for public engagement. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/article/processing-nickel-base-superalloys/ |
| Description | Steeling the Show |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A web article about steels for public engagement. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/article/steeling-the-show/ |
| Description | Strategic Partnership website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A website for the Rolls-Royce EPSRC Strategic Partnership used for the management of student courses and conferences. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Tetragonal Ferrite |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Invited lecture at POSTECH in South Korea, March 2013. This lecture will be made available on line on http://www.youtube.com/user/bhadeshia123?feature=mhee following publication of the Scripta Materialia papers. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.youtube.com/user/bhadeshia123?feature=mhee |
| Description | The 2012 Sidney Gilchrist Thomas Prestige Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The 2012 Sidney Gilchrist Thomas Prestige Lecture "Armour, Bearings, Aeroengines and Nanostructured Materials". . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | The Superalloys |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A web article about superalloys for public engagement. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/article/the-superalloys/ |
| Description | The art of alloying |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public engagement of science podcast on metallurgy. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1714/ |
| Description | The future of steel? - The first bulk nano structured material |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lecture to the LISI (www.lisi.org). . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | When a metallurgist met a blacksmith |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public engagement of science podcast on metallurgy. . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1712/ |