Structural Metallic Systems For Advanced Gas Turbine Applications
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Metallurgy and Materials
Abstract
Dwindling resources and climate change are forcing engineering designers to utilise materials and energy supplies withever-greater efficiency. It is argued that cuts in CO2 emissions of between 60-90% must be achieved if irreversibleclimate change is to be avoided.At present, almost all aircraft propulsion and over 1/3 of the UK's total generating capacity rely on gas turbines. Theirflexibility and efficiency compared with the alternatives mean that their use in power generation is predicted todramatically increase for the foreseeable future. Similarly, a substantial growth in air travel is also predicted withpassenger numbers forecast to double or triple by 2050. Achieving drastic reductions in the emissions from gas turbines,without bring national economic activity to a standstill, requires urgent activity on a very wide number of fronts. This isparticularly important for the UK. It has Europe's largest gas turbine industry, second only to the US, including majorengine makers, such as Rolls-Royce, Alstom and Siemens, together with approximately 3,000 companies supplyingalloys, high integrity components, such as discs, blades and shafts, as well as coatings and seals. The industry as awhole employs over 400,000 people and generates 2 billion in exports in the power sector alone.The aim of this programme is to meet this challenge by identifying and developing materials based on refractory metals,such as Mo and Co alloys, while carrying out shorter term research to extend the usefulness of Ni-based alloys. Thework will involve a coordinated programme of materials development and processing, microstructural and defectmodelling, characterisation and prediction of these high temperature materials designed to answer the fundamentalquestions that will enable their potential to be fully realised.To generate a critical mass of researchers, the programme brings together academics from 6 universities with expertise inthe necessary areas, together with Rolls-Royce plc to ensure the research is appropriate and to establish a route forexploitation.The success of the UK high-value engineering sector is an area in which improved public understanding is needed toimprove the perception of metallurgical engineering generally and to engender enthusiasm to encourage more youngpeople into science and engineering. To address this, a significant programme of public engagement has been designedto run alongside this research programme
Planned Impact
This programme addresses a national grand challenge, the reduction of emissions in energy production, by developing disruptive materials technologies for increasing the operating temperature of gas turbines. The beneficiaries will be: * UK gas turbine industry, including supply chain: By enabling the primary end-user in this programme, Rolls-Royce, to remain competitive as power generation, aero and land, becomes increasingly constrained by environmental legislation; * UK policy makers: By both informing UK government and enabling it to meet national, EU and international commitments without compromising the economic viability of UK industry; * UK population: By limiting potential damage through dangerous climate change whilst simultaneously minimising the impact on standard of living. UK aerospace and energy industry * To ensure a critical mass of researchers, this programme builds upon the established and highly successful UTP framework between Cambridge, Swansea and Birmingham and involves other institutions where specific expertise exists (Sheffield, Cranfield & Imperial College).* Maximum impact requires: 1. RR will manage the involvement of companies in the supply chain to enable the development of suitable manufacturing techniques.. 2. The application of the materials in land-based turbines, using the established relationship between RR and Alstom. * Active technical engagement with RR will build upon existing links between academic staff and RR staff. Each project in the programme will have a nominated technical specialist at RR who will attend regular technical review meetings held in the universities. Annual Gate Reviews will be held to assess development of materials and the involvement of appropriate commercial partners. Materials identified as suitable for adoption by industry at the end of the programme will have a RR technical representative assigned to champion their development and deployment. * The Programme will be managed by an Operations Board (made up of representatives from RR, EPSRC & each university). This will review developments in the individual projects & assign responsibilities within both RR & universities for uptake of technologies into industry. * A dedicated website will be run from University of Cambridge to capture and maintain new knowledge as well as enabling easy dissemination of technical information within the partnership. * A formal collaboration agreement will be put in place before the programme. * Issues associated with the manufacture and the supply chain will be addressed by the appropriate partners in collaboration with the relevant funding agencies. UK policy makers * Oversight of progress and developments on the programme, as well as coordination with other activities, will be achieved through attendance of the Governance and Operations Boards by members of the Energy Materials Working Group, EPSRC and TSB. * EPSRC & TSB will provide assistance in the delivery of the new materials into the industrial sector through the identification of suitable funding mechanisms to support their continued development beyond this programme. UK population * On-line material will be developed to give a basic understanding of the problems and applications as well as enabling those interested to follow the progress of the project. * This will be done in collaboration with the Naked Scientists , who produce science highly popular radio programmes and podcasts. It is hoped to contribute toward recruiting more undergraduates into engineering and physical sciences.
Publications
Kitaguchi H
(2013)
Oxidation ahead of a crack tip in an advanced Ni-based superalloy
in Acta Materialia
Kitaguchi H
(2015)
An atom probe tomography study of the oxide-metal interface of an oxide intrusion ahead of a crack in a polycrystalline Ni-based superalloy
in Scripta Materialia
Kitaguchi HS
(2019)
Mesoscopic quantitative chemical analyses using STEM-EDX in current and next generation polycrystalline Ni-based superalloys.
in Ultramicroscopy
Li H
(2015)
Effects of microstructure on high temperature dwell fatigue crack growth in a coarse grain PM nickel based superalloy
in Acta Materialia
Li H
(2014)
Thresholds of time dependent intergranular crack growth in a nickel disc alloy Alloy 720Li
in MATEC Web of Conferences
Li H
(2013)
High temperature fatigue of friction welded joints in dissimilar nickel based superalloys
in Materials Science and Technology
Li H. Y.
(2018)
Effects of compressive residual stress on short fatigue crack growth in a nickel-based superalloy
in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FATIGUE
Liu B
(2018)
Solidification and grain refinement in Ti(48-50)Al2Mn2Nb1B alloys
in Intermetallics
Loretto M
(2012)
Deformation of microstructurally refined cast Ti46Al8Nb and Ti46Al8Ta
in Intermetallics
Lu Y
(2019)
The influence of heat treatment on the microstructure and properties of HIPped Ti-6Al-4V
in Acta Materialia
Mine Y
(2019)
Fatigue crack growth behaviour in single-colony lamellar structure of Ti-6Al-4V
in Scripta Materialia
Mine Y
(2012)
Effect of lamellar spacing on fatigue crack growth behaviour of a TiAl-based aluminide with lamellar microstructure
in Materials Science and Engineering: A
Nadakuduru V
(2011)
Tensile properties and fracture behaviour of an ultrafine grained Ti-47Al-2Cr (at.%) alloy at room and elevated temperatures
in Journal of Materials Science
Oluwasegun K
(2014)
Micro-tensile strength of a welded turbine disc superalloy
in Materials Science and Engineering: A
Panwisawas C
(2017)
Mesoscale modelling of selective laser melting: Thermal fluid dynamics and microstructural evolution
in Computational Materials Science
Panwisawas C
(2015)
On the role of thermal fluid dynamics into the evolution of porosity during selective laser melting
in Scripta Materialia
Panwisawas C
(2018)
Modelling of thermal fluid dynamics for fusion welding
in Journal of Materials Processing Technology
Pragnell W
(2009)
The oxidation morphology of SmCo alloys
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Pragnell W
(2012)
Oxidation protection of Sm2Co17-based alloys
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Pragnell W
(2009)
The oxidation kinetics of SmCo alloys
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Qiu C
(2015)
On the role of melt flow into the surface structure and porosity development during selective laser melting
in Acta Materialia
Rosser J
(2014)
Steam oxidation of Super 304H and shot-peened Super 304H
in Materials at High Temperatures
Saage H
(2009)
Microstructures and tensile properties of massively transformed and aged Ti46Al8Nb and Ti46Al8Ta alloys
in Intermetallics
Sato A
(2014)
Characterisation of oxide scale formation on a new single crystal superalloy for power generation applications
in Materials at High Temperatures
Sato A
(2011)
Oxidation of nickel-based single-crystal superalloys for industrial gas turbine applications
in Acta Materialia
Schulz F
(2018)
Influence of Tertiary Gamma Prime (?') Size Evolution on Dwell Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior in CG RR1000
in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A
Smith P
(2013)
The Oxidation and Interdiffusion of a Chromia Forming Multilayered TBC System
in Oxidation of Metals
Taylor M
(2011)
A chromia forming thermal barrier coating system A chromia forming thermal barrier coating system
in Materials and Corrosion
Taylor M
(2014)
The oxidation characteristics of the nickel-based superalloy, RR1000, at temperatures of 700-900°C
in Materials at High Temperatures
Taylor M
(2014)
The effect of bond coat oxidation on the microstructure and endurance of a thermal barrier coating system
in Materials at High Temperatures
Tong J
(2016)
Near-tip strain ratchetting and crack growth at elevated temperature
in International Journal of Fatigue
Turner R
(2015)
An Improved Method of Capturing the Surface Boundary of a Ti-6Al-4V Fusion Weld Bead for Finite Element Modeling
in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B
Turner R
(2016)
Calculating the energy required to undergo the conditioning phase of a titanium alloy inertia friction weld
in Journal of Manufacturing Processes
Turner R
(2018)
Neutron tomography methods applied to a nickel-based superalloy additive manufacture build
in Materials Letters
Turner R
(2016)
An Integrated Modeling Approach for Predicting Process Maps of Residual Stress and Distortion in a Laser Weld: A Combined CFD-FE Methodology
in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B
Wang S
(2019)
Investigation on Fatigue Threshold Testing Methods in a Near Lamellar TiAl Alloy.
in Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
Wu X
(2009)
Oxidation-induced embrittlement of TiAl alloys
in Intermetallics
Yang C
(2013)
Solidification and grain refinement in Ti45Al2Mn2Nb1B subjected to fast cooling
in Intermetallics
Yang C
(2012)
Effect of boron concentration on phase transformation texture in as-solidified Ti44Al8NbxB
in Scripta Materialia
Yang J
(2014)
Lamellar orientation effect on fatigue crack propagation threshold in coarse grained Ti46Al8Nb
in Materials Science and Technology
Ye R
(2020)
Microstructure and microhardness of dissimilar weldment of Ni-based superalloys IN718-IN713LC
in Materials Science and Engineering: A
Yu S
(2014)
Mechanisms of dwell fatigue crack growth in an advanced nickel disc alloy RR1000
in MATEC Web of Conferences
Zhu Z
(2012)
A model for the creep deformation behaviour of nickel-based single crystal superalloys
in Acta Materialia
| Description | Fundamental understanding of processing-microstructure-property correlations has allowed: new alloys to be introduced; life extension of existing components to be supported; and, new joining methods to be introduced into the arduous environment of a gas turbine aero-engine. |
| Exploitation Route | The joining techniques could find applications in other sectors of transportation and power generation industries. The new alloys also have applications to other areas such as their use in turbo-chargers for automotive transportation. Also, the lifing methodologies developed have applicability to land- based power generation. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Transport |
| Description | Fundamental studies have allowed the incorporation of new alloys TiAl into the up-rated version of a new engine (2015) and to be introduced into service in the near future. They have also facilitated the use of new joining techniques for engines which are now flying (2014-2015). Finally they have allowed life extension methodologies which are expected to save many millions of pounds to the engine fleet over the next 30 years in service. In addition this Strategic Partnership allowed the University of Birmingham to bid for the RPIF HTRC project with Rolls-Royce. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | ATI |
| Amount | £16,000,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | TS/N001222/1 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2016 |
| End | 06/2018 |
| Description | ATI |
| Amount | £2,300,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | TS/N010825/1 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2016 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Description | ATI |
| Amount | £13,000,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | TS/L008831/1 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2014 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | EPSRC Programme Grant |
| Amount | £2,000,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/P00878/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2016 |
| End | 08/2020 |
| Description | FP7 |
| Amount | £1,009,357 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Union |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 06/2011 |
| End | 06/2016 |
| Description | H2020 |
| Amount | £1,500,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Union |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 04/2016 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Description | Research Grant |
| Amount | £9,000,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/M005607/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2014 |
| End | 09/2019 |
| Description | Rolls-Royce Plc |
| Amount | £1,111,400 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Rolls Royce Group Plc |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2010 |
| Description | University Technology Centre with TIMET |
| Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Timet UK Ltd |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2012 |
| End | 09/2017 |