Cyclic Thermal Testing of TBC Coated Superalloys in a Burner Rig

Cyclic Thermal Testing of TBC Coated Superalloys in a Burner Rig (Prof. Abhijit Kushari, Aerospace Engineering)

This project experimentally simulates Gas Turbine engine conditions in a specially designed gas turbine combustor rig, burning ATF, to assess the oxidation and hot corrosion behaviour of TBC coatings on nickel-based superalloys. The tests will be conducted on test samples at 0.3 Mach following a specified cycle. The samples will be thermocouple instrumented for reading the metal temperature. TBC surface temperature measurement will be carried out by a thermal camera. The gas temperature just upstream of the test item will be measured using an optical Pyrometer and the species concentration will be measured using an emission analyzer. Optical inspection of TBC coating and weighing of the vanes to be done every 10 cycles. Tests shall continue till failure. The number of cycles required to create the first crack and the first failure shall be recorded