J. Rigney, K. Wright, D. DeCesare, J. Laflen, M. Chati, GE Aircraft Engines, Evandale, OH
High- and low-pressure turbine airfoils operating in aircraft engines experience extreme loading histories that include a combination of very high temperatures and high thermal stresses. Numerous researchers in the past have attempted to develop life prediction methods to account for the combinations of mechanisms that eventually contribute to component cracking or rupture, including creep, fatigue, and environmental mechanisms. Due to shortcomings of these models, a new physics-based cumulative damage model (CDM) and mission interrogation procedure was developed to account for a broad range of complex stress conditions and mission strain-temperature histories that can be experienced in such components. The presentation will review the literature models evaluated, the development of the CDM, and the predictive capability of the new model and methods versus complex laboratory tests.
Summary: High- and low-pressure turbine airfoils operating in aircraft engines experience extreme loading histories that include a combination of very high temperatures and high thermal stresses.
