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Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - 9:00 AM
SSP1.2

Worst-Case Prognosis of Advanced Turbine Engine Materials

J. M. Larsen, M. J. Caton, A. Rosenberger, R. John, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; S. K. Jha, Universal Technology Corporation, Dayton, OH

Materials damage prognosis offers the opportunity to revolutionize life management of advanced materials and structures through a combination of improved state awareness and physically based predictive models.  Historically, lifetime and reliability limits for advanced fracture-critical turbine engine materials have been based on expected worst-case total life under fatigue.  Recent findings in a variety of advanced propulsion alloys indicate that the life-limiting mechanisms are typically dominated by the growth of damage that begins at the scale of key microstructural features.  Such behavior provides new avenues for management and reduction of uncertainty in prognosis capability under conditions that depend on damage tolerance.  This presentation builds on recent advances in understanding worst-case fatigue of advanced turbine engine materials and outlines alternative approaches for improved materials reliability and utilization in facture-critical applications.

Summary: Materials damage prognosis offers the opportunity to revolutionize life management of advanced materials and structures through a combination of improved state awareness and physically based predictive models. Historically, lifetime and reliability limits for advanced fracture-critical turbine engine materials have been based on expected worst-case total life under fatigue. Recent findings in a variety of advanced propulsion alloys indicate that the life-limiting mechanisms are typically dominated by the growth of damage that begins at the scale of key microstructural features. Such behavior provides new avenues for management and reduction of uncertainty in prognosis capability under conditions that depend on damage tolerance. This presentation builds on recent advances in understanding worst-case fatigue of advanced turbine engine materials and outlines alternative approaches for improved materials reliability and utilization in facture-critical applications.