Background

The impact of deterioration on turbine aerothermal performance, mostly represented by vane trailing edge oxidation, blade tip oxidation, leakages increase and surface roughness increase, is largely unknown. Deterioration assessment must be improved as being wrong is critical in terms of engine temperature margins and hence life cycle cost.
Detailed and accurate measurements of capacity, aerodynamic losses and metal effectiveness under engine-realistic and extremely well characterized inlet boundary conditions are possible on the ECAT facility at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute. The investigators have a unique opportunity to quantify the effect of deterioration on performance of turbine components.

Research question
The project aims to understand the fundamental aerodynamic changes, metal effectiveness changes, and capacity shift associated with deteriorated turbine components (specifically the high-pressure nozzle guide vanes).

Approach
Detailed aerothermal measurements in the Oxford ECAT facility. These include, among others, inlet and exit plane traverses, capacity measurements, surface temperature measurements.

Take engine parts from a series of operators, at different points during their life-cycle (from new parts, to end-of-life parts) and build up understanding and correlations for the capacity shift, overall thermal performance shift, and aerodynamic performance shift as the parts degrade with life.

The data will then be analysed and used to develop and validate models for predicting deteriorated performance from an aerodynamic point of view as well as from a thermal point of view.

Novelty/Physical sciences
The outcome will be exchange rates to allow accurate performance bidding of deteriorated turbines and to help architecture decision (e.g. APS vs PVD vs PtAl coating on HPNGV)
Standardise global process and tool to bid deterioration across the engine life.
Provide key information on the thermal behaviour of deteriorated parts which can in turn be used to modify existing designs to improve life.