Advanced Materials for Gas Turbine Engines – an Introduction

Background

Developments in advanced materials, more than anything else, have contributed to the spectacular
progress in thrust-to-weight ratio of the aero gas turbine. This has been achieved in the main through
the substitution of titanium and nickel alloys for steel, fig 1. Aluminium has virtually disappeared from
the aero engine, and the future projection illustrates the potential for composites of various types. The
aero engine designer requires a much wider range of materials than the airframe designer because the
temperature range is large, whereas a civil airframe, even that of Concorde, lies entirely within the
capability of aluminium. Materials also supply the enabling technology for equally significant
improvements in performance and reliability.

Figure 1. Evolution of materials used in aero gas turbines

The RB211 and Trent families of engines provide good illustrations of the link between material
capabilities and engine performance. Civil engine programmes are becoming the drivers for materials
development, replacing the military programmes that were the leaders at the beginning of the gas
turbine era. The earlier approach of technology transfer from military to civil is tending to switch
direction.

The turbine entry temperatures of modern civil engines are now approaching those of the latest military
combat engines, and the longer operational lives expected by airlines place greater demands on
materials technology.
Design Parameters

The key design parameters are fan airflow, which is related directly to thrust, particularly at take-off, and
the pressure ratio and flow size of the core, which determine the fuel consumption and climb thrust for
a given engine size. Take-off thrust is determined by the airflow, with a direct relationship to fan
diameter. Increasing physical size places considerable importance on design, not only for low weight but
also for structural stiffness.

Core engine size is equally important The power output to drive the fan is determined by core mass flow
and combustor temperature rise. Component development provides increased temperature capability,
but the physical size of the compressor is not easily changed and mass flow through the core can only be
increased by supercharging to higher overall pressure ratios.

Three examples of aerospace components - the fan blade, the rear of the high-pressure compressor and
the high-pressure turbine illustrate how materials are responding to the required performance and
design parameters. They also highlight the potential of advanced materials such as titanium and nickel
alloys, plus the possibilities for composite materials. In the production of larger diameter, low weight fan
blades, the contribution of advanced materials is vital, not only in terms of density but also through
advanced methods of fabrication. New materials must also be able to withstand the demands for
increasing compressor delivery temperature and turbine entry temperature. Specific fuel consumption
depends on thermal as well as propulsive efficiency. Thermal efficiency depends in turn on the
maximum temperature of the cycle, as with any heat engine. Maximising efficiency within the design
compromise on each component is clearly important for fuel consumption.

Summary

• Civil aero-engine performance development has depended heavily on advances in materials, not only
by virtue of their properties but also in their manufacturing and processing.

• In all phases of activity, simultaneous consideration of service duty and manufacturing process is vital.
This demands the closest co-operation between the engine manufacturer and suppliers.

• Composite materials - each appropriate to its operating temperature environment will become
increasingly important, but the pace of their introduction will depend on success in achieving low cost
manufacture and cost effective exploitation.

• The world's aero-engine industry is grateful for the contributions that new materials have made, and
looks eagerly for more to provide better products at lower cost.
Advanced Materials for Gas Turbine Engines – High Pressure Turbine
Background

In aero-engines, the blade of the high pressure turbine was for a long time the highest of the high
technology in the aero gas turbine, and despite the complexity of the modern fan blade, the challenge it
provides does not reduce. The ability to run at increasingly high gas temperatures has resulted from a
combination of material improvements and the development of more sophisticated arrangements for
internal and external cooling (figure 1).

Figure 1. Schematic of a gas turbine engine.

Modern Alloys

A modern turbine blade alloy is complex in that it contains up to ten significant alloying elements, but its
microstructure is very simple. The structure is analogous to an `Inca wall', which consisted of rectangular
blocks of stone stacked in a regular array with narrow bands of cement to hold them together.

In the alloy case the `blocks' are an intermetallic compound with the approximate composition
Ni3(Al,Ta), whereas the `cement' is a nickel solid solution containing chromium, tungsten and rhenium.

Superalloys

Superalloys have always contained phases of this type, but in recent years the titanium in the original
intermetallic has been replaced by tantalum. This change gave improved high temperature strength, and
also improved oxidation resistance. However, the biggest change has occurred in the nickel, where high
levels of tungsten and rhenium are present. These elements are very effective in solution strengthening.

Since the 1950’s, the evolution from wrought to conventionally cast to directionally solidified to single
crystal turbine blades has yielded a 250°C increase in allowable metal temperatures, and cooling
developments have nearly doubled this in terms of turbine entry gas temperature. An important recent
contribution has come from the alignment of the alloy grain in the single crystal blade, which has
allowed the elastic properties of the material to be controlled more closely. These properties in turn
control the natural vibration frequencies of the blade.

If metallurgical development can be exploited by reducing the cooling air quantity this is a potentially
important performance enhancer, as for example, the Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engine uses 5% of
compressor air to cool its row of high pressure turbine blades. The single crystal alloy, RR3000, is able to
run about 35°C hotter than its predecessor. This may seem a small increase, but it has allowed the Trent
intermediate pressure turbine blade to remain uncooled.

Continuing Developments

It is estimated that over the next twenty years a 200°C increase in turbine entry gas temperature will be
required to meet the airlines' demand for improved performance. Some of this increase will be made
possible by the further adoption of thermal barrier coatings. These coatings are produced from ceramic
pre-cursors and have the potential to contribute about 100°C through the protection they provide.

Thermal Barrier Coatings

Thermal barrier coatings have been used for some years on static parts, initially using magnesium
zirconate but more recently yttria-stabilised zirconia. On rotating parts, the possibility of ceramic
spalling is particularly dangerous, and strain-tolerant coatings are employed with an effective bond coat
system to ensure mechanical reliability.

Ceramic Matrix Composites

Further increases in temperature are likely to require the development of ceramic matrix composites. A
number of simply shaped static components for military and civil applications are in the engine
development phase and guide vanes have been manufactured to demonstrate process capability, such
techniques involve advanced textile handling and chemical vapour infiltration.

However, it is the composite. ceramic rotor blade that provides the ultimate challenge. It will eventually
appear because the rewards are so high, but it will take much longer to bring it to a satisfactory
standard than was anticipated in the 1980’s. Research work has concentrated for some years on fibre
reinforced ceramics for this application, as opposed to monolithic materials which possess adequate
strength at high temperatures but the handicap of poor impact resistance.

Today's commercially available ceramic composites employ silicon carbide fibres in a ceramic matrix
such as silicon carbide or alumina. These materials are capable of uncooled operation at temperatures
up to 1200°C, barely beyond the capability of the current best coated nickel alloy systems. Uncooled
turbine applications will require an all oxide ceramic material system, to ensure the long term stability at
the very highest temperatures in an oxidising atmosphere. An early example of such a system is alumina
fibres in an alumina matrix. To realise the ultimate load carrying capabilities at high temperatures, single
crystal oxide fibres may be used. Operating temperatures of 1400°C are thought possible with these
systems.

Blade Materials

Fan blades for high by pass aero-engines were, for many years, manufactured from solid titanium alloy
forgings and were designed with mid span snubbers to control vibration. However, snubbers impeded
airflow and reduced aerodynamic efficiency, penalising fuel consumption. Modern designs have deleted
the snubber to provide a more aerodynamically efficient aerofoil, and increased the blade chord for
mechanical stability, reducing the number of blades by approximately one third. This has been achieved
at reduced weight with a hollow construction and an internal core.

For both snubbered and wide chord blades, a conventional fine grain titanium alloy - 6% aluminium and
4% vanadium (Ti6Al4V) is used. It is simple in terms of chemistry, with the aluminium offering
strengthening and low density, and the vanadium making hot working of the material easier. It is used
for discs and compressor blades up to about 350°C, but excellent superplastic forming and solid state
diffusion bonding capabilities make it particularly suitable for the wide chord blade.

The low density core for the hollow design is an integral part of the structure. The two external skins are
separated by either honeycomb filler or a superplastically formed corrugation which carries a share of
the centrifugal load. Both panel-to-panel and core-to-panel joints must achieve parent material
properties to withstand the effects of foreign body impact and fatigue.

For the first generation design the joints are made by a transient liquid phase diffusion bonding process,
whereas the second generation employs solid state diffusion bonding in association with superplastic
forming of the assembly. The cavity of the bonded construction is inflated at elevated temperatures
between contoured metal dies using an inert gas to expand the core and simultaneously develop the
blade's external aerodynamic profile.

The reliability of these wide chord blades has been second to none. The step in technology produced a
major competitive advantage and ten years passed before an equivalent design appeared from a
manufacturer other than Rolls Royce. This service record was the result of thorough development
testing. Fatigue testing in both low and high cycle modes was essential. Groups of blades were
repeatedly accelerated to maximum speed in vacuum to establish low cycle endurance, and high cycle
fatigue was investigated on a static vibration rig up to the maximum stress levels likely to be
encountered in service.

With a large forward facing area, resistance to bird ingestion is required. Ingestion of a number of
medium size birds has to be demonstrated by running an engine at take-off power and requiring it to
ingest four birds within the space of one second. The engine continued to deliver power, accelerating
and decelerating for a total period of thirty minutes to simulate the likely operating procedure following
a severe ingestion incident.

In the very unlikely event of a blade mechanical failure, the engine has to be shown to be structurally
sound and to contain all the debris, even if the failure occurs at maximum power. Containment in
modern engines is achieved with aluminium or titanium casings through which the blade fragments can
penetrate, to be caught in external windings of Kevlar.

As an indication of the benefits of materials development and design enhancements, engines

incorporating the wide chord blade have fan modules that are approximately 24% lighter and an engine
which is 7% lighter (typically the Trent 800 engine as used in the Boeing 777).

The Future

Looking to the future, some believe that carbon composite materials can be used to reduce weight. At
present these materials limit the speeds for which the blade can be designed, requiring a greater
diameter for a given thrust. It may be that this alternative approach will converge with the hollow design
because airworthiness requirements have led to the incorporation of titanium sheathing around a large
part of the composite blade with, of course, some weight penalty. The composite can be considered as
an alternative core to the titanium honeycomb or corrugation. Rolls-Royce is studying the future
possibility of titanium based metal matrix composites with selective reinforcement provided by silicon
carbide monofilaments to control blade untwist.

Advanced Materials for Gas Turbine Engines – High Pressure

Compressors
Background

The rear end of the high-pressure compressor in an aero-engine is in a temperature environment set by
the overall pressure ratio chosen for the engine cycle (figure 1). Since the 1950’s, this temperature level
has risen by about 300°C. Titanium alloys have progressively improved in temperature capability up to
630°C, figure 2. This would allow most compressors to be designed completely in titanium. However,
practice in the United States has been to switch at approximately 520°C to nickel alloys and incur a
weight penalty.
 Figure 2. Progressive improvement of the temperature capability of titanium alloys has reached
630°C with IMI834

The development of IM1834 is a good example of the metallurgist's response to the needs of the
designer. The requirements were for higher tensile and fatigue strength and enhanced creep
performance. These were met by optimising the structural balance between primary alpha content and
the transformed beta phase in the titanium alloy.

Developments

Producing integrally bladed discs, or blisks, is a natural progression in that the blade attachment features
are deleted, resulting in significant weight and cost savings. For small engines the most economic
manufacturing method is to machine both disc and aerofoils from a single forging. There may be a
penalty to pay in that the material strength of the aerofoil may be reduced compared to that of a forged
blade. Attention to the forging method and to the manufacturing processes can overcome this.

Metal Matrix Composites

Titanium metal matrix composites can be applied to both aerofoils and discs. The use of silicon carbide
fibre offers about 50% more strength and twice the stiffness of the high temperature titanium alloys,
combined with reduced density. Aerofoil design will benefit from the increased stiffness due to selective
reinforcement, providing the ability to control vibration modes and blade untwist. Further exploitation
of this technique will be with integrally bladed rings which are expected to provide a 70% weight saving
relative to a conventional geometry in titanium.

Intermetallics

Another material development project is the use of intermetallics. Compounds of nickel/aluminium and
titanium/aluminium have been investigated with current emphasis on the latter. Most intermetallic
compounds are brittle at room temperature. The first applications are therefore likely to be in small
components such static and rotating compressor aerofoils where the advantages over titanium include
higher specific strength and stiffness as well as improved temperature and fire resistance. The use of
these materials could extend to more critical components. One possible application is as an alternative
matrix to the titanium alloy in a metal matrix composite, although such an application will require
alternative fibres, to minimise any thermal expansion mismatch, and novel processing technology.

The Future

Eventually, operating temperatures up to about 800°C will be possible, and intermetallics could offer a
very attractive weight saving of around 50% compared with nickel-based alloys.