Examination of the Interaction Between Flow Field and Fatigue Resistance of Gas Turbine Blade using Various Materials

Abstract

Gas turbines are an important component of power plants. They operate at very high temperatures in combination with rotating at very high speeds, which required the blades to be made up of materials with high resistance. The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship of the airflow field and the fatigue resistance of a gas turbine blade, where special emphasis will be placed on the effect of blade material. The flow and the stresses put on the blade are simulated by utilizing numerical modeling techniques such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA). The structural performance of blades produced from three distinct materials was investigated: Inconel 718, Ti-6Al-4V, and SiC/SiC CMC. The results revealed that the material has an important influence in the blade's reaction to cyclic loads, with Inconel 718 having the maximum fatigue resistance, with a safety factor of 4.73, compared to 1.18 for Ti-6Al-4V and 0.285 for the SiC/SiC composite. The minimum fatigue life rose by 1159% when Ti-6Al-4V was used instead of Inconel 718, but fell by 98.3% when the ceramic material was used.