Ceramic Matrix Turbine Blades

Ge aviation is creating adjacent factories in huntsville alabama to mass produce silicon carbide sic materials used to manufacture ceramic matrix composi.

Ceramic matrix turbine blades.

They are tough lightweight and capable of withstanding temperatures 300 400 degrees f hotter than metal alloys can endure. A particular problem is the brittleness of cmcs which means that tensile stresses in the joint must. Ceramic matrix composites cmcs are a subgroup of composite materials as well as a subgroup of ceramics. If certain components were made with cmcs instead of metal alloys the turbine engines of aircraft and power plants could operate more.

They consist of ceramic fibers embedded in a ceramic matrix. Ge aviation as the name implies composite materials such as cmc are made from separate materials which are then joined together. Airfoil member and the platform member may be bonded together by an adhesive 20 after being fully cured. Cincinnati oh february 10 2015 ge aviation successfully tested the world s first non static set of light weight ceramic matrix composite cmc parts by running rotating low pressure turbine blades in a f414 turbofan demonstrator engine designed to further validate the heat resistant material for high stress operation in ge s next generation adaptive engine technology.

Cmcs are used in high temperature applications such as turbine blades piston engine valves and turbo charger components. Concrete for example is a primitive but simple example of a composite. It may be necessary to join cmcs to themselves or to a metal fernie et al 1991. The advent s low pressure turbine with blades from cmcs.

To survive in this difficult environment turbine blades often use exotic materials like. The turbine blades have had a ceramic thermal barrier coating applied and now we install them into the j47 engine which will be installed in an f86 f sabre. 6 joining ceramic matrix composites. Some of them are covered with a special yellow environmental coating.

Because of the complex shape of stator vanes and turbine blades the development was first focused on the combustion chamber. Next generation ceramic matrix composites cmcs are being developed for future applications such as turbine blades top left these may use new technologies such as water like polymers that can be processed into 1700 c capable low density ceramics bottom or nanofibers grown onto silicon carbide sic reinforcing fibers for increased toughness top right.