Structural Integrity of Turbine Stator Blades Using Different Super Alloys with Internal Cooling at Fluid Temperature Range of 600 K – 700 K

Abstract

The importance of turbines in power generation cannot be overstated. While the failure in stationary plants can lead to downtime and high repair costs, its failure in mobile plants like the jet engines can be catastrophic with attendant loss of lives. Hence, by all possible means, the prevention of turbine failure is a necessity, and a very good means of doing this is with the use of super-alloys. Super-alloys are tailored to withstand the demands of turbine operations especially stress and elevated temperature and pressure. The blades are thus, manufactured from super-alloys, and of prominence are the Nickel-based super-alloys. The performance of five different super-alloys: (DS) GTD 111, Ti-6Al-4V, Inconel 718, CMSX-4, and Nimonic 80A was simulated using COMSOL MultiPhysics 5.5 at cooling air temperature range of 600 K – 700 K. The mode of cooling employed in the study is only internal cooling. With the developed stress percentage of the yield stress value and the stator blade displacement at the operating conditions as the criteria of performance, super-alloy Ti-6Al-4V faired as the best material for the stator blade.