Test Facility for Screening and Evaluating Candidate Materials for Advanced Microturbine Recuperators

A test facility for screening and evaluating candidate materials for advanced microturbine r ecuperators is described. The central piece of the test fac ility is a modified 60 kW Capstone microturbine that serves as a test bed for subjecting test specimens to conditions of stress, environment and temperature that are representative of those experi enced by the recuperator during microturbine operation. Special provisions have been incorporated into the design of this test fac ility for controlling the magnitude of the applied mechanical stress and the surface temperature of the test specimens with the objective of carrying out accelerated te sting. Candidate materials for evaluation in this test facility are identified.