The Rejuvenation of Properties in Turbine Engine Hot Section Components by Hot Isostatic Pressing (La Regenerescence des Proprietes de Pieces de Turbine Thermiquement Sollicitees par Pressage Isostatique a Chaud).

Abstract : A significant factor in the cost of ownership of industrial, marine and aircraft gas turbine engines is the high price of replacement of parts that have reached the limit of their original design life. Many parts, particularly those operating in the hot sections of gas turbine engines, will be replaced on a routine basis, even though they may have many thousands of safe operating hours remaining. In order to reduce costs, and to conserve materials that are rapidly becoming scarce, a great deal of effort is being expended to develop treatments that allow used parts to be refurbished and their original properties restored by regenerative heat treatments. A significant development has occurred recently in this area with the introduction of hot isostatic pressing. With hot isostatic pressing it is possible to reheat-treat service exposed parts under pressure so that precipitate structures are restored, and internal defects such as creep voids and cavities are eliminated. As a result, new metal properties can be restored in many cases. However, during hot isostatic pressing there is a tendency for grain growth to occur, for changes in grain boundary structure to occur, and for irreversible changes in carbide morphology and distribution to occur. Consequently, the effective processing of materials requires that careful control of the time, temperature and pressure conditions used in the autoclave be achieved. The particular conditions used must be established for each individual alloy of interest in order to develop the appropriate microstructural features required and thereby obtain the desired improvements in mechanical properties. (Author)