Development and Fabrication of Ceramic Gas Turbine Components

Kyocera has been developing various ceramic components for gas turbines under the Ceramic Gas Turbine (CGT) Project funded by the Japanese Government. This project has set a turbine inlet temperature (TIT) of 1350°C as a final target.For 1350°C TIT, we have developed a new silicon nitride material SN281, which has high stress rupture strength at elevated temperatures up to 1500°C. This material has excellent oxidation resistance as well.We have also developed improved sintering and inspection technologies for the use of SN281 as engine components. We are able to fabricate rotors and nozzles of the gas generator turbine (GGT) in good agreement with design geometry requirements, by optimizing sintering conditions. Small defects were also successfully detected by microfocus X-ray radiography. The SN281 rotors have attained 120% of design rotating speed at room temperature.Copyright © 1996 by ASME