• Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.261-267
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• 2015

Free-form blades are widely used in different industries, such as aero-engine and steam turbine. Blades that are damaged during service or have production deficiencies are usually replaced with new ones. This leads to the waste of expensive material and is not sustainable. However, material and costs can be saved by repairing of locally damaged blades or blades with localized production deficiencies. The blade needs to be further machined after welding process to reach the aerodynamic performance requirements. This paper outlines an adaptive location approach of repaired blade for model reconstruction and NC machining. Firstly, a mathematical model is established to describe the localization problem under constraints. Secondly, by solving the mathematical model, localization of repaired blade for NC machining can be obtained. Furthermore, a more flexible method based on the proposed mathematical model and the continuity of the deformation process is developed to realize a better localization. Thirdly, by rebuilding the model of the repaired blade and extracting repair error, optimized tool paths for NC machining is generated adaptively for each individual part. Finally, three examples are given to validate the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.297-304
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• 2005

This study was performed to determine the repair weldability of the damaged Ni type superalloy used for gas turbine blade. The experimental works included the evaluation of the microstructures of the damaged blade, selection of the repair welding procedure, characterization of repair weldment and finding the heat treatment procedures for repaired weldment. The morphology of the microstructure for the base metal was composed of austenite matrix with cubical ${\gamma}^{\prime}$ phase, MC type coarse precipitates located within grain and fine $M_{23}C_6$ type precipitates decorated at grain boundaries. The repair welding process using 90 amp current exhibited the best weld properties showing no weld microcracks. The solution and aging heat treatments of the repaired weldment could recover the original service properties of the damaged blade.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.85-89
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• 2004

The inner side between HP stationary blades in #1 turbine of Nuclear Power Plant A is damaged by the FAC(flow assisted corrosion) which is exposed to moisture. For many years the inner side is repaired by welding the damaged part, however, FAC continues to deteriorate the original material of the welded blade ring. In this study, we have two stages to verify the integrity of stationary blade ring in nuclear power plant A. In the stage I, replication of blade ring is performed to survey the microstructure of blade ring. In the stage II, the stress analysis of blade ring is performed to verify the structural safety of blade ring. Throughout the two stages analysis of blade ring, the stationary blade ring had remained undamaged.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.3 s.246
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• pp.349-355
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• 2006

The gas turbine components is used on high temperature conditions which under severely circumstance with start-up and stop several times. Therefore, it is used nickel-base superalloys like and GTD-111DS. Damaged buckets on the t긴ade tip during operating are repaired per 24,000 hr to three times according to repair specification of manufacture. It is applied pre-heat, HIP(hot isostatic pressing) and post-heat treatment to support welding repair on blade tip effectively. On this study, It is utilize of $WRAP^{TM}$ (welding repair advanced process) method to make tension test specimens for this study, And then, material strength and characteristic for GTD-111DS was analyzed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.593-606
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• 2015

This paper presents a novel concept of healing some of the damages in wind turbine blades (WTBs) such as cracks and delamination. This is achieved through an inherent functioning autonomous repairing system. Such wind turbine blades have the benefit of reduced maintenance cost and increased operational period. Previous techniques of developing autonomous healing systems uses hollow glass fibres (HGFs) to deliver repairing fluids to damaged sites. HGFs have been reported with some limitations like, failure to fracture, which undermines their further usage. The self-healing technique described in this paper represents an advancement in the engineering of the delivery mechanism of a self-healing system. It is analogous to the HGF system but without the HGFs, which are replaced by multiple hollow channels created within the composite, inherently in the FRP matrix at fabrication. An in-house fabricated NACA 4412 WTB incorporating this array of network hollow channels was damaged in flexure and then autonomously repaired using the vascular channels. The blade was re-tested under flexure to ascertain the efficiency of the recovered mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.99-106
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• 2010

Gas turbines operation for power generation increased rapidly since 1990 due to the high efficiency in combined cycle, relatively low construction cost and low emission. But the operation and maintenance cost for gas turbine is high because the expensive superalloy hot gas path parts should be repaired and replaced periodically This study analyzed the initiation and propagation of the crack at the gas turbine blades which are coated with MCrAIY as a bond coat and TBC as a top coat. The sample blades had been serviced at the actual gas turbines for power generation. Total 7 sets of blades were analyzed and they have different EOH(equivalent operation hour). Blades were sectioned and the cracking distribution were measured and analyzed utilizing SEM(scanning electron microscope) and optical microscope. The blades which had 52,000 EOH of operation had cracks at the substrate and the maximum depth was 0.2 mm. Most of the cracks initiated at the boundary layer between TBC and bond coat and propagated down to the bond coat. Once bond coat is cracked, the base metal is exposed to the oxidation condition and undergoes notch effect. Under this environment, the crack branched at the inter-diffusion layer and propagated to the substrate. Critical cracks affecting the blade life were analyzed as those on suction side and platform.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 2015

The aerodynamic performance of blunt trailing edge airfoils was investigated. The flow fields around the modified NACA64-418, which consists of the tip blade of the wind turbine and Mexico model of IEA wind, were analyzed. To imitate the repaired airfoil, the original NACA64-418 airfoil, a cambered airfoil, is modified by the adding thickness method, which is accomplished by adding the thickness symmetrically to both sides of the camber line. The thickness ratio of the blunt trailing edge of the modified airfoil, $t_{TE}/t_{max}$, is newly defined to analyze the effects of the blunt trailing edge. The shape functions describing the upper and lower surfaces of the modified NACA64-418 with blunt trailing edge are obtained from the curve fitting of the least square method. To verify the accuracy of the present numerical analysis, the results are first compared with the experimental data of NACA64-418 with high Reynolds number, $Re=6{\times}10^6$, measured in the Langley low-turbulence pressure tunnel. Then, the aerodynamic performance of the modified NACA64-418 is analyzed. The numerical results show that the drag increases, but the lift increases insignificantly, as the trailing edge of the airfoil is thickened. Re-circulation bubbles also develop and increase gradually in size as the thickness ratio of the trailing edge is increased. These re-circulations result in an increase in the drag of the airfoil. The pressure distributions around the modified NACA64-418 are similar, regardless of the thickness ratio of the blunt trailing edge.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.241-248
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• 2008

Gas turbine blades serviced for a period are usually repaired for reuse via "rejuvenation processes" including fluoride ion cleaning, brazing or welding, and recoating. Among these processes, the welding process is applied to rebuilt damaged parts of the blade in which welding materials being mostly Ni base superalloy are supplied in the form of powder or wire. When powder is used in the welding process, the uniform supply of powder is a very important factor for the uniformity of welding. According to our experience, the uniformity was very poor with the powder supply system only utilizing pressurized air flow. A new powder supply system was developed in which powder is supplied via air flow and simultaneously mechanically. The welding uniformity was much improved with this new system. In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of welded parts obtained from several kinds of powder using the new powder supply system were characterized.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.4756-4762
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• 2014

Damaged wind turbine blades are repaired conventionally using a hand lay-up method with epoxy, where the bonding strength is not high. Epoxy has poor curing characteristics at low temperatures. The infusion method with polyester was proposed. Infusion method is believed to distribute resin uniformly. Polyester is used because it hardens better than epoxy at low temperatures. At room temperature, the proposed method increased the bonding strength by 77.7% compared to the conventional method. Using the proposed method at 15 and $5^{\circ}C$, the bonding strength increased compared to the conventional method. This paper proposes a new method for repairing wind turbine blades, even at temperatures where the conventional method cannot be used because epoxy resin does not harden. The bonding strength of the proposed method at low temperatures is higher than that of the conventional method at room temperature.