TECNALIA Technological Corporation participates in the development and manufacture of a test bench for carrying out high temperature CCF (Combined cycle fatigue) tests and FCC tests on alloys currently used in gas turbine components in order to contribute towards the development of predictive models for the life of said components.
The participation is included in the European PREMECCY project, which has identified deficiencies in the standard design and tools for predicting the Combined Cycle Fatigue of rotor blades currently used in the industry.
The consortium is made up of 9 leading European gas turbine manufacturers, an SME specialist and five of the world's leading research facilities, providing optimum specialisation and experience to achieve the project goals.
Modern gas turbines are complex machines and many months need to be spent on their design and development, leading to very high costs. The European gas turbine manufacturing industry is under pressure to minimise resources by offering the market a new design, due to high competitiveness and growing client expectations. The correct design and predictive tools are vital if this process is to be a success.
The CCF of the rotor blades account for over 40% of the tests carried out while a motor is being developed, and the same can be said for in-service problems of the motor developed. These factors cost the industry millions of Euros for maintenance and redesign. This means that the main aim of PREMECCY is to develop a new and improved CCF prediction model for use in the design process. Thus reducing both the development costs of new motors and those that may occur in service.
Apart from developing new predictive methods, the project will generate a database related with the testing of high-performance materials. The mechanical, geometrical and environmental tests carried out will be used to verify the improved methodology. All the industrial partners are ready to exploit the resulting methodologies in their own design processes.