Subsurface Markers for Nondestructive Gas Turbine Creep Monitoring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Components in gas turbine engines, such as turbine airfoils, experience dimensional changes due to mechanical stress and elevated temperatures, leading to issues like creep and seal degradation, necessitating a method to nondestructively monitor and assess these changes.
Innovation Solution
The method involves disposing subsurface markers with detectable properties, such as radioactivity, within the substrate, and using sensors to measure spatial changes over time, allowing for repeated nondestructive testing without exposing the markers to harsh surface environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If periodic inspections are performed to detect dimensional changes, then reliability is improved, but loss of time and productivity deteriorate due to component shutdowns
Solution Approach 1:
Markers are embedded in the substrate during manufacturing before the component is put into service. This preliminary action enables continuous monitoring without requiring later intervention or shutdowns, as the markers are already in position to detect dimensional changes throughout the component's operational life
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical inspection methods (which require physical access and component shutdown) with non-destructive detection methods using sensors that detect marker positions through the substrate. This substitution allows monitoring to occur during normal operation without mechanical interference or downtime
2Measurement precision
If markers are embedded in the substrate to enable monitoring, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional embedded components
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring function is segmented into discrete markers embedded at specific locations within the substrate. Each marker serves as an independent reference point for detecting dimensional changes, allowing precise measurement without requiring a complex overall system architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state or properties of the substrate by embedding markers with different detectable characteristics (such as radioactive, magnetic, or fluorescent properties). These parameter changes enable the markers to be detected by external sensors without significantly altering the substrate's structural integrity or adding complex systems
3Ease of operation
If markers are placed on the surface for easy detection, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to exposure to harsh environments
Solution Approach 1:
The markers are nested within the substrate rather than placed on the surface. This nesting protects the markers from harsh environmental conditions (heat, corrosion, mechanical wear) while still allowing their positions to be detected through the substrate using non-destructive sensing methods
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate itself acts as an intermediary medium that allows sensor detection of the embedded markers without direct exposure. The sensing system detects marker positions through the substrate material, eliminating the need for surface placement while maintaining detection capability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables accurate, repeated assessment of dimensional changes like creep, reducing the need for premature component replacement by providing real-time monitoring of operational conditions and mechanical property changes without damaging the component.
Implementation Method 1
The marker is characterized by a property that is detectable outside of the component
Data Source
AI summary
A method, including: detecting in a nondestructive manner a marker (10, 12, 50, 70, 76, 78) that is fully submerged in a substrate (14) to obtain spatial information about the marker; detecting in a nondestructive manner the marker after a period of time to obtain a change in the spatial information; and using the change in the spatial information to determine a change in a dimension (30) of the substrate. The method may be used to measure creep in a gas turbine engine component.