Testing Gas Turbine Components? Amass Data Before Failure Analysis.
There’s little doubt that component failure analysis is a critical tool for test engineers working with gas turbine components. However, too often the testing process centers around data amassed during and immediately preceding the component failure—often with a limited temperature life model.
The reasons for this are many. For one, instrumentation of test sensors and post-failure analysis often requires time-consuming and costly engine teardowns. Poor instrument survivability (especially after a catastrophic component failure in stress tests) has also historically meant expensive re-instrumentation for repeat testing.
Another challenge comes from the narrow slip rings that prohibit limitless routing of thermocouple wires and make it difficult to instrument a full complement of sensors throughout the engine for a more complete dataset.
What It Takes to Amass Better Data, Faster
Development cycles move more quickly when the sensors tracking the health of gas turbine components are able to:
- Endure long-term operating temperatures up to 1,200°C
- Survive extreme temperatures as high as 1,750°C for short durations
- Function for up to 40,000 hours at baseload operating conditions
- Deploy in-situ on gas turbine engines (without teardowns or routing thermocouple wires)
- Operate wirelessly—no routing of thermocouple wires, no limitations from the slip ring
- Provide a robust temperature life model drawn from continuous, real-time health monitoring
Testing advantages such as these would ensure that setup and installation are rapid, re-instrumentation is rare, and data is far more precise and accurate in its prediction of system health and maximum component life.
The Advantage of a Continuous, Real-Time Sensor System
These traits are not theoretical, however. The wireless, on-blade turbine temperature sensor system pioneered by Sensatek demonstrates all of the above qualities and more. The real-time insights provided by high-survivability on-blade sensors allow for nuanced fault detection long before peak stresses result in component failure—and therefore, more accurate models of a component’s useful life and limitations than post-failure analysis testing alone.
Don’t Wait For Post-Failure Analysis. Go Wireless.
Hot gas path component degradation is gradual, and will likely be localized to problematic hot spots, rather than uniform in nature. It’s critical to amass long-term, continuous data well in advance of component failure analysis to track these trends and identify design flaws or material failures before they occur. Turbine blade liberations and cycle fatigue can result in hot debris and significant secondary damage, costing millions of dollars for fresh test equipment. The failure analysis after such an event may ultimately prove valuable, but it’s almost always more valuable to never reach that point.
A wireless, in-situ temperature sensor system makes it simple to instrument numerous blades (and diverse blade locations) with efficiency, so that you can identify hot spots faster and track the health of gas turbine components with a more complete view of long-term thermal performance.
Interested in more information on how wireless, on-blade sensors can revolutionize testing data for gas turbine components? Reach out to Sensatek today for additional resources regarding the unique capabilities and specifications of our patented gas turbine testing sensors. Our experts will be happy to make recommendations for efficient implementation in your test lab.