4 ms·
Not only exotic alloys, but single crystal blades. That's right, the blade is machined out of a single atomistically perfect crystal with no defects what so eve
by semi-extrinsic 10y ago
Not only exotic alloys, but single crystal blades. That's right, the blade is machined out of a single atomistically perfect crystal with no defects what so ever. The main point is that this reduces thermal creep, meaning you can have tighter tolerances and more power/efficiency.
- rayiner 10y agoAlso, because combustion temperatures can exceed the melting point of the alloy, HPT blades often have a complex set of internal hollows and holes at the surface for cooling air. Air can be passed through to create a boundary layer on the surface that prevents the surface from heating up past the melting point of the alloy.
- dmoy 10y agoHoly crap that is nuts. Towards the middle/end in here: https://www.theengineer.co.uk/issues/june-2015-online/jewel-in-the-crown-rolls-royces-single-crystal-turbine-blade-casting-foundry/ https://www.theengineer.co.uk/issues/june-2015-online/jewel-... Also cool to hear them talking about automating as much stuff as possible to remove human error. Incidentally that's also how we go about software release processes where I work.
- Osmium 10y ago> single atomistically perfect crystal with no defects what so ever Nit-pick, but single crystals can (and do) still have defects. Your point about single crystal turbine blades being awesome I agree with completely though :)