6,758 research outputs found
A Review of the Erosion of Thermal Barrier Coatings.
The application of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) to components with internal
cooling in the hot gas stream of gas turbine engines has facilitated a steep
increase in the turbine entry temperature and the associated increase in
performance and efficiency of gas turbine engines. However, TBCs are susceptible
to various life limiting issues associated with their operating environment
including erosion, corrosion, oxidation, sintering and foreign object damage
(FOD). This is a review paper that examines various degradation and erosion
mechanisms of TBCs, especially those produced by electron beam physical vapour
deposition (EB-PVD). The results from a number of laboratory tests under various
impact conditions are discussed before the different erosion and FOD mechanisms
are reviewed. The transitions between the various erosion mechanisms are
discussed in terms of the D/d ratio (contact area diameter/column diameter), a
relatively new concept that relates the impact size to the erosion mechanism.
The effects of ageing, dopant additions and
calciumâ  magnesiumâ  aluminaâ  silicates on the life of TBCs are examined. It
is shown that while ageing increases the erosion rate of EB-PVD TBCs, ageing of
plasma sprayed TBCs in fact lowers the erosion rate. Finally modelling of EB-PVD
TBCs is briefly intr
Erosion, corrosion and erosion-corrosion of EB PVD thermal barrier coatings
Electron beam (EB) physical vapour deposited (PVD) thermal barrier coatings
(TBCs) have been used in gas turbine engines for a number of years. The primary
mode of failure is attributed to oxidation of the bond coat and growth of the
thermally grown oxide (TGO), the alumina scale that forms on the bond coat and
to which the ceramic top coat adheres. Once the TGO reaches a critical
thickness, the TBC tends to spall and expose the underlying substrate to the hot
gases. Erosion is commonly accepted as a secondary failure mechanism, which
thins the TBC thus reducing its insulation capability and increasing the TGO
growth rate. In severe conditions, erosion can completely remove the TBC over
time, again resulting in the exposure of the substrate, typically Ni-based
superalloys. Since engine efficiency is related to turbine entry temperature
(TET), there is a constant driving force to increase this temperature. With this
drive for higher TETs comes corrosion problems for the yttria stabilised
zirconia (YSZ) ceramic topcoat. YSZ is susceptible to attack from molten
calciumâ  magnesiumâ  aluminaâ  silicates (CMAS) which degrades the YSZ both
chemically and micro-structurally. CMAS has a melting point of around 1240 à °C
and since it is common in atmospheric dust it is easily deposited onto gas
turbine blades. If the CMAS then melts and penetrates into the ceramic, the life
of the TBC can be significantly reduced. This paper discusses the various
failure mechanisms associated with the erosion, corrosion and
erosionâ  corrosion of EB PVD TBCs. The concept of a dimensionless ratio D/d,
where D is the contact footprint diameter and d is the column diameter, as a
means of determining the erosion mechanism is introduced and discussed for E
Nano and Micro indentation studies of bulk zirconia and EB PVD TBCs
In order to model the erosion of a material it is necessary to know the material
properties of both the impacting particles as well as the target. In the case of
electron beam (EB) physical vapour deposited(PVD) thermal barrier coatings
(TBCs) the properties of the columns as opposed to the coating as a whole are
important. This is due to the fact that discrete erosion events are on a similar
scale as the size of the individual columns. Thus nano* and micro* indentation
were used to determine the hardness and the Young"s modulus of the
columns. However, care had to be taken to ensure that it was the hardness of the
columns that was being measured and not the coating as a whole. This paper
discusses the differences in the results obtained when using the two different
tests and relates them to the interactions between the indent and the columns of
the EB PVD TBC microstructure. It was found that individual columns had a
hardness of 14 GPa measured using nano indentation, while the hardness of the
coating, using micro indentation decreased from 13 to 2.4 GPa as the indentation
load increased from 0.1 to 3N. This decrease in hardness was attributed to the
interaction between the indenter and a number of adjacent columns and the
ability of the columns to move laterally under indentation
Effect of microstructure and temperature on the erosion rates and mechanisms of modified EB PVD TBCs
Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have now been used in gas turbine engines for a
number of decades and are now considered to be an accepted technology. As there
is a constant drive to increase the turbine entry temperature, in order to
increase engine efficiency, the coatings operate in increasingly hostile
environments. Thus there is a constant drive to both increase the temperature
capabilities of TBCs while at the same time reducing their thermal
conductivities. The thermal conductivity of standard 7 wt% yttria stabilized
zirconia (7YSZ) electron beam (EB) physical vapour deposited (PVD) TBCs can be
reduced in two ways: the first by modification of the microstructure of the TBC
and the second by addition of ternary oxides. By modifying the microstructure of
the TBC such that there are more fine pores, more photon scattering centres are
introduced into the coatings, which reduce the heat transfer by radiation. While
ternary oxides will introduce lattice defects into the coating, which increases
the phonon scattering, thus reducing the thermal conductivity via lattice
vibrations. Unfortunately, both of these methods can have a negative effect on
the erosion resistance of EB PVD TBCs. This paper compares the relative erosion
rates of ten different EB PVD TBCs tested at 90à ° impact at room temperature and
at high temperature and discusses the results in term of microstructural and
temperature effects. It was found that by modifying the coating deposition, such
that a low density coating with a highly â  featheredâ  microstructure formed,
generally resulted in an increase in the erosion rate at room temperature. When
there was a significant change between the room temperature and the high
temperature erosion mechanism it was accompanied by a significant decrease in
the erosion rate, while additions of dopents was found to significantly increase
the erosion rate at room and high temperature. However, all the modified
coatings still had a lower erosion rate than a plasma sprayed coatings. So,
although, relative to a standard 7YSZ coating, the modified coatings have a
lower erosion resistance, they still perform better than PS TBCs and their lower
thermal conductivities could make them viable alternatives to 7YSZ for use in
gas turbine en
Erosion of gadolinia doped EB-PVD TBCs
Gadolinia additions have been shown to significantly reduce the thermal
conductivity of EB-PVD TBCs. The aim of this paper is to further the
understanding on the effects of dopants on the erosion resistance of EB-PVD TBCs
by studying the effects of 2 mol% Gd2O3 additions on the room and high
temperature erosion resistance of as received and aged EB-PVD TBCs. Previously
it has been reported that gadolinia additions increased the erosion rate of EB-
PVD TBCs, this is indeed the case for room temperature erosion, however under
high temperature (825 à °C) erosion conditions this is not the case and the doped
TBCs have a slightly lower erosion rate than the standard YSZ EB-PVD TBCs. This
has been attributed to a change in the erosion mechanisms that operate at the
different temperatures. This change in mechanism was not expected under the
impact conditions used and has been attributed to a change in the column
diameter, and how this influences the dynamics of particle impactio
Development of a floating tidal energy system suitable for use in shallow water
A proposal is made for the use of a traditional streamwaterwheel suspended between two floating catamaranNPL series demi-hulls as means of generating electricalpower. Two prototype devices, of lengths 1.6m and 4.5m,have been developed, constructed and tested. It was foundthat the concept is sound although greater investment isrequired with regards to the materials and bothhydrodynamic and aerodynamic design of the waterwheelto ensure an economically viable system. The workpresented concentrates on practical aspects associated withdesign, construction and trial testing in Southampton waterof the 4.5m prototype. The relatively low cost, ease ofdeployment, and the fact that conventional boat mooringsystems are effective, combine to make this an attractivealternative energy solution for remote communities
More evidence-based internet self-help depression websites now available
The aim of this research study is to evaluate the availability and classification of the types of currently available Internet self-help websites for depression. Its aim is to develop an understanding of what is available for people at risk of depression who would otherwise perhaps not seek help and to investigate whether such useful resources are on the increase. In Australia, depression is the top-ranked cause of nonfatal disability. Over 27% of young adults have a current mental disorder, with depression being the most prevalent (10.8%). This paper investigates the availability and type of self-help websites that are available for people suffering from mild to moderate depression, as a step towards providing avenues for care for this population of sufferers. The most important finding of this study was that not only were there an increased number of websites available as self-help resources, but that over the three year period, there has been a statistically significant increase in the proportion of websites that are evidence-based. This is an important factor for sufferers of mild to moderate depression who are looking for access to online self-help resources. © 2007 Universidad de Talca - Chile
Diffusion-controlled generation of a proton-motive force across a biomembrane
Respiration in bacteria involves a sequence of energetically-coupled electron
and proton transfers creating an electrochemical gradient of protons (a
proton-motive force) across the inner bacterial membrane. With a simple kinetic
model we analyze a redox loop mechanism of proton-motive force generation
mediated by a molecular shuttle diffusing inside the membrane. This model,
which includes six electron-binding and two proton-binding sites, reflects the
main features of nitrate respiration in E. coli bacteria. We describe the time
evolution of the proton translocation process. We find that the electron-proton
electrostatic coupling on the shuttle plays a significant role in the process
of energy conversion between electron and proton components. We determine the
conditions where the redox loop mechanism is able to translocate protons
against the transmembrane voltage gradient above 200 mV with a thermodynamic
efficiency of about 37%, in the physiologically important range of temperatures
from 250 to 350 K.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures. A similar model is used in arXiv:0806.3233 for a
different biological system. Minor changes in the Acknowledgements sectio
Dobrushin-Kotecky-Shlosman theorem for polygonal Markov fields in the plane
We consider the so-called length-interacting Arak-Surgailis polygonal Markov
fields with V-shaped nodes - a continuum and isometry invariant process in the
plane sharing a number of properties with the two-dimensional Ising model. For
these polygonal fields we establish a low-temperature phase separation theorem
in the spirit of the Dobrushin-Kotecky-Shlosman theory, with the corresponding
Wulff shape deteremined to be a disk due to the rotation invariant nature of
the considered model. As an important tool replacing the classical cluster
expansion techniques and very well suited for our geometric setting we use a
graphical construction built on contour birth and death process, following the
ideas of Fernandez, Ferrari and Garcia.Comment: 59 pages, new version revised according to the referee's suggestions
and now publishe
Structural properties of epitaxial {\alpha}-U thin films on Ti, Zr, W and Nb
Thin layers of orthorhombic uranium ({\alpha}-U) have been grown onto
buffered sapphire substrates by d.c. magnetron sputtering, resulting in the
discovery of new epitaxial matches to Ti(00.1) and Zr(00.1) surfaces. These
systems have been characterised by X-ray diffraction and reflectivity and the
optimal deposition temperatures have been determined. More advanced structural
characterisation of the known Nb(110) and W(110) buffered {\alpha}-U systems
has also been carried out, showing that past reports of the domain structures
of the U layers are incomplete. The ability of this low symmetry structure to
form crystalline matches across a range of crystallographic templates
highlights the complexity of U metal epitaxy and points naturally toward
studies of the low temperature electronic properties of {\alpha}-U as a
function of epitaxial strain
- …