4,113 research outputs found
Transonic divider for gas chromatograph effluents
Transonic effluent divider system was developed which permits varying mass input of gas chromatographic effluent into mass spectrometer without affecting performance of gas chromatograph. Mechanisms of operation are described
Compact rotating cup anemometer
Compact, collapsible rotating cup anemometer is used in remote locations where portability and durability are factors in the choice of equipment. This lightweight instrument has a low wind-velocity threshold, is capable of withstanding large mechanical shocks while in its stowed configuration, and has fast response to wind fluctuations
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
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
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
The imaging spectrometer approach
Two important sensor design drivers are the requirement for spatial registration of the spectral components and the implementation of the advanced multispectral capability, including spectral band width, number of bands and programmability. The dispersive approach, fundamental to the imaging spectrometer concept, achieves these capabilities by utilizing a spectrometer to disperse the spectral content while preserving the spatial identity of the information in the cross-track direction. Area array detectors in the spectrometer focal plane detect and store the spatial and multispectral content for each line of the image. The choice of spectral bands, image IFOV and swath width is implemented by programmed readout of the focal plane. These choices in conjunction with data compression are used to match the output data rate with the telemetry link capability. Progress in the key technologies of optics, focal plane detector arrays, onboard processing, and focal plane cooling supports the viability of the imaging spectrometer approach
- …