Assessment of the spent life fraction of gas turbine blades by coating life modeling and photostimulated luminescence piezospectroscopy

This paper describes the application of a double-sided approach to assess the spent life fraction of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) at local positions of ex-service blades with NiCoCrAlY-Re bond coat and EB-PVD TBC. A life prediction code implemented with inverse problem solution routines was applied to determine the mean local temperature. On the single blade, large differences (>150[degrees]C) of mean local temperature were estimated between regions just after the cooling holes and far from them. A self-developed portable photostimulated luminescence piezospectroscopy (PLPS) instrument was also applied and the coating spent life fraction was evaluated with a recently proposed PLPS diagnostic parameter. The spent life fractions evaluated from mean local temperature values were in good agreement with those estimated from PLPS measurements. Lower spent life fractions were .found in well cooled regions of all blades, while higher spent life fractions were calculated at the hottest positions of the blades, particularly on components coming from a plant with a double number of starts. The results confirm the reliability of the PLPS technique and its diagnostic capability also for NiCoCrAlY-Re bond coats; both local differences on the single component and blade-to-blade variations in coating spent life can be evidenced in a nondestructive way. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4000804] Keywords: thermal barrier coatings, photostimulated luminescence piezospectroscopy, nondestructive techniques, coating life models, ex-service blades, film cooling, cyclic operation