General Electric Company

Bhupendra Kumar Gupta

Nripendra Nath Das

Bangalore Aswatha Nagaraj

Thomas Edward Mantkowski

Gilbert Farmer

Lyle Timothy Rasch

Thomas Joseph Kelly

Curtis Alan Johnson

Robert William Bruce

Michael James Weimer

David John Wortman

Jeffrey Allen Conner

Wayne Ray Grady

Warren Arthur Nelson

Alan Majors Walker

Raymond William Heidorn

Seetha Ramaiah Mannava

David William Skelly

Wilbur Douglas Scheidt

David Vincent Rigney

Jim D Reeves

Rudolfo Viguie

Robert George Zimmerman, Jr

Robert Paul Ziegler

Marek M Steplewski

David Dye

Marshall Gordon Jones

John Frederick Ackerman

Seetharamaiah Mannava

Glenn Herbert Nichols

Edward John Emilianowicz

Thomas John Tomlinson

Matthew David Saylor

Michael Howard Rucker

Mark Gerard Rettig

George Eric Moertle

Mark M Glevicky

Thomas George Holland

Huan Qi

Anthony Wayne Reynolds

Ray Heidorn

Tom Tomlinson

Jennifer Ann Pinson

Brian Thomas Pothier

David Forrest Dye

Glenn H Nichols

Howard Farr

Jr Robert George Zimmerman

A method is described, for treating a superalloy substrate which includes at least one cavity containing adherent metal oxide material on its surface. A short-pulsed, high repetition rate laser beam is directed against the cavity surface for a period of time sufficient to remove substantially all of the adherent metal oxide material. The laser beam is characterized by a peak power density in the range of about 10 megawatts/cmto about 10 gigawatts/cm. In another embodiment, a high-power, short-pulsed, high repetition rate laser beam is directed to a region on the substrate which includes the cavity, under laser operational conditions which are capable of cutting into the superalloy material; so that a boundary region is formed within the substrate, which encloses the cavity. The cavity can be a crack in a turbine blade, and the crack can be repaired after treatment, by welding, or by another suitable technique.

Methods for treating superalloy articles, and related repair processes

A method of forming a metal coating on surfaces of internal passages of a turbine blade includes, in an exemplary embodiment, the steps of positioning the turbine blade in a CVD chamber, coupling a reagent gas manifold to at least one internal passage inlet, and coating the surfaces of the at least one internal passage by a CVD process using metal coating reagent gases to form a metal coating on the surfaces of the at least one internal passage.

Method of coating gas turbine components

A method for applying a thermal barrier coating to an article having cooling holes and concurrently cleaning obstructions, such as TBC overspray or other debris, from those holes is disclosed. A thermal barrier coating is applied to a first surface of an article having cooling holes. Concurrently therewith, a plurality of particles are projected against a second surface of the article, such that at least some of the particles pass through the cooling holes, strike the overspray constituents prior to cooling, knocking at least some of the obstructions out of the cooling hole.

Method for concurrent thermal spray and cooling hole cleaning

A method is provided for electroplating a high temperature coating onto an airfoil. The method includes providing a shield having a recess defining one or more walls conforming to the shape of at least a portion of a pressure side and a suction side of the airfoil to be electroplated, introducing the portions of the pressure side and the suction side of the airfoil to be electroplated into the recess of the shield, attaching an anode and cathode to the airfoil, submerging at least the shield and the portions of the pressure side and the suction side of the airfoil to be electroplated into an electroplating tank containing an electrolyte, and electroplating a coating of a high temperature resistant metal onto the portions of the pressure side and the suction side of the airfoil to be electroplated to a predetermined minimum thickness.

Method for airfoil electroplating

A coating system for reducing the tendency for hydrocarbon fluids, such as fuels and oils, to form carbonaceous deposits that adhere to fluid containment surfaces. The coating system combines an outermost layer of platinum with an inner ceramic barrier layer of silica and/or tantala. The platinum layer catalyzes the hydrocarbon fluid to form particles of carbonaceous gum substances, and the ceramic barrier layer seals the containment surface from the hydrocarbon fluid to eliminate attachments points for deposits and inhibit interdiffusion between the platinum layer and the containment surface. The invention also encompasses a coating apparatus and process for depositing the coating system.

Coating system and process and apparatus for depositing a coating system

A process for refurbishing a worn surface of a shroud support component of a turbomachine, as well as a shroud support component refurbished with the process. The process generally entails removing a surface region of the worn surface so as to define a repair surface on the component. A braze tape formed from a slurry to comprise a braze material and a wear-resistant alloy is then applied to the repair surface, followed by a heat treatment to cause the braze tape to diffusion bond to the repair surface so as to define a built-up surface. The built-up surface is then machined to define a wear-resistant coating on the component.

Method for refurbishing surfaces subjected to high compression contact

A coated article has a metallic substrate with a substrate composition, and a metallic coating overlying and contacting the metallic substrate. The metallic coating has a metallic-coating composition different from the substrate composition. A protective coating overlies and contacts the metallic coating. The protective coating includes a chromium aluminide layer overlying and contacting the metallic coating, and optionally a thermal barrier coating overlying and contacting the chromium aluminide layer. This structure may be used to restore a key dimension of an article that has previously been in service and to protect the article as well.

Article including a substrate with a metallic coating and a chromium-aluminide protective coating thereon, and its preparation and use in component restoration

A method facilitates replacing a portion of a gas turbine engine turbine support. The turbine support includes a body including a forward leg, an aft leg, and a mounting flange that each extend radially outwardly from the body. The forward leg is axially upstream from the aft leg and the mounting flange. The mounting flange is substantially axially aligned with respect to the aft leg. The method comprises cutting through at least one of the body, the aft leg, and the mounting flange, removing the forward leg and at least a portion of the body that is upstream from the cut from the engine, and coupling a replacement spad to the portion of the turbine support that is downstream from the cut.

Methods for replacing portions of turbine shroud supports

A method is provided for refurbishing a service operated metallic coating on a substrate alloy, the coating including at least within a coating outer surface at least one oxide chemically grown from at least one coating element, for example Al, and chemically bonded with the coating outer surface as a result of thermal exposure during service operation. Growth of the oxide has depleted at least a portion of the coating element from the coating. The method comprises removing the oxide from the coating outer surface while substantially retaining the metallic coating, thereby exposing in the coating outer surface at least one surface void that had been occupied by the oxide. The retained metallic coating is mechanically worked, substantially without removal of the retained coating, to close the void, providing a treated metallic coating surface over which a refurbishing coating is applied. In one form, the mechanical working provides, concurrently, a compressive stress in the substrate alloy beneath the metallic coating.

Gas turbine engine component having a refurbished coating including a thermally grown oxide

A thermal barrier coating system and a method for forming the coating system on an article designed for use in a hostile thermal environment. The method is particularly directed to a coating system that includes a plasma-sprayed MCrAlY bond coat on which a thermal-insulating APS ceramic layer is deposited, in which the oxidation resistance of the bond coat and the spallation resistance of the ceramic layer are substantially increased by vapor phase aluminizing the bond coat. The bond coat is deposited to have a surface area ratio of at least 1.4 and a surface roughness of at least 300 &mgr;inch Ra in order to promote the adhesion of the ceramic layer. The bond coat is then overcoat aluminized using a vapor phase process that does not alter the surface area ratio of the bond coat. This process is carried out at relatively low temperatures that promote inward diffusion of aluminum relative to outward diffusion of the bond coat constituents, particularly nickel and other refractory elements. The process conditions also provide sufficient vapor phase activity at the surface of the bond coat that promote aluminum atomic movement through the bond coat.

Aluminizing process for plasma-sprayed bond coat of a thermal barrier coating system

An article having a substrate is protected by a thermal barrier coating system. An interfacial layer contacts the upper surface of the substrate. The interfacial layer may comprise a bond coat only, or a bond coat and an overlay coat. The interfacial layer has on its upper surface a preselected, controllable pattern of three-dimensional features, such as grooves in a parallel array or in two angularly offset arrays. The features are formed by an ablation process using an ultraviolet laser such as an excimer laser. A ceramic thermal barrier coating is deposited over the pattern of features on the upper surface of the interfacial layer.

Method for producing an enhanced thermal barrier coating system

Method for refurbishing a coating including a thermally grown oxide

A thermal barrier coating system and a method for forming the coating system on a component designed for use in a hostile thermal environment, such as superalloy turbine, combustor and augmentor components of a gas turbine engine. The coating system includes a diffusion aluminide bond coat whose oxide growth rate is significantly reduced to improve the spallation resistance of a thermal barrier layer by forming the bond coat to include a dispersion of aluminum, chromium, nickel, cobalt and/or platinum group metal oxides. The oxides preferably constitute about 5 to about 20 volume percent of the bond coat. A preferred method of forming the bond coat is to initiate a diffusion aluminizing process in the absence of oxygen to deposit a base layer of diffusion aluminide, and then intermittently introduce an oxygen-containing gas into the diffusion aluminizing process to form within the bond coat the desired dispersion of oxides. Thereafter, a ceramic layer is deposited on the bond coat to form a thermal barrier coating.

Method of forming a diffusion aluminide coating

A method is provided for repairing an article having a fissure in a metallic overlay environmental resistant coating that includes the element Al, for example an overlay coating of the MCrAlY type. The method depletes more than about 90 wt. % of the Al from an exposed coating surface within the fissure and from a coating outer surface adjacent the fissure, to a depth of at least about 7 mils, without removal of the coating and while substantially maintaining the coating thickness. Thereafter, the fissure is repaired.

Method for repairing a coated article

An article comprising a substrate and an outer metallic layer, such as a coating, is provided with augmented heat transfer from the substrate through the combination of a layer thickness of about 0.003&Prime; to about 0.017&Prime;, a layer surface roughness of at least about 500 micro inches Ra, a layer tensile bond strength of at least about 5 ksi, and a heat transfer augmentation of at least about 1.1. A method of making the article uses an electric arc wire thermal spray process in which the atomizing gas pressure is maintained within the range of about 20-80 psi.

Article with metallic surface layer for heat transfer augmentation and method for making

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Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Bhupendra Kumar Gupta