General Electric Company

Roger Dale Wustman

Jonathan Philip Clarke

Jeffrey Allen Conner

Antonio Frank Maricocchi

Brian Harvey Pilsner

David Edwin Budinger

William Scott Walston

John Peter Heyward

William Clarke Brooks

Timothy Lane Norris

Bangalore Aswatha Nagaraj

Joseph David Rigney

Robert William Bruce

Brian Thomas Hazel

Jeffrey Allan Pfaendtner

Richard Roy Worthing, Jr

Thomas Edward Mantkowski

Joshua L Miller

Mark Alan Rosenzweig

Gulcharan Singh Brainch

Brett Allen Rohrer Boutwell

Gary Eugene Wheat

Michael Joseph Danowski

Ronald Lance Galley

Todd Stephen Heffron

James Douglas Risbeck

Matthew David Saylor

Terri Kay Brown

Ramgopal Darolia

Jon Conrad Schaeffer

Irene T Spitsberg

Curtis Alan Johnson

David John Wortman

D Sangeeta

Warren Davis Grossklaus, Jr

Thomas Froats Broderick

Howard John Farr

John Matthew Powers

Margeaux Wallace

John Douglas Evans, Sr

Rudolfo Viguie

Robert George Zimmerman, Jr

Venkata Vijayaraghava Nalladega

Cathleen Ann Hoel

Richard Clay Haubert

Gregory Alan White

Paul John Fink

Karl S Fessenden

Carl Anthony Flecker, Iii

David G W Fargher

Nicole Marie Polley

Kathleen Diana Brammer

William E Brummett, Ii

John D Evans

A coating analysis system and method inductively heat a component having a coating. Optionally, the component is heated while a cooling fluid flows through cooling holes extending through the component and the coating. The system and method measure rates of infrared radiation emission from the component and the coating at different locations on the component and the coating. The system and method determining bond qualities (e.g., tensile strengths of bonds) between the coating and the component at the different locations based on the rates of infrared radiation emission that are measured.

Coating analysis system

Turbine airfoil components with protective layers and methods therefore. The components are each formed to have a platform, an airfoil extending upwardly from the platform, and a shank extending downwardly from the platform. The shank has an exterior wall and an internal passage, and the airfoil has a cooling flow channel inside the airfoil for flowing a cooling flow therethrough. The component has an interior chromide coating contacting at least a portion of an interior surface of the shank and interdiffused with a base metal thereof, and an exterior chromide coating contacting at least a portion of an exterior surface of the shank and interdiffused with the base metal thereof. The interior and exterior chromide coatings do not have an aluminide coating deposited thereon.

Turbine engine components with environmental protection for interior passages

A thermal barrier coating and deposition process for a component intended for use in a hostile thermal environment, such as the turbine, combustor and augmentor components of a gas turbine engine. The TBC has a first coating portion on at least a first surface portion of the component. The first coating portion is formed of a ceramic material to have at least an inner region, at least an outer region overlying the inner region, and a columnar microstructure whereby the inner and outer regions comprise columns of the ceramic material. The columns of the inner region are more closely spaced than the columns of the outer region so that the inner region of the first coating portion is denser than the outer region of the first coating portion, wherein the higher density of the inner region promotes the impact resistance of the first coating portion.

Thermal barrier coating and process therefor

Thermal barrier coating (TBC) and a method of depositing a TBC having a modulated columnar microstructure that exhibits increased impact resistance. The TBC is deposited to have a columnar microstructure in which columns extend from a substrate surface. The columns having inner regions contacting the surface, outer regions near an outermost surface of the TBC, and interior regions therebetween. The inner regions of the columns are substantially normal to the substrate surface and at least one of the interior and outer regions of the columns are nonaligned with its respective inner regions, so that the columns of the columnar microstructure are continuous but modulated between the inner and outer regions to reduce tensile stresses within the columns resulting from particle impact.

Thermal barrier coating with modulated grain structure and method therefor

A method for selectively removing an aluminide coating from at least one surface of a metal-based substrate by: (a) contacting the surface of the substrate with at least one stripping composition comprising nitric acid at a temperature less than about 20&#xb0; C. to degrade the coating without damaging the substrate; and (b) removing the degraded coating without damaging the substrate. Also disclosed is a method for replacing a worn or damaged aluminide coating on at least one surface of a metal-based substrate by selectively removing the coating using the above steps, and then applying a new aluminide coating to the surface of the substrate. Turbine engine parts, such as high-pressure turbine blades, treated using the above methods are also disclosed.

Method for removing aluminide coating from metal substrate and turbine engine part so treated

A method is provided for repairing a surface portion of an article including a metallic environmental resistant coating on a substrate. The coating includes a coating outer portion bonded with the substrate through a diffusion zone that includes at least one feature, for example Al and/or an intermetallic phase, in an amount detrimental to application of a metallic replacement coating and/or repair of the article. The method comprises removing the coating outer portion to expose a surface of the diffusion zone. The substrate and the diffusion zone are heated at a temperature and for a time sufficient to diffuse and/or dissolve at least a portion of the at least one feature in the exposed surface and in a portion of the diffusion zone beneath the exposed surface to a level below the detrimental amount. This provides a replacement surface portion integral with diffusion zone. Then a metallic replacement coating outer portion is applied to the replacement surface portion. Provided is a coated article comprising a substrate and a metallic environmental resistant coating bonded with the substrate. The coating comprises an inner modified portion of the substrate integral with the substrate, an outer diffusion zone integral with the inner portion, and a metallic environmental resistant coating outer portion integral with the outer diffusion zone. In some forms, the coated article includes a thermal barrier coating over the metallic coating outer portion.

Coated article and method for repairing a coated surface

A method for applying an aluminide coating on a gas turbine engine blade having an external surface and an internal cooling cavity having an internal surface that is connected to the external surface by cooling holes. The method is conducted in a vapor coating container having a hollow interior coating chamber, and includes the steps of loading the coating chamber with the blade to be coated; providing an aluminide coating gas in the loaded coating chamber; maintaining the loaded coating chamber comprising the aluminide coating gas at a specified temperature and time to deposit an aluminide coating on the external surface of the blade; and then flowing an inert carrier gas into the loaded coating chamber comprising the aluminide coating gas at a specified gas flow rate and time to move the aluminide coating gas through the cooling holes and internal cooling cavity and deposit an aluminide coating on the internal surface of the blade.

Aluminide coating of gas turbine engine blade

A method enables a gas turbine engine blade to be manufactured to include an airfoil, a platform, a shank, and a dovetail. The platform extends between the airfoil and the shank, the shank extends between the dovetail and the platform, and the dovetail includes at least one tang for securing the blade within the engine. The method comprises defining a cooling cavity in the blade that extends through the airfoil, the platform, the shank, and the dovetail, such that a portion of the cavity defined within the dovetail includes a root passage portion having a first width, and a transition portion extending between the root passage and the portion of the cavity defined within the shank, and wherein the portion of the cavity defined within the shank has a second width that is larger than the root passage first width. The blade is then coated with an environmental resistive coating.

Methods and apparatus for extending gas turbine engine airfoils useful life

A method for applying an aluminide coating on a gas turbine engine blade having an external surface and an internal cooling cavity having an internal surface that is connected to the external surface by cooling holes. The method is conducted in a vapor coating container having a hollow interior coating chamber, and includes the steps of loading the coating chamber with the blade to be coated; providing an aluminide coating gas in the loaded coating chamber; flowing an inert carrier gas into the loaded coating chamber comprising the aluminide coating gas at a specified gas flow rate and time to move the aluminide coating gas through the cooling holes and internal cooling cavity and deposit an aluminide coating on the internal surface of the blade; and then flowing an inert carrier gas into the loaded coating chamber comprising the aluminide coating gas at a specified higher temperature and time to deposit an aluminide coating on the external surface of the blade.

Method for aluminide coating of gas turbine engine blade

An article is coasted by preparing a coating source having an aluminum halide, a fluoride or an iodide of a modifying element as a source of the modifying element, and a carrier gas. The modifying element is zirconium, hafnium, and yttrium, or combinations thereof. The coating source is contacted to the article, and the coating source and the article are heated to a coating temperature of at least about 1850&#xb0; F. for a period of time sufficient to permit aluminum and the modifying element to coat onto the surface of the article. The preferred fluorides of modifying elements are zirconium tetrafluoride and hafnium tetrafluoride.

Method for vapor phase aluminiding including a modifying element

A method of operating an EBPVD apparatus ( ) to deposit a ceramic coating on an article ( ), such that the thermal conductivity of the coating is both minimized and stabilized. More particularly, the EBPVD apparatus ( ) is operated to perform multiple successive coating operations which together constitute a coating campaign. During the campaign, the surface temperatures of the articles ( ) being coated do not exceed about 1000&deg; C. as a result of the combined heat transfer from the coating chamber ( ) to the articles ( ) being reduced during the course of the campaign, even though the temperature within the coating chamber ( ) continuously rises during successive coating operations of the campaign. Ceramic coatings deposited at such relatively low temperatures exhibit lower and more stable thermal conductivities.

Method of controlling temperature during coating deposition by EBPVD

A gas turbine component article has an airfoil section and is formed of a nickel-base superalloy. An unmasked region of the airfoil section has a platinum aluminide protective coating, and a masked region of the airfoil section has an aluminide coating. The platinum aluminide preferably is deposited at a trailing edge of the airfoil section that is susceptible to low-cycle fatigue damage when a platinum aluminide coating is present.

Gas turbine airfoil protected by aluminide and platinum aluminide coatings, and its preparation

Coating article and method for repairing a coated surface

A method of repairing a thermal barrier coating on a component designed for use in a hostile thermal environment, such as turbine, combustor and augmentor components of a gas turbine engine. The method is particularly suited for completely removing a thermal insulating ceramic layer of thermal barrier coating system that includes a metallic bond coat, such as a diffusion aluminide or MCrAlY coating, between the surface of the component and the ceramic layer, while leaving the bond coat substantially undamaged. Furthermore, the method of this invention includes a technique by which ceramic material within cooling holes in the component can be removed without damaging the underlying bond coat. The process steps generally include removing the ceramic layer from the surface of the component by subjecting the ceramic layer to a caustic solution at an elevated temperature and pressure, and then removing ceramic material from the cooling hole by carefully directing a high-velocity fluid stream into the cooling hole. According to this invention, the high-velocity fluid stream is able to overcome the compressive stresses that otherwise anchor the ceramic in the cooling hole, yet does not remove or damage the bond coat underlying the ceramic.

Method for repairing a thermal barrier coating

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Mason, OH, United States of America

Roger Dale Wustman