Department of Aerospace Engineering
Turbine Science and Technology

Turbine Science and Technology

Gas turbines were first used to power fighter planes in the latter part of World War II.  Since that time, tremendous progress has been made in turbine science and technology.  Today, gas turbines are used to power most aircraft from commercial jumbo jets to high-tech, military reconnaissance planes, as well as a deverse range of sea and land vehicles.

Turbines are the most effective device for converting wind, water flow, and thermal energy to electrical power.  Gas turbines, along with wind and water turbuines, are used extensively to produce electricity for the national grid.

While turbine science and technology has come a long way, advances in materials, aerothermal design and computer modeling provide for innovations that will continually improve turbines.  Progress is essential in order to meet the on-going need for reliable and durable aircraft, to ensure the dependability of electrical power generation and to reduce consumption of natural resouces.

At Iowa State, this research program integrates thermal management with mechanics and materials, with a focus on the durability and life of turbine engines. It encompasses six areas with faculty from several disciplines involved: (1) thermal management of gas turbines—Durbin, Hu, Inger, Pletcher, Shih, Tannehill, Wang; (2) materials and mechanics of thermal-barrier coating (TBC) systems—Gleeson, Sordelet, Bastawros, Dayal, Mitra, Rudolphi; (3) nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and health monitoring—Thompson, Brasche; (4) system integration and virtual engineering—Bryden, Oliver; (5) controls and sensors Salapaka, Elia; and (6) gasification and hot-gas clean up—Brown.

Following are some of the major activities and accomplishments.

In NDE, on-going projects include: (1) a U.S. Air Force Center on Quantitative Inspection Technology for Assessing Military Aircraft that measures residual stresses in engine components to get two to three additional design lives; (2) an FAA Center for Aviation Systems Reliability that addresses life cycle inspection needs for aviation systems from design to production to operation/in service use; and (3) an Engine Titanium Consortium that provides reliable and cost-effective tools for detecting cracks, inclusions, and imperfections in critical rotating materials and hardware. 

In thermal management, researchers work with Pratt and Whitney,<ins datetime="2005-06-16T22:31" cite="mailto:Cinian"> </ins>General Electric, Solar Turbines, NASA, the Department of Energy, and university partners to explore and evaluate effective strategies for internal and film cooling of turbine components and endwall and blade contouring designs to minimize surface heat transfer from the hot gases. They are also investigating how the effectiveness of thermal-barrier coatings is impacted by surface roughness caused by erosion, deposition, and spallation.

From a materials standpoint, ISU researchers have considerable expertise in developing TBC systems to protect turbine superalloys from high temperatures gases and oxidation.  Recent developments are an aluminum (Al) coating embedded in the superalloy that reduced the weight, and a new bond coat material that significantly enhances the life of the TBC system. 

Please contact Paul Durbin for more information.