Engineering Failure Analysis 17 (2010) 14361446

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Engineering Failure Analysis

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Identication of failure mechanisms in nickel base superalloy turbine blades through microstructural study
M. Sujata, M. Madan, K. Raghavendra, M.A. Venkataswamy, S.K. Bhaumik *
Failure Analysis & Accident Investigation Group, Materials Science Division, National Aerospace Laboratories, Council of Scientic and Industrial Research (CSIR), Bangalore 560 017, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Failures in gas turbine blades can occur by various mechanisms that are operative at high temperatures. Most frequent ones are the creep and stress rupture. These mechanisms are strongly dependent on the microstructure of the blades and often, they are facilitated due to microstructural degradation that occurs during service exploitation. The study of these failures, therefore, requires detailed microstructural examination. This paper reports the basic microstructural features in cast nickel base superalloys that control the failure mechanisms in gas turbine blades followed by analysis of two service failures. A methodology has been suggested for effective microstructural analysis of turbine blades after service exposure. It has been shown how systematic microstructural study on the turbine blades can be helpful in establishing engine operating conditions. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 22 January 2010 Received in revised form 17 May 2010 Accepted 23 May 2010 Available online 26 May 2010 Keywords: Turbine blades Superalloy TCP phases Rafting Failure mechanisms

1. Introduction Cast nickel base superalloys used for high temperature gas turbine applications derive the desired properties from the highly alloyed Ni-base c-solid solution with elements such as Cr, W, Mo, and Re, and c0 precipitates based on Ni3Al [1]. Over the last few decades, a few generations of cast superalloy grades with superior elevated temperature properties have been developed. Though alloy design principles in these developments are based on maximizing the benets that could be achieved through increased alloying contents, control of casting and heat treatment parameters strongly inuences the microstructure of the blade material and in turn, dictates the performance of the blades in-service. In addition to the factors cited above, the microstructural changes that are brought about during the service exploitation play an important role on the performance of the gas turbine blades in their remaining life. Abnormal engine operating conditions such as higher temperatures or higher speeds than the recommended ones would accelerate these undesirable microstructural changes and often, lead to premature failure in blades by creep/stress rupture mechanism. While analyzing service failures, it is necessary to perform detailed microstructural study on the failed blades for establishing the possible reason(s) of failure. The microstructural study is directed essentially towards identication of whether the blades had faulty microstructure to start with or abnormal microstructural changes occurred in-service because of unfavourable engine operating conditions or any other factors. Since the microstructure of the blades varies signicantly from one manufacturing batch to another, microstructural study on the failed blade itself is the only foolproof method of analysis in this regard. More often than not only one sample is available for the failure investigation and hence, it is imperative to ensure that the methodology adopted does not require repeated sample preparation. The sample selection and the methodology to be adopted for

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 80 2508 6277; fax: +91 80 2527 0098. E-mail address: subir@nal.res.in (S.K. Bhaumik). 1350-6307/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2010.05.004

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such microstructural study should, therefore, take care of this aspect. This paper addresses this issue with the help of two examples drawn from service failures. 2. Salient microstructural features in Ni-base superalloy In any metallurgical failure analysis, the primary objective is to identify the mechanism of failure in order to establish the factors that were responsible for the identied mechanism to become operative under service conditions. Statistics show that signicant fraction of turbine blade failures occur because of either faulty microstructure to start with or unfavourable microstructural changes that are brought about during the service exploitation. While analyzing these failures, it is, therefore, essential to establish the origin of observed microstructural abnormalities before assigning the probable cause(s) of failure. Hence, from practical failure analysis point of view, the microstructural features that need to be examined for such studies are described in the following sections. 2.1. TCP phases The partitioning of alloying elements during solidication of nickel base superalloys promotes two types of precipitates (other than c0 ) which are extremely important as far as the high temperature performance of gas turbine blades is concerned. These are carbides and topologically close packed (TCP) phases. Though the carbides (M23C6 and/or MC type) are necessary in the microstructure for certain high temperature properties, the TCP phases, particularly the r-phase, are generally undesirable. The r-phase is brittle and hard and is, therefore, liable to fracture. The plate-like morphology of this phase in the microstructure is a source for crack initiation leading to reduced impact strength. Even more signicant is its effect on elevated temperature rupture strength. The r-phase contains high proportion of refractory elements and its occurrence, therefore, denudes the matrix of these elements, causing weakening [1,2]. If the casting parameters are not controlled stringently, this undesirable phase may be present in the microstructure in sufcient quantities which often promotes failure in the gas turbine blades by stress rupture. Precipitation of TCP phases in cast superalloys during long exposure to high temperatures is well known [13]. The engine manufacturers take this into consideration in determining the optimum engine operating conditions for acceptable blade lives. Exceeding the recommended conditions, therefore, results in precipitation of TCP phases in the hot section of the blades which in turn leads to premature failure by stress rupture. The TCP phases seen in the microstructure can, therefore, be attributed to either faulty casting practices or due to prolonged exposure to temperatures in excess of the recommended ones. Hence, it is imperative that one has to establish the origin of TCP phases in the blade microstructure in arriving at the possible cause(s) of failure. 2.2. Shape, size and morphology of c0 -precipitates The high temperature mechanical properties in superalloys are derived from the c0 -precipitates. These precipitates are generally cuboidal in shape and in modern superalloy grades, they constitute more than 70 vol.% of the phases present in the microstructure. During prolonged exposure to service temperatures, the shape, size and morphology of c0 -precipitates continuously change [4]. The turbine blade lives are generally dictated by these changes. Increase in temperature and/or stress accelerates these undesirable changes and thereby, brings down the blade lives substantially. If the temperature exceeds beyond a limit, the c0 -precipitates may completely dissolve leading to sudden deterioration of the high temperature mechanical properties resulting in premature failure [5]. These microstructral aspects are commonly studied for identication of possible over-temperature in an engine. Among various factors, the one which strongly affects the creep strength of the superalloy blades is the microstructural change associated with directional coarsening of c0 precipitates known as rafting under the inuence of stress and temperature [6]. The preferential coarsening of cuboidal c0 -precipitates occurs perpendicular to the applied tensile stress, while they tend to grow parallel to the direction of applied stress under compressive loading [7]. Creep damage to superalloy blades is unavoidable. Hence, one of the criteria for assigning the blade lives is based on the extent of creep damage that is expected for given engine operational conditions, i.e., temperatures and stresses. 3. Methodology for microstructural examination While conducting failure analysis of turbine blades, it has been a general practice and trend to perform microstructural study on the transverse section of the blade airfoil (Fig. 1). Though such studies provide information on the microstructural aspects of the blades, the methodology adopted has the following shortfalls. (a) Sectioning and metallographic sample preparation leads to loss of material along the length of the blade and hence, the microstructural information in this region is lost and not available. (b) Serial sectioning is required to study the microstructural changes over the entire length of the blade. (c) The microstructural study carried out on the cross section does not reveal the true story because of the reasons described below.

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Fig. 1. Conventional technique used for microstructural study in turbine blades; requires serial sectioning.

Fig. 2. Methodology adopted in the present study for examination of microstructural degradation in turbine blades.

Fig. 3. HPTR disc showing fracture and dislodgement of a segment of the rim.

The maximum temperature experienced by a turbine blade is along the leading edge, being maximum at about two-third of the blade height. Generally, the differential temperature along the leading edge during service results in a graded microstructure in the blade, and is a function of distance from the blade root platform. Conventionally, the length of the blades is divided into two zones, viz., cold zone adjacent to blade root platform followed by a hot zone. The length of these zones depends on the

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total blade height and the engine operating conditions. While the microstructural degradation in the blades on usage is unavoidable, the designers and manufacturers set a yardstick on the permissible degradation in the cold zone of the blade. Hence, while studying the microstructural aspects, it is necessary to examine the changes that have been brought out during service, along the leading edge and over the entire length of the blade. The best way to carry out such studies would be by adopting the metallographic sample preparation scheme shown in Fig. 2. The salient features of this technique are as follows. (a) Eliminates multiple sample preparation and the possibility of loss of information from the sectioned zones. (b) Since turbine blades are subjected to tensile stresses under centrifugal forces, the microstructural changes such as the raft structure formation takes place in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade and in many cases, it is conned in a small zone at the leading edge. Hence, continuous monitoring of microstructure along the leading edge over the entire blade length would provide true picture of the blade operating conditions with reference to the recommended practice.

Fig. 4. The fractured segment of the HPTR disc retrieved from the engine wreckage.

Fig. 5. (a) Fracture surface in between two cooling holes, and (b) scanning electron fractograph showing fatigue striations; note crack origins indicated by arrows in (a) are not at the edges of the holes.

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(c) Generally, the temperature at the root of the blades is much below the critical temperature that can bring about any noticeable microstructural changes in the material. Hence, for a comparative study, the root region can be taken as the virgin material of the blade with regard to shape, size and morphology of the phases in the microstructure. (d) The comparative microstructural study is carried out on a single blade. Hence, it eliminates the external factors such as the natural variation in microstructures from one blade to another of a production batch or in a set of blades. 4. Analysis of blade failures in gas turbine engines The rst and the foremost task in analyzing failures of engineering components is the identication of the failure mechanism(s). Unless this is performed unambiguously, in most of the cases, it is not possible to proceed further with the investigation. In the case of turbine blades, often the fracture signatures are obliterated either due to exposure of fracture surfaces to high temperatures or due to secondary damages resulting from the cascading effect of a failure. In such cases, it is a common practice to arrive at the probable failure mechanism(s) based on the inferences or conjectures drawn from the failure pattern, gross fractographic features, and indirect evidences. However, to be certain about the ndings and also, to identify the probable reason(s) for a particular failure mechanism to become operative, the microstructural study on the blade material is inevitable. This has been demonstrated through analysis of a couple of service failures in gas turbine engines. In one case, the failure in the engine was due to over-speeding, while in the other case, the failure was related to the faulty microstructure in the turbine blades.

Fig. 6. Discrete fatigue cracks at the llet region of the disc rim at locations (a) and (b) marked A and B in Fig. 3a; note crack initiation and propagation along the shallow machining marks.

Table 1 Nominal composition of the blade material, and the needle/plate-like phase determined by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis.a Composition, wt.% C Blade material 0.17 Cr 4.0 Mo 1.1 3.2 W 10.8 58.7 Co 9.5 6.4 Fe 0.2 Nb 1.6 Ti 1.0 0.5 Al 5.2 1.5 Ni Balance Balance

Needle/plate-like phase 5.9

a

Carbon cannot be determined accurately by EDX analysis.

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4.1. Failure due to abnormal engine operating conditions 4.1.1. The investigation There was an accident to an aircraft, wherein immediately after take off, the pilot noticed winding down signal in LH engine, hydraulic warning followed by re. The pilot failed to save the aircraft and ejected out. Followed by this, the aircraft plunged into a pond. The water in the pond prevented post crash re and hence, the engine wreckage was relatively intact but for the crash impact damages. Preliminary analysis of the wreckage suggested that a segment of the high pressure turbine disc (HPTR) fractured and ew off in air leading to the engine failure (Figs. 3 and 4). Study of the fracture surface revealed that the disc failure was by fatigue (Fig. 5). It was identied that a number fatigue cracks had initiated at the llet region of the rim. Through examination, it was later discovered that fatigue cracks were present all along the circumference of the disc llet. The important nding in this study was that though there was stress concentration at the edges of the cooling holes located at the fracture region, the fatigue cracks had preferentially initiated on the disc surface (Fig. 5). Also, it was found that there were discrete fatigue cracks located close to each other and they were aligned along shallow machining marks (Fig. 6). At this point in time, it was thought that most probably, the premature fatigue crack initiation was facilitated by the stress concentrators arising from these machining marks. However, subsequent examination of similar discs in other engines suggested that the surface nish in all the discs including the failed one was comparable. Also, there were no indications of fatigue crack initiation in any of the discs including the ones close to the life expiry. This had opened up a new front in the investigation and it was thought that under the circumstances, one of the probable reasons responsible for early fatigue crack initiation in the HPTR disc could be sustained over-speeding of the aircraft. This had to be investigated before arriving at the exact cause for fatigue crack initiation in the HPTR disc. The over-speeding of aircraft generally manifests in over-temperature in the engine. The components which are most affected by the rise in engine temperature are the turbine blades, which undergo creep damage. Hence, it was thought that study of microstructure in the turbine blades would provide information regarding possible over-speeding of the aircraft. 4.1.2. Microstructural study One of the turbine blades of the damaged engine was prepared for microstructural study as per the scheme shown in Fig. 2. The blades were made of directionally solidied Ni-base superalloy (Table 1) with MCrAlY coating. The height of

Fig. 7. Microstructures in a HPTR blade of the crashed engine: (a) at the root, and (b) at 8 mm, (c) at 12 mm, (d) at 17 mm from the root; the blade was inservice for 230 h.

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the blade was about 65 mm and the cold zone in the blade was indicated by engine manufacturer as 10 mm from the blade root platform. The blade was in-service for about 230 h. The microstructures of the blade along the leading edge are shown in Fig. 7. At the root region, the microstructure consisted of cuboidal c0 -precipitates in a Ni-rich c-matrix (Fig. 7a). Extensive rafting in the microstructure was observed in the blade at locations 8 mm from the blade root and onwards (Fig. 7b). At about 12 mm from the root, precipitation of r-phase was observed in the microstructure in addition to rafting (Fig. 7c). The rafting was very severe beyond this region (Fig. 7d). The microstructural degradation observed were found to be abnormal in a blade after 200 h of service under recommended engine operating conditions. To be certain about the above ndings, two blades were withdrawn from engines with healthy operation after 200 and 400 h of service exploitation and they were subjected to microstructural study for a comparative study. The microstructures of these blades along the leading edge are shown in Figs. 8 and 9 respectively. No rafting or precipitation of r-phase was observed in the microstructure in the cold zone that is up to 10 mm from the blade root. Rafting was observed only in the hot zone that is beyond 10 mm from the blade root (Figs. 8c and 9c). 4.1.3. Analysis of results Micorstructural study carried out suggests that the change in shape and morphology of c0 -precipitates in the hot zone of the HPTR blades are unavoidable during service exposure. In the blades withdrawn from service, the onset of raft structure was not observed in the cold zone even after 400 h of service. Rafting was observed only in the hot zone of the blades that is beyond 10 mm from the root. Precipitation of r-phase, however, was found absent in these blades. Since the blades mentioned above were from engines with no prior history of over-speeding, the microstructures in these blades can be taken as reference microstructures after service exposure of 200 and 400 h (Figs. 8 and 9). Based on this, if a comparison is made, it is seen that the microstructural degradation observed in the blade of the crashed engine is very severe (Fig. 7). In this case, within 200 h of service, there was formation of well dened raft structure in the cold zone and precipitation of r-phase in the hot zone. Hence, inference can be drawn that the engine has been operating beyond the recommended temperatures for a signicant time. In other words, it can be stated that the engine had over-sped for a sustained time.

Fig. 8. Microstructures in a HPTR blade withdrawn from engine after 200 h in-service: (a) at the root, and (b) at 8 mm, (c) at 12 mm, (d) at 17 mm from the root.

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Fig. 9. Microstructures in a HPTR blade withdrawn from engine after 400 h in-service: (a) at the root, and (b) at 8 mm, (c) at 12 mm, (d) at 17 mm from the root.

4.2. Failure due to abnormal microstructure 4.2.1. The investigation During inspection of an aircraft engine following an incident, one of the HPTR blades was found fractured at about twothird height from the blade root platform causing secondary damages to other blades. The blade was in-service for about 91 h and it was made of a Ni-base superalloy of composition same as that mentioned in Section 4.1.2. Fig. 10 shows the failed turbine blade. Gross fractographic features indicated that there were three distinct crack propagation zones on the fracture surface. In zone I, there was an inclined surface at the leading edge followed by a at surface in zone II (Fig. 11). In zone III, the fracture surface was rough and irregular in appearance, typical of that observed in sudden overload fracture of cast superalloys. The crack initiation was identied to be at the leading edge. The fracture surface was found covered with a thick oxide layer and hence, the micro-fractographic features were largely obliterated. However, examination of the fracture surface in zone I showed presence of secondary cracks and these cracks appeared to be intergranular in nature (Fig. 11). The three distinct crack propagation zones on the fracture surface indicated that there were more than one mechanism responsible for the fracturing of the blade. It appeared that the blade had generated a crack of length of about 1.5 mm at the leading edge by fast fracture (zone I). This crack then propagated progressively over a length of about 15 mm (zone II) before culminating in the nal overload fracture in zone III. The crack initiation in the blade was on the leading edge at about two-third height from the blade root platform. The blade in this zone experiences the maximum temperature. Crack initiation in this zone by stress rupture or by thermal shock is common in HPTR blades. The gross failure pattern, orientation of the fracture surface at the leading edge and the presence of secondary intergranular cracks at the crack initiation zone in the present blade strongly indicated the possibility of failure by one of these mechanisms. Once a crack was generated at the leading edge, it had propagated by fatigue to a critical length before the nal fracture took place by overload in zone III. Since the micro-fractographic features were obliterated due to post fracture oxidation/corrosion, it was not possible to identify the exact mechanism of failure. It may, however, be noted that stress rupture in the turbine blades is generally promoted due to unfavourable microstructure at the maximum temperature zone. This unfavourable microstructure can result

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Fig. 10. (a) Fractured HPTR blade and (b) fracture surface showing three distinctive zones.

Fig. 11. (a) Close-up view of the region marked in Fig.10a, and (b) scanning electron fractograph showing intergranular cracks.

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Fig. 12. Microstructures in the fractured HPTR blade: (a) at the root, and (b) close to the fracture.

either due to improper casting of the blades or during long exposure to high engine operating temperatures. Hence, it should be possible to identify whether or not there was degradation in the blade material during service through microstructural study. Since thermal shock involves sudden rise in temperature for a very short period of time, generally, no microstructural degradation does take place in this case. 4.2.2. Microstructural study Sample was prepared for the microstructural study following the procedure mentioned in Section 3. The microstructures of the blade at the root and close to the fracture are shown in Fig. 12. Both of them were found to contain signicant quantities of needle/plate-like phase. Compositional analysis conrmed that the needle/plate-like phase is r-phase rich in refractory elements such as tungsten (Table 1). The r-phase was surrounded by regions devoid of c0 precipitates. However, study did not reveal any in-service microstructural degradation such as formation of raft structure. 4.2.3. Analysis of results Study showed presence of signicant quantities of deleterious r-phase in the microstructure of the blade. This phase was present throughout the blade and not conned to only the hot zone or fracture zone. This rules out the possibility of precipitation of r-phase in the microstructure during service exposure. This is further substantiated by the fact that there was no noticeable change in the morphology of the c0 -precipitate at the fracture zone with respect to that at the blade root region. Therefore, it can be stated that the failed blade contained the observed r-phase right from the manufacturing stage. Complete avoidance of r-phase precipitation in highly alloyed superalloy blades such as the present one may not be possible. But, the volume fraction of this phase found in the failed blade is very high and beyond the acceptable limit. As mentioned in Section 2.1, presence of r-phase in the microstructure in substantial quantities promotes crack initiation by stress rupture. The same is believed to have occurred in the present case. Based on this study, the possibility of the blade failure by thermal shock could be ruled out. 5. Conclusions The microstructural degradation in gas turbine blades during service exploitation is unavoidable. The microstructural changes observed are generally dependent on alloy system and engine operating conditions. For a given alloy system and

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engine operating conditions, the permissible microstructural degradation under specied operating conditions are generally dened by the engine manufacturers. These parameters can be studied and utilized effectively for practical failure analysis of superalloy turbine blades. The conventional metallographic sample preparation technique used for such studies is not a foolproof method and hence, does not provide conclusive information which could be related effectively with the engine operating conditions. In this paper, a methodology for conducting such microstructural studies has been suggested wherein a single metallographic sample is adequate to examine the microstructural degradation in the failed turbine blade. Also, the technique proposed eliminates the external factors such as the natural variation in microstructure from one blade to another of a production batch or in a set of blades. The accuracy and effectiveness of the methodology have been demonstrated through two examples from gas turbine engine failures. Acknowledgements The authors thank Head, Materials Science Division and Director, NAL for granting permission to publish this paper. The contributions of Mr. S. Mallanna for metallographic sample preparation are acknowledged. References
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