Concurrent Lifetime-Design of Emerging High Temperature Materials and Components

Abstract

We ask a great deal of structural components used at high temperatures. In addition to performing their primary load bearing function, most of them are subjected to sizable thermal stresses and aggressive atmospheres. Their microstructures and phase compositions, and hence their properties, evolve throughout their lifetime. Many are used in regimes where significant local creep deformation accumulates, so their shapes and residual stress states change also. Finally, many of them are used in situations where failure is extremely undesirable. Failure of a power generation turbine or an aircraft engine carries substantial fiscal costs, and the latter has potential for tragic human costs. The customers — all of us — have very low tolerance for other than extreme reliability. This is a challenging environment in which to introduce new materials. It is an equally challenging environment in which to substitute computation for time-proven testing and design techniques. The penalties for mistakes are extreme and the development costs are correspondingly large.