Balachandran

Design Criteria for selecting the turbine blade material: The basic properties which govern the selection of the material used for the blade material are: 1.) High Strength to withstand the centrifugal forces. 2.) High Endurance limit to withstand the cyclic fatigue loading. 3.) High hardness to resist the erosion due to water impingement. 4.) High toughness to absorb energy in the event of impact by some foreign material 5.) Ductility to avoid the brittle failure in the event of rub or impact by a foreign particle and also to facilitate some manufacturing processes for the fitment of blading accessories. Similarly the rotor shaft calls for the following characteristics: 1.) High shear strength to withstand operating and fault torques. 2.) High tensile strength and endurance limit to withstand alternating bending stresses experienced during the rotation. 3.) High modulus of elasticity to limit the bow to very low values due to its dead weight during standstill condition. Historically the early blade materials used were Cartridge Brass (72 Cu, 28 Zn), Nickel Brass (50 Cu, 10 Ni, 40 Zn), and Monel (typically 66 Ni, 31 Cu, 1.3 Fe). With the increase in the size of the turbines better strength and erosion resistance were mandated. Hence in 1920's 5% Ni steel was inducted for this service, however as this material did not have adequate corrosion resistance for the wet region of the turbine, in 1930's it was replaced by 12% Cr stainless steel. This class of material remained the mainstay for the turbine blading particularly for the low pressure turbine blading with different specific types e.g AISI 403, 410, 422 etc. In recent years even these materials could not suffice for the last stage blades of 3600 rpm machines and 17-4 precipitation hardening stainless steel was introduced for selective use. Further Titanium alloy blades (Ti-6Al-4V) are also being used for higher strength requirement. Inline with the above considerations the blading material selected by the original equipment manufacturer for the turbines in operation in Indian NPPs, by and large fall in the category of 11-13% Cr stainless steel. The other blading components like shroud band and understraps to tie a set of blades are typically 11-13 % cr stainless steel and titanium respectively. As most of the turbine failures experienced so far are due to cyclic loading, the solution to the problem was either to change the material with better properties or to improve upon the design to improve the available endurance limit. The latter option was adopted in L-0 and L-1 stage blades by removing the stress raisers and by inducing the pre-calculated compressive stress.

Properties of some materials used for turbine blading -in the past and present Material Condition Sp. Mod. of Tensile Yield Endurance Elongation Sp. Weight elasticity strength Strength limit Strength Sy/W Lb/in3 106 psi 103 psi 103 psi 103 psi % 106 in. 50% Hard 0.31 0.28 Hardened and Temp. at 12000F Temp. at 12000F Aged 4 Hr. @ 11500F Annealed 0.28 17 29 29 70 71 110 66 53 85 40 6 38 23 0.21 0.19 0.30

95Cu5Mn 5 Ni Steel 12 Cr Steel AISI 403/410 12 Cr Steel Type 422 17-4 PH Steel

0.28

29

150

125

16

0.45

0.28 0.16

28.5 16.5

145 138

125 128

80 75

19 13

0.45 0.80

Ti-6Al4V Titanium Alloy Stellite 0.062 in. 6B Sheet Erosion Shield Balachandran

0.303

30.4

146

92

11

0.30