Fracture Analysis of a First Stage Turbine Blade

Abstract

Blade failures in gas turbine engines often lead to the loss of all downstream stages and it can have a dramatic effect on the availability of the turbine engines. This paper presents the analysis of an in service failure of a first stage gas turbine blade. The premature failure of the blade, made of nickel-base superalloy Inconel 738 LC, occurred after a service life of 8,127 EOH with normal start/stop and caused extensive damage to the unit. Crack growth mechanism has been evaluated based on macroscopic and microscopic observations of the fracture surfaces. Chemical analyses were carried out to identify the possible causes of the failures by examining anomalies in the chemical composition and microstructure analysis through SEM observations. The analysis of the different regions of fracture surface shows that crack propagation is mainly related to fatigue mechanism. Typical fatigue striations could be identified under a homogeneous oxide layer. The crack propagation occurred in the pressure-suction side direction and the initial crack origin is located on the missing part near leading edge area. The impact marks on the first stage leading edge of the blade and the general damage of the turbine give indication that the crack initiation was caused by an impact of a broken piece from first stage vanes or another object of unknown source.