Grant: Alliance Grants

This proposal highlights the challenges and strategies related to reducing aircraft emissions and improving the durability of engine components. The focus is on the implementation of novel aerospace coatings, such as ceramic and carbide coatings, on compressor rotor blades in next-generation gas turbine engines. These coatings offer enhanced durability and lifespan, reduce wear, improve aerodynamics, and contribute to fuel efficiency as well as lower emissions. However, limitations and potential degradation of these coatings, particularly in erosive and corrosive environments, need to be addressed. Traditional thermal spraying techniques have limitations in terms of erosion resistance, surface quality, and variability. To overcome these challenges, physical vapor deposition (PVD) is proposed as an advanced coating technique that offers precise material transfer at the atomic level, superior control over coating thickness, improved surface finish, and better adhesion to the substrate. The research aims to investigate the aerodynamic benefits of superfinishing and coating, the longevity of these benefits, and the effects of various factors such as erosion, dirt accumulation, residual stress alterations, and loss of fatigue properties. The research will require a multi-disciplinary collaboration between experimentalists and modelers in three main areas: processing and instrument design, materials and advanced characterization, and multi-scale processing and performance modeling.