EP3429787A1

EP3429787A1 - Method for manufacturing an abradable plate and repairing a turbine shroud

Info

Publication number: EP3429787A1
Application number: EP17713747.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean-Baptiste Mottin; Yannick Marcel BEYNET; Geoffroy CHEVALLIER; Romain EPHERRE; Claude Estournes
Original assignee: Safran Aircraft Engines SAS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS; Universite Toulouse III Paul Sabatier
Current assignee: Safran Aircraft Engines SAS; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS; Universite Toulouse III Paul Sabatier
Priority date: 2016-03-14
Filing date: 2017-03-10
Publication date: 2019-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-10
Also published as: EP3429787B1; FR3048630B1; CN109070228A; US20190076930A1; WO2017158265A1; FR3048630A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing an abradable plate (32) for a turbine shroud (24, 26) of a turbomachine, said method involving preparing a mixture comprising a cobalt- or nickel-based metal powder and a powder based on a melting element, depositing a layer of the powder mixture in a mold, and creating the abradable plate (32) by spark plasma sintering the layer of the powder mixture. The invention also relates to a method for repairing a turbine shroud (24, 26) for a turbomachine.

Description

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING AN ABRADABLE PLATE AND REPAIRING A TURBINE RING

Background of the invention

The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a turbine ring for turbomachine.

In many rotating machines, it is now known to provide the stator ring of abradable tracks opposite the top of the blades of the rotor. Such tracks are made using so-called "abradable" materials which, when they come into contact with the rotating blades, wear more easily than the latter. This ensures a minimum clearance between the rotor and the stator, improving the performance of the rotating machine, without the risk of damaging the blades in case of friction of the latter on the stator. On the contrary, such friction erodes the abradable track, which automatically adjusts the diameter of the stator ring to the nearest rotor. Thus, such abradable tracks are often put in place in the turbomachine compressors.

However, their use is more rare in the turbines of such turbomachines, especially in high pressure turbines in which extreme physicochemical conditions prevail.

Indeed, the burnt gases from the combustion chamber open into the high pressure turbine at very high temperature and pressure levels, resulting in premature erosion of conventional abradable tracks.

Therefore, in order to protect the turbine ring, it is often preferred to provide the latter with a thermal barrier type coating whose materials and high density, too important for the coating to be effectively abradable, allow to protect the ring against erosion and corrosion.

However, it is of course understood that in such a case the integrity of the blades is no longer ensured in case of contact with the stator, which requires to provide a greater clearance between the rotor and the stator and therefore increases the leakage rate at the top of the blades and thus reduces the performance of the turbine.

Moreover, because of the occasional friction with the blades and the heat of the burnt gases, the coating can be damaged and less well protect the stator.

Object and summary of the invention

The present disclosure aims to remedy at least in part these drawbacks.

For this purpose, the present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing an abradable plate for a turbomachine turbine ring, comprising the following steps:

- Preparation of a mixture comprising a metal powder based on cobalt or nickel and a powder based on a melting element;

depositing a layer of the mixture of powders in a mold; and

- Production of the abradable plate by a sintering process SPS of the powder mixture layer.

By "cobalt-based" is meant a metal powder whose cobalt has the highest percentage by mass. Similarly, "nickel-based" means a metal powder whose nickel has the highest mass percentage. Thus, for example, a metal powder comprising 38% by weight of cobalt and 32% by weight of nickel will be designated as a cobalt-based powder, cobalt being the chemical element whose mass percentage is the most important in the powder. metallic.

The metal powders based on cobalt or nickel are powders which, once sintered, have good resistance to high temperature. They can thus fulfill the double function of abradabie and heat shield. For example, mention may be made of CoNiCrAlY superalloys. These metal powders also have the advantage of having a chemical composition similar to the chemical composition of the material forming the turbine ring, for example superalloys AMI or N5. The powder based on a melting element makes it possible to reduce the sintering temperature of the mixture of powders.

The sintering process SPS, in accordance with the acronym for "Spark Plasma Sintering", also known as sintering FAST, according to the acronym for "Field Assisted Sintering Technology", or sintering flash, is a sintering process wherein a powder is simultaneously subjected to a pulsed current of high intensity and a uniaxial pressure to form a sintered material. SPS sintering is generally performed under a controlled atmosphere and may be assisted by a heat treatment.

The sintering time SPS is relatively short and SPS sintering allows a choice of starting powders which is relatively limited. In fact, SPS sintering makes it possible in particular to sinter, that is to say densify, materials whose welding is relatively complicated to achieve, if not impossible, because these materials easily crack when heated. Because of the choice of SPS sintering and the short duration of this sintering, it is therefore possible to produce an abradable layer with a very large variety of materials.

Furthermore, the SPS sintering being carried out under uniaxial pressure exerted by the mold on the powder layer, the shrinkage due to the sintering of the powder layer to give the abradable plate is limited to the direction of application of the pressure. . There is therefore no removal of the powder layer in directions perpendicular to the direction of application of the pressure. Also, the size control of the abradable plate is relatively simple.

It is possible to deposit at least two layers of the powder mixture in the mold, the two layers being spaced from one another by a chemically inert insert.

It is thus possible to produce several abradable plates in a single SPS sintering step. For example, ten layers of the powder mixture can be deposited in this way, each layer being separated from the adjacent layer by a chemically inert insert. It is thus possible to form ten abradable plates each having a thickness that can vary from 1 to 5 mm, each of the abradable plates being separated from an adjacent abradable plate by a chemically inert insert. The chemically inert insert reduces or even eliminate chemical reactions between the powder mixture layers during SPS sintering.

Each layer of powder mixture being separated from the adjacent layer by a chemically inert insert, the powder mixture layers do not sinter on one another and can therefore easily achieve several abradable plates that do not stick one to the other.

The chemically inert insert may also be disposed between the powder mixture layer and the mold.

The chemically inert insert makes it possible to reduce, or even eliminate, the chemical reactions between the powder mixture layer and the mold during SPS sintering and thus to reduce, or even to avoid, the bonding of the abradable plate with parts of the mold.

The chemically inert insert also reduces or even avoid the formation of a carbide layer on the surface of the abradable plate in contact with the mold. It is sought to avoid the formation of this layer of carbide which, if it is formed, must be removed from the abradable plate before use.

The chemically inert insert may comprise boron nitride or corundum.

By chemically inert insert comprising boron nitride is meant an insert which comprises at least 95% by weight of boron nitride. Likewise, the term "chemically inert insert" comprising corundum means an insert which comprises at least 95% by weight of corundum.

The chemically inert insert may take the form of a layer of boron nitride deposited with a spray on the mold. The chemically inert insert may also take the form of a plaque reproducing the shape of the abradable plaque. Thus, the chemically inert insert makes it possible, during the SPS sintering step, to shape the abradable plate.

Boron nitride may form an outer layer of the chemically inert insert.

The chemically inert insert may be a plate of dense material covered with a layer of boron nitride deposited with a spray on the plate. The melting element may be silicon or boron.

The powder mixture may comprise a mass percentage of the melting element less than or equal to 5% by weight, preferably less than or equal to 3% by weight.

The mold may be graphite and SPS sintering may be performed at a temperature greater than or equal to 800 ° C, preferably greater than or equal to 900 ° C.

The SPS sintering is performed at a pressure greater than or equal to 10 MPa, preferably greater than or equal to 20 MPa, more preferably greater than or equal to 30M Pa.

The mold may be tungsten carbide and the SPS sintering may be performed at a temperature greater than or equal to 500 ° C, preferably greater than or equal to 600 ° C.

The SPS sintering may be performed at a pressure greater than or equal to 100 MPa, preferably greater than or equal to 200 MPa, more preferably greater than or equal to 300 MPa.

The present disclosure also relates to a method of repairing a turbomachine turbine ring, comprising the following steps:

- removal of a damaged abradable coating;

- Brazing on the turbine ring of an abradable plate obtained according to the previously defined method.

The melting element included in the powder mixture used to form the abradable plate also facilitates the brazing process of the abradable plate on the turbine ring.

Brazing the abradable plate on the turbine ring avoids the direct deposit of a new abradable coating on the ring or the ring sector. Indeed,

After brazing the abradable plate on the turbine ring, a free surface of the brazed abradable plate can be machined.

The abradable plate that has just been brazed on the turbine ring may have a free surface that may not be in the extension of the free surface of the adjacent undamaged abradable coating. Also, the free surfaces of the abradable plate and the abradable coating are machined so as to present a surface intended to face the turbine wheel which has the least discontinuity possible. Indeed, if such discontinuities are present, the blade wheel could come to butter against these discontinuities and thus cause shocks in the turbine, which is not desirable.

Brief description of the drawings

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention, given by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the appended figures, in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a turbomachine;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a turbine ring sector comprising an abradable plate;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a stack of abradable plates and chemically inert inserts;

- Figure 4 is a schematic sectional view of a stack in the SPS sintering mold, according to a sectional plane similar to the sectional plane IV-IV of Figure 3;

FIGS. 5A-5D are images made using a scanning electron microscope of the microstructure of various abradable plates;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a ring sector comprising a damaged abradable coating;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic lateral views of a turbine ring of which part of the abradable coating has been replaced by an abradable plate, respectively before and after machining of a free surface of the abradable plate. Detailed description of the invention

FIG. 1 represents, in section along a vertical plane passing through its main axis A, a turbofan engine 10. The turbofan engine 10 comprises, from upstream to downstream according to the flow of air flow, a blower 12, a low pressure compressor 14, a high pressure compressor 16, a combustion chamber 18, a high pressure turbine 20, and a low pressure turbine 22.

The high pressure turbine 20 comprises a plurality of blades 20A rotating with the rotor and 20B rectifiers mounted on the stator. The stator of the turbine 20 comprises a plurality of stator rings 24 arranged vis-à-vis the blades 20A of the turbine 20.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, each stator ring 24 is made of a plurality of ring sectors 26. Each ring sector 26 has an inner surface 28, an outer surface 30 and an abradable plate 32 on which can come to rub the blades 20A rotor.

The abradable plate 32 is brazed to the ring sector 26.

The abradable plate 32 comprises a free surface 34 and a surface 36 intended to be soldered on the ring sector 26.

For example, the ring sector 26 is made of a superalloy based on cobalt or nickel, such as the AMI superalloy or the N5 superalloy and the abradable plate 32 is obtained from a metal powder based on cobalt or nickel.

In the embodiment described, the ring 24 is composed of a plurality of ring sectors 26 joined to each other to form a ring 24. The ring 24 can also be made in one piece .

To produce an abradable plate 32, a mixture is prepared comprising a metal powder based on cobalt or nickel and a powder based on a melting element. For example, the cobalt or nickel-based powder may be a powder of the CoNiCrAlY family and the melting element may be boron or silicon. The mixture of powders may for example comprise 2% by weight of boron.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the mixture of powders is deposited in the form of layers in a SPS mold sintering 42. The mold 42 is for example graphite. The mold 42 comprises an outer mold 44 forming a chamber in which the mixture of powders is deposited. The mold 42 also has an upper piston 46 and a lower piston 48 which allow axial pressure to be applied to the powder mixture layers during the SPS sintering step. FIG. 3 represents a stack 38 comprising two abradable plates 32 between which is inserted a first chemically inert insert 40. In this example, a second chemically inert insert 40 and a third chemically inert insert 40 are also arranged on both sides. other of the stack 38 so that each layer of powder mixture is sandwiched between two chemically inert inserts 40. The chemically inert inserts 40 may for example be formed from sintered boron nitride plates.

In the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4, each abradable plate 32 is obtained by depositing a powder mixture layer between two chemically inert inserts 40 and by performing an SPS sintering step.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show two stacks 38 respectively comprising two and four abradable plates 32 after SPS sintering.

Before the deposition of the powder mixture layer, it is also possible to deposit a layer of boron nitride with a spray on the mold 42, in particular on the surfaces of the mold 42 which will come into contact with the powder mixture during SPS sintering. This layer of boron nitride also forms a chemically inert insert between the mixture of powders and the mold 42.

The chemically inert inserts 40 may also be made of a material other than boron nitride. The chemically inert inserts 40 may or may not be covered with a layer of boron nitride.

The chemically inert inserts 40, in the form of a plate or in the form of a layer, make it possible to reduce the chemical reactions between the layer of powder mixture and the mold 42 during SPS sintering. In particular, the chemically inert inserts 40 make it possible to reduce, or even avoid, the bonding of the powder mixture layer with the parts of the mold before SPS sintering and the bonding of the abradable plate 32 with the parts of the mold 42 after SPS sintering.

The chemically inert inserts 40 also reduce or even prevent the formation of a carbide layer on the surface of the abradable plate 32. It is understood that the thickness of the abradable plate 32 obtained after SPS sintering depends in particular on the thickness of each layer of powder mixture deposited in the mold 42 as well as SPS sintering parameters. The thickness of the abradable plate 32 obtained after SPS sintering may also depend on the particle size and the morphology of the powder used. In particular, the morphology of the powder may depend on the method of manufacturing the powder. Thus a powder produced by gas atomization or rotating electrode will have grains of substantially spherical shape while a powder made by liquid atomization will have grains of less regular shape.

Figures 5A-5D show different microstructures of abradable plates 32 whose open porosity is respectively about 10%, about 7%, about 3% and almost zero.

It is thus seen that by modifying the SPS sintering parameters, such as temperature, pressure and dwell time, it is possible to obtain abradable plates 32 having a different structure. For example, Figure 7A shows an abradable plate 32 obtained in a SPS sintering step at 925 ° C for 10 minutes applying a pressure of 20 MPa. Figure 7D shows an abradable plate 32 obtained during a SPS sintering step at 950 ° C for 30 minutes applying a pressure of 40 MPa.

Figure 6 shows a top view of a ring sector 26 having a damaged abradable coating 50. The abradable coating 50 can be obtained by the method described above. The abradable coating 50 may also have been deposited directly on the ring sector 26 by a known method.

In the example of Figure 6, the abradable coating 50 comprises a zone 52 of damage due to the friction for example of a blade with the abradable coating 50 and a zone 54 of damage due to thermal degradation of the abradable coating 50 under the effect of hot gases. In the damaged areas 52, 54, the abradable coating 50 is damaged, i.e., its thickness is reduced with respect to the original thickness of the abradable coating 50. However, in some cases, in the damaged, the abradable coating 50 may have been completely removed and the ring 24 is then exposed.

To repair the ring sector 26 whose abradable coating 50 is damaged, the abradable coating 50 is removed, for example by machining, and an abradable plate 32 is brazed, for example at 1205 ° C. and under vacuum. the inner surface 28 of the ring sector 26.

As shown in Figure 7A, the ring sector 26 comprising a brazed abradable plate 32 is then mounted to form the ring 24. There is shown in Figure 7A a sector 26 ring comprising an abradable plate 32 brazed disposed between two ring sectors 26 comprising an abradable coating 50. Once these turbine ring sectors 26 assembled, the abradable plate 32 has a free surface 34 which may not be in line with the free surfaces 56 of the coatings. abradable 50 of adjacent ring sectors 26. Also, the free surfaces 34, 56 of the different ring sectors 26 are machined so as to have a machined surface 58 for facing the turbine wheel. As shown in FIG. 7B, this machined surface 58 has the least possible discontinuity. Indeed, if such discontinuities are present, the blade wheel could come to butter against these discontinuities and thus cause shocks in the turbine, which is not desirable.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show only one ring sector 26 on which an abradable plate 32 has been soldered. Of course, several ring sectors 26 may be repaired, or even all ring sectors 26. . The repaired ring sectors 26 may be adjacent or not.

When the ring 24 is not divided or divided into sectors, one can remove a portion of the abradable coating 50 of the ring corresponding to an abradable plate 32 and solder the abradable plate 32 on the inner surface 28 of the 24. The portion of the damaged abradable coating 50 can also be removed and several abradable plates 32 cut or assembled to cover the inner surface 28 of the ring thus exposed. The inner surface 28 of the ring and the blades are again effectively protected by an abradable coating 50 and an abradable plate 32 brazed to the ring. Ring 24 is repaired.

Although the present description has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, it is obvious that various modifications and changes can be made to these examples without departing from the general scope of the invention as defined by the claims. In addition, individual features of the various embodiments mentioned can be combined in additional embodiments. Therefore, the description and drawings should be considered in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

Claims

A method of manufacturing an abradable plate (32) for a turbomachine turbine ring (24, 26), comprising the steps of:

depositing a layer of the powder mixture in a mold (42); and

producing the abradable plate (32) by an SPS sintering process of the powder mixture layer,

and wherein at least two layers of the powder mixture are deposited in the mold (42), the two layers being spaced apart from each other by a chemically inert insert (40).

The method of claim 1, wherein the chemically inert insert (40) comprises boron nitride or corundum.

The method of claim 2, wherein the boron nitride forms an outer layer of the chemically inert insert (40).

4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the melting element is silicon or boron.

5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mixture of powders comprises a mass percentage of the melting element less than or equal to 5% by weight, preferably less than or equal to 3% by weight.

6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mold (42) is made of graphite and wherein the SPS sintering is carried out at a temperature greater than or equal to 800 ° C, preferably greater than or equal to 900 ° C.

7. Process according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the mold (42) is made of tungsten carbide and in which the SPS sintering is carried out at a temperature greater than or equal to 500 ° C, preferably greater than or equal to at 600 ° C.

8. A method of repairing a turbomachine turbine ring (24), comprising the following steps:

- removal of a damaged abradable coating (50); brazing on the turbine ring (24, 26) of an abradable plate (32) obtained according to any one of the preceding claims.

9. A repair method according to claim 8, wherein after brazing the abradable plate (32) on the ring (24, 26) of a turbine, a free surface (34) of the brazed abradable plate (32) is machined. .