Regeneration of High Pressure Turbine Blades. Development of a Hybrid Brazing and Aluminizing Process by Means of Thermal Spraying

Besides welding, high temperature vacuum repair-brazing is already established for nickel-based alloy turbine blades in the aerospace and power plant industries. After the worn turbine blade has been decoated to its substrate material, the filler metal is deposited as a paste, (melt-spin) foil or tape which also consists of a nickel-based alloy. Following this, the hot-gas corrosion protective coating (e.g. NiCoCrAlY) is applied using thermal spraying. The brazed turbine blade is ground or milled to size and subsequently aluminized to further increase its corrosion resistance. Using the current state of technology, a turbine blade can undergo approximately 3 to 4 repair cycles. In the present study, the development of a two-stage hybrid technology for repairing turbine blades is considered which incorporates, on the one hand, a process technology and manufacturing aspects and, on the other hand, considers material-technological mechanisms. During the first stage of this hybrid technology, the filler metal together with the hot-gas corrosion protective coating is applied using thermal spraying. The subsequent second stage combines the brazing and aluminizing processes. The technology developed here brings technical and economic advantages whilst enabling the current state-of-the-art's corresponding process chain for repairing turbine blades to be shortened.