Steam turbine blade failure analysis

A last stage turbine blades failure was experienced in two units of 660 MW. These units have one high-pressure turbine and two tandem-compound low-pressure turbines with 44-in. last-stage blades. The blades that failed were in a low pressure (LP) turbine connected to the high pressure turbine (LP1) and in LP turbine connected to the generator (LP2). The failed blades had cracks in their roots initiating at the trailing edge, concave side of the steeple outermost fillet radius. Laboratory evaluation of the cracking indicates the failure mechanism to be high cycle fatigue (HCF).The last-stage blades failure evaluation was carried out. The investigation included a metallographic analysis of the cracked blades, natural frequency test and analysis, blade stress analysis, unit’s operation parameters and history of events analysis, fracture mechanics and crack propagation analysis. This paper provides an overview of this failure investigation, which led to the identification of the blades torsional vibrations near 120 Hz and some operation periods with low load low vacuum as the primary contribution to the observed failure.