Titanium-aluminum alloy: Significantly improve the temperature capability of aircraft engines

Aeroengines are hailed as the heart of the aircraft and control the energy conversion of the aircraft. The temperature capability of the blade of the core component directly determines the performance of the engine. In order to shorten the gap between China and developed countries in Europe and the United States, China has listed aero engines and gas turbines as "major science and technology projects." In March 2016, China Aerospace Engine Group Co., Ltd. was formally established.

On June 21, 2016, the Nanjing University of Technology held a press conference. The temperature capability of the new titanium aluminum alloy developed by Professor Chen Guang's team can reach 900°C or more, which is 150°C higher than that of the existing engine core components. Above -250°C. On June 20th, 2016, the international top journal "Natural Materials" published its related results online.

Experts at the conference introduced that the material of the blades that are currently made into the core components of Chinese aerospace engines is nickel-base alloys. Its high temperature capability is between 650°C and 750°C. Once the temperature is higher, the material will "creep" and deform slowly. . Compared with nickel-base alloys, titanium-aluminum alloys not only have advantages such as small quality, but also have strong strength and high plasticity.

It is understood that the team of Professor Chen Guang from the Engineering Research Center of the Department of Materials Evaluation and Design of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, under the support of the National 973 Program, has designed a new member of the titanium-aluminum alloy family “Polycrystalline Bicrystal TiAl Single Crystal” (PST titanium aluminum Single crystal) not only greatly enhances its strength and plasticity, but also achieves a high temperature resistance of more than 900°C.

According to experts, U.S. GE has developed a titanium alloy that is codenamed “4822” and has a high temperature capability of 650°C to 750°C. Instead of a nickel-based superalloy, only the last two stages of an engine's low-pressure turbine blades have been manufactured. The weight loss of a single engine is about 200 pounds, 20% of fuel is saved, and the amount of nitride emissions is reduced by 80%. The noise is significantly reduced. The Boeing 787 aircraft was successfully tested in 2007 and was officially put into commercial operation in 2009. The sensational progress in aviation and materials. Once this material is applied to the blades of the entire engine, it will be more significant for the aircraft engines to reduce weight, reduce noise, and save fuel.

Nanjing Science and Technology will complete the comprehensive performance test of the alloy as soon as possible, and it will be applied to the blade manufacturing of Chinese aero-engines.