Abstract
Present paper deals with a turboprop engine that drives a military aircraft transporting cargo and personnel under rescue operation. Long endurance operation, unscheduled take-off from unprepared airfields, corrosion, and erosion due to operation at coastal regions, as well as at sandy atmosphere and training sorties, make the hot end components of this engine to experience high thermal and mechanical stresses. This has resulted in turbine blade failures causing premature withdrawals of engines. This paper analyzes the root cause of turbine blade failures in this turboprop engine. As this affects the flight management and availability of the aircraft, it is important to understand the cause and mode of such failures and to address these issues for better performance and life. Aluminized coating of the blade has thinned in service due to erosion effects causing crack initiation and resulting in failure of turbine blades. The study shows that blade failed due to fatigue as indicated by prominent presence of striations toward trailing edge side of turbine blades in the engine. Remedial measures have also been suggested in the paper.
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Mishra, R.K., Kumar, V. Investigation of Turbine Blade Failure in a Turboprop Engine: A Case Study. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 22, 458–463 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01334-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01334-8