Description: NASA's long range goals of reducing the fuel consumption by 30% and increasing fuel efficiency by 35% can be partially accomplished through increasing engine operation temperatures. As a result, the disk section is desired to operate in increasingly higher temperatures, which will subject it to additional degradation mechanisms of oxidation and hot corrosion. One approach to enhance the temperature capability of these systems is through the incorporation of environmental protective coatings which can provide resistance from oxidation and hot corrosion. Research is proposed here to optimize the use of advanced coating manufacturing techniques designed to enable the affordable application of environmental protective coatings having enhanced resistance to hot corrosion and oxidation to allow operation at the desired high temperature engine environments. Advanced testing conditions will be used to simulate real world conditions and demonstrate the performance of the deposited coatings in these conditions. This approach is envisioned to aid the development of advanced coatings required to protect the surface of turbine disk components at higher temperatures desired for fuel and thrust operationally improvement without inducing significant fatigue debit. Advanced coating systems will be applied in this work onto coupons, and subcomponents to demonstrate coating capability and allow simulated engine environment testing in follow on programs. Success in meeting the objectives will significantly aid the temperature capability of turbine disk components, allowing significant fuel efficiency and thrust increases for turbine engines.

Benefits: This research is anticipated to result in advanced coatings for turbine disk components that provide higher temperature capability than is possible without these coatings. These advancements will help turbine disk components survive high temperature operation desired for enhanced thrust and fuel efficiency goals. These advances will potentially benefit all gas turbine engines requiring greater performance and efficiency. In addition, this research specifically supports the goals of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) which seeks to expand the boundaries of aeronautical knowledge for the benefit of the Nation and the broad aeronautics community and in particular NASA ARMD's Subsonic Fixed Wing Project which has a goal of conducting long term research in technologies which promote, among other things, higher performance and higher efficiency gas turbine engines.

The development of high temperature turbine disk coatings using DVTI's advanced coatings processing techniques will enable not only new environmentally-protective for use in future military and commercial aircraft platforms, but also new deposition processes to enable affordable coating application onto engines components. DVD coaters are envisioned to be small with low capital costs and tailorable volumes so that small volumes of parts can be deposited at low cost. The soft vacuum required and the high deposition rates also have the potential to facilitate low cost, assembly line like part coating for some geometries. The non line-of-sight capabilities of this approach enable coatings to be applied onto complex components thus expanding their use.