Collaborative Technology Assessments Of Transient Field Processing And Additive Manufacturing Technologies As Applied To Gas Turbine Components
ORNL partnered with GE Power & Water to investigate the effect of thermomagnetic processing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of GE Power & Water newly developed wrought Ni-Fe-Cr alloys. Exploration of the effects of high magnetic field process during heat treatment of the alloys indicated conditions where applications of magnetic fields yields significant property improvements. The alloy aged using high magnetic field processing exhibited 3 HRC higher hardness compared to the conventionally-aged alloy. The alloy annealed at 1785 F using high magnetic field processing demonstrated an average creep life 2.5 times longer than that of the conventionally heat-treated alloy. Preliminary results show that high magnetic field processing can improve the mechanical properties of Ni-Fe-Cr alloys and potentially extend the life cycle of the gas turbine components such as nozzles leading to significant energy savings.