Study of Microparticle Rebound Characteristics Under High Temperature Conditions

Large amounts of tiny microparticles are ingested into gas turbines over their operating life, resulting in unexpected wear and tear. Knowledge of such microparticle behavior at gas turbine operating temperatures is limited in published literature. In this study, Arizona road dust (ARD) is injected into a hot flow field to measure the effects of high temperature and velocity on particle rebound from a polished 304 stainless steel (SS) coupon. The results are compared with baseline (27 m/s) measurements at ambient (300 K) temperature made in the Virginia Tech Aerothermal Rig, as well as previously published literature. Mean coefficient of restitution (COR) was shown to decrease with the increased temperature/velocity conditions in the VT Aerothermal Rig. The effects of increasing temperature and velocity led to a 12% average reduction in COR at 533 K (47 m/s), 15% average reduction in COR at 866 K (77 m/s), and 16% average reduction in COR at 1073 K (102 m/s) compared with ambient results. The decrease in COR appeared to be almost entirely a result of increased velocity that resulted from heating the flow. Trends show that temperature plays a minor role in energy transfer between particle and impact surface below a critical temperature.