Advanced high-velocity oxygen-fuel coating and candidate materials for protecting LP steam turbine blades against droplet erosion

This paper describes the water droplet erosion characteristics of advanced high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) coating and the materials used for steam turbine blading. For droplet erosion study, round samples as per ASTM G73-98 (“Standard Practice for Liquid Impingement Erosion Testing,” Vol 03.02, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, ASTM, 2004) were selected. The materials commonly used for steam turbine blading are X20Cr13, X10CrNiMoV122, and Ti6Al4V. During incubation as well as in the long run, advanced HVOF coating has performed much better than all these materials. This is due to enhanced particle kinetic energy caused by optimum flow of oxygen and fuel injection by modifying the fuel injector. Droplet erosion test results of these materials and advanced HVOF coating along with their properties and damage mechanism are reported and discussed in this paper.