NPL creates better jet engine metal treatment

Citation

(2007), "NPL creates better jet engine metal treatment", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 54 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2007.12854fad.005

NPL creates better jet engine metal treatment

NPL creates better jet engine metal treatment

British scientists have developed metal alloys that boost the high-temperature heat treatment of jet engine components, allowing more efficient operation. Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, UK, Britain's measurement standards facility, used the new alloys to reduce the uncertainty of thermocouple temperature sensors at high temperatures to within a degree.

Since, aircraft engines are more efficient at higher temperatures, thermal treatment of engine components at very specific high temperatures in excess of 1,300°C is important, researchers said. If the heat treatment temperature deviates too much from the optimal temperature, the treatment might be inadequate.

Thermocouples are calibrated using materials with known melting points, but the available reference materials required to treat jet engine components have a large uncertainty compared with the lower temperature fixed points. Using the new type of metal alloys, NPL scientists identified a range of reference points for thermocouples beyond 1,100°C. They said that will allow component manufacturers to start improving thermal treatments, reducing waste during production of parts for engines that can run at higher temperatures.