Stress Redistribution for Increased Creep Life in the GE MS6001 B Second-Stage Blade

Abstract

When a hot end blade for a gas turbine is designed, several failure criteria must be considered to insure reliability. The criteria include (but are not limited to) creep rupture, low-cycle fatigue, high-cycle fatigue, and creep deflection. This paper will focus on the second-stage turbine blade for the GE MS6001 industrial gas turbine. BP Amoco has experienced failure of this blade due to excessive creep deflection. Creep deflection rate is a function of stress level and metal temperature. A typical approach to reducing creep deflection is to reduce the bulk temperature in the blade. In this paper a design is reviewed that has had the stress redistributed, so that the high-temperature regions of the airfoil are at a lower stress level, thereby reducing the creep rate to an acceptable level.