Applications to Gas Turbines Health Monitoring
Abstract
The gas-turbine engine has been the focus of intense research since the first Whittle design in 1937. Although it has evolved into a very efficient source of power many areas remain open for advances. Many such advances however require instrumentation for monitoring and controlling transient phenomena. In particular, instrumentation needs are for distributed phenomena across the system, subsystems, components, which require spatially fine resolution at the local points. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is a natural enabling technology to meet these instrumentation challenges. MEMS enable the development of smart systems by augmenting the computational ability of microelectronics with the perception and control capabilities of microsensors and microactuators. The lecture will provide a review of instrumentation needs in gas turbine engine development where MEMS technology has been, is being, or is envisioned to be pursued. In the context of these pursuits, the specific MEMS research and development will be highlighted. The instrumentation (e.g., sensors, actuators, and control circuits) for the gas turbine applications must operate in high temperature environments compared to more pedestrian applications (i.e., in addition to many other harsh environment factors in a gas turbine engine). SiC MEMS technology holds great promise for applications which are characterized by presence of harsh environments (e.g., high temperatures, large number of vibrational cycles, erosive flows, and corrosive media). The lecture will introduce and review the state of SiC MEMS technology in the context of gas turbine engine instrumentation needs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA425247
Entities
People
- Mehran Mehregany
Organizations
- Case Western Reserve University