Iowa State University
The Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, the Plasma Spray Facility of the Ames Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Virtual Reality Applications Center are three major resources at Iowa State University that are positioned to participate in valuable gas turbine research.
The Center for Nondestructive Evaluation (CNDE) is an interdisciplinary research activity involving faculty, professional researchers and students from across the university campus. A major core competency of this center is the development of effective techniques for inspecting gas turbine components. A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, the CNDE is currently supported by over 20 industrial firms and several government agencies. Other collaborations are welcome. The CNDE is teamed with AlliedSignal, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney to develop advanced inspection techniques and methods for evaluation of rotating components of aircraft gas turbine engines. This effort is defining the state of the art in inspection of these components. The CNDE is also teamed with Westinghouse and other sponsors to develop ways to effectively evaluate the rotating components of large, land-based, power generating, gas turbines. The CNDE home page may be found at http://www.cnde.iastate.edu . The primary technical contact for the CNDE is Bruce Thompson, CNDE Director, thompsonrb@cnde.iastate.edu , phone 515-294-7864, fax 515-294-7771.
The Ames Laboratory Plasma Spray (ALPS) Facility has state of the art capabilities for plasma spray coating deposition in air and within a controlled gas environment under reduced pressures using a 100 cubit feet water cooled chamber. The facility is equipped with multiple powder feeders for obtaining composite and gradient coating microstructures. A unique feature of the ALPS Facility is its close relationship with the Ames Laboratory High Pressure Gas Atomization Group. Novel powders with optimized morphologies and size distributions are routinely developed for subsequent plasma spray coating research. The ALPS Facility also has surface profilometry with three-dimensional analysis capabilities. Tribological research is performed with high temperature (600C), controlled humidity pin-on-disc configurations. The ALPS Facility has access to other Ames Laboratory surface characterization tools (e.g. auger microscopy, XPS and electron microprobe) which have been utilized in designing and characterizing coatings. These specialized techniques are invaluable for understanding the very initial stages of metallic coating oxidation. The primary technical contact for the ALPS Facility is Dan Sordelet at sordelet@ameslab.gov , phone 515-294-4713, fax 515-294-8727.
The Virtual Reality Application Center (VRAC) will soon operate C6, the next generation, six-sided virtual reality theater with back projection on all sic surfaces of the room. C6 will be powered by a high performance computing system from SGI. This SGI system will enable very-fast, very-high-resolution graphics display coupled with high performance computing capabilities. This facility is expected to be a national test bed for development of VR-based tools to help meet technical challenges faced by industry. For example, C6 can be used to visualize complicated data related to gas turbine engine components. This kind of “witnessing” of gas turbine phenomena can enhance understanding of what is happening. The VRAC research team has a distinguished record of VR research and applications as summarized at their homepage, http://www.vrac.iastate.edu . The Director for the VRAC is Jim Oliver oliver@iastate.edu , phone: 515-294-2649, fax: 515-294-5530. |