The University of Idaho
Gas turbine related research has been conducted in two areas at the University of Idaho . The first is in the area of turbine blade heat transfer. Research is being conducted to reveal the influence of realistic surface roughness on the boundary layer over turbine blades. Measurements have been conducted in the Matched Index of Refraction (MIR) oil tunnel facility located at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) in Idaho Falls . This facility, the largest MIR facility in the world, is capable of producing higher resolution measurements than experiments conducted in wind tunnels or water tunnels.
The second area is that of fatigue and fracture of advanced alloys at various operating temperatures. The Fatigue and Fracture Laboratory at the University of Idaho is devoted to the mechanical testing, analysis, and modeling of specimens, components, and small structures for a variety of conventional and advanced materials such as metal matrix composites, titanium alloys, nickel-based superalloys, composites, and ceramics. The laboratory has developed excellent facilities and expertise in the area of fatigue, fracture, environmental assisted cracking, mechanical properties, and related areas. Research funding has been obtained from Rolls Royce, NASA, DOE, State of Idaho , and numerous private industries. The laboratory is equipped with two electrohydraulic MTS test systems, one capable of performing fatigue tests at temperatures in excess of 1100 ° . Extensive metallographic equipment for material characterization is also available.
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