Claims
- 1. A method of monitoring the condition of a thermal barrier coating on a turbine blade or vane in a combustion turbine comprising:
providing a means for receiving acoustic output of said blade or said vane during operation of said turbine; and monitoring the magnitude of surface waves of said acoustic output over time to detect deterioration of said thermal barrier coating on said blade or said vane; said acoustic output arising from a force applied by working gas or its constituents on said blade or said vane.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said means for receiving said acoustic output is a short segment of an acoustic waveguide bonded to a surface of said vane.
- 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising a means for converting said acoustic output to an electrical signal.
- 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said means for converting said acoustic output to an electrical signal is a piezoceramic crystal.
- 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of filtering said acoustic signal to remove a portion of said acoustic signal below 30 kHz.
- 6. An apparatus for monitoring the condition of a thermal barrier coating on a turbine blade or vane in a combustion turbine comprising:
means for receiving acoustic output of said blade or said vane during operation of said turbine; and means for monitoring the magnitude of surface waves of said acoustic output over time to detect deterioration of said thermal barrier coating on said blade or said vane during operation of said turbine; said acoustic output arising from a force applied by working gas or its constituents on said blade or said vane.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said means for receiving said acoustic output is a short segment of an acoustic waveguide bonded to a surface of said vane.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a means for converting said acoustic output to an electrical signal.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said means for converting said acoustic output to an electrical signal is a piezoceramic crystal.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a means for filtering said acoustic signal to remove a portion of said acoustic signal below 30 kHz.
- 11. A method of monitoring the condition of a thermal barrier coating on a turbine blade or vane in a combustion turbine comprising:
introducing non-damaging particles into a gas stream of said turbine; providing a means for receiving acoustic output of said blade or said vane, said acoustic output arising from impact of said non-damaging particles on said blade or vane during operation of said turbine; and monitoring the magnitude of surface waves of said acoustic output over time to detect deterioration of said thermal barrier coating on said blade or said vane.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said means for receiving said acoustic output is a short segment of an acoustic waveguide bonded to a surface of said vane.
- 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising a means for converting said acoustic output to an electrical signal.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said means for converting said acoustic output to an electrical signal is a piezoceramic crystal.
- 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of filtering said acoustic signal to remove a portion of said acoustic signal below 30 kHz.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisional application Serial No. 60/326,477, filed Oct. 1, 2001, to application Ser. No. 09/965,715, filed Sep. 27, 2001, and to application Ser. No. 09/776,818, filed Feb. 5, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60326477 |
Oct 2001 |
US |