Abstract

By casting nickel-base superalloys blades in Single Crystal (SX) or Directionally Solidified (DS) form superior mechanical properties are achieved which are nowadays one of the key factors contributing to the performance of modern heavy duty gas turbines as they greatly extend the range of operability of the Hot Gas Path components.

Nevertheless such technological solutions do not come without a price because SX and DS materials feature anisotropic mechanical response which must be carefully controlled in order to exploit their full potential in the design and residual life evaluation phases. In this paper it is shown a practical FE strategy allowing to achieve a basic but not unrealistic description of the mechanical behavior of such materials.