An axial flow rotary machine, such as a gas turbine engine for an aircraft, has a compression section, a combustion section and a turbine section. An annular flow path for working medium gases extends axially through the sections of the engine. A rotor assembly extends axially through the engine. The rotor assembly includes a plurality of rotor blades which extend outwardly across the working medium flow path in the compression section and the turbine section. A stator assembly includes an outer case which extends circumferentially about the flow path to bound the working medium flow path. The stator assembly has arrays of stator vanes which extend radially inwardly across the working medium flow path between the arrays of rotor blades in both the compression section and turbine section.
The rotor blades and stator vanes are flow directing assemblies. Each has an airfoil which is designed to receive, interact with and discharge the working medium gases as the gases are flowed through the engine. Airfoils in the turbine section receive energy from the working medium gases and drive the rotor assembly at high speeds about an axis of rotation. Airfoils in the compression section transfer energy to the working medium gases to compress the gases as the airfoils are driven about the axis of rotation by the rotor assembly.
The airfoils in both sections extend radially across the working medium flow path. The airfoils extend into close proximity with the adjacent stator structure to block the leakage of the working medium gases around the tips of the rotor blades. As a result, the tips of such airfoils may rub against such structure during transient operation. Alternatively, the tips are designed to cut a groove or channel in such structure. The blades extend into the channel during steady state operation to decrease tip leakage.
The tips of such airfoils are often provided with an abrasive material and is are axially aligned with adjacent radial structure which is provided with an abradable material. The combination of an abrasive tip with abradable material spaced radially from the tip enables the structure to accommodate movement of the blades outwardly and to accommodate interference between the tips of the blade and the adjacent structure. This occurs without destruction of the tip of the tip or the stator structure and enables the tip to cut the necessary groove if so required.
The abrasive material may be provided to a substrate at the airfoil tip by many techniques such as powder metallurgy techniques, plasma spray techniques, and electroplating techniques. One example of a plasma spraying device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,287 to Siebein et al. entitled: "Plasma Flame Generator and Spray Gun". In Siebein, a plasma forming gas is disposed about an electric arc and passed through a nozzle. The gas is converted to a plasma state and leaves the arc and nozzle as a hot free plasma stream. Powders are injected into the hot free plasma stream and heated. The softened powder is propelled onto the surface of a substrate which receives the coating. Other examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,140 to Coucher entitled "Plasma Spray Gun and Method for Applying Coatings on a Substrate" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,573 to Muehlberger entitled "Coating Heat Softened Particles by Projection in a Plasma Stream of Mach 1 to Mach 3 Velocity".
The substrate is typically prepared for receiving the particles by cleaning and roughening the surface of the substrate. One technique uses a grit blasting apparatus to propel abrasive particles against the substrate by grit blasting. Portions of the airfoil are masked or shielded with a mask or shield to prevent the abrasive particles from damaging the airfoil and other portions of the blade. Performing this operation in production quantities requires a fixture for each blade to support the tip of the blade during the grit blasting operation and a fixture for supporting the tip of the blade during the coating of the tip of the airfoil.
The coating process takes place at temperatures which are much higher than the temperature at which the grit blasting operation takes place. The blade may be removed from the fixture used for grit blasting after completing preparation of the surface of the coating. Any shields or masks that cannot survive at high temperatures are then removed. The blade is reinstalled in the fixture or moved to a new fixture. Moving the blade to a new fixture or removal of the blade from the fixture and reinstallation increases handling time of the process and may result in damage to the blade.
It is preferable to use a shield, for example, for the airfoil surface adjacent the tip which may survive both impact of abrasive particles and high temperatures of the plasma spray process. Metal shields extending over several airfoils have been used with a screw fastener for the shield. A metal band having a tab is installed near the tip between the shield and the airfoil to fill the gap between the relatively rigid shield and the airfoil.
Another approach is to use a high temperature material, such as aluminum foil tape, which is suitable for use during the plasma spray process to provide the masking or shielding. The aluminum tape is also suitable for use during the grit blasting operation. The aluminum tape has an adhesive backing which is used to affix the tape to the airfoil. The tape requires precise installation to maintain the correct clearance between the top of the rotor blade and aluminum tape which acts as a mask or shield. If an error occurs in installation, the tape is removed with difficulty because of the adhesive and new tape installed.
The aluminum tape remains in place for both the grit blasting and plasma coating operation. After removal from the grit blasting fixture, the rotor blade is reinstalled in the coating fixture. After receiving the plasma spray coating, the tape and its adhesive are removed, often with difficulty because the adhesive is an integral part of the tape and because it leaves a residue even after the tape is removed. The tape is expensive, labor intensive to apply, labor intensive to remove, and is not reusable.
Accordingly, the above are notwithstanding, scientists and engineers working under the direction of applicants assignee have sought to improve the shields used during the application of coatings to the tips of rotor blades.