Advanced lifetime assessment of steam turbine components based on long-term operating data

Abstract

The paper presents a new method of lifetime calculations of steam turbine components operating at high temperatures. Component life is assessed on the basis of creep-fatigue damage calculated using long-term operating data covering the whole operating period instead of representative events only. The data are analysed automatically by a dedicated computer program developed to handle big amount of process data. Lifetime calculations are based on temperature and stress analyses performed by means of finite element method and using automatically generated input files with thermal and mechanical boundary conditions. The advanced lifetime assessment method is illustrated by an example of lifetime calculations of a steam turbine rotor.