Experimental investigation of thermal contact conductance across GH4169/GH4169 interface with compensation heater

An experimental setup of high-temperature and high-pressure thermal contact conductance (TCC) with a compensation heater is independently developed according to the material properties and working environments of aero-engine hot-end components. A pure Cu bar is used as the heat-flow meter to measure the axial heat flux, which is also suitable for superalloys whose thermal conductivity is either unclear or exhibits great variation with temperature. An experimental investigation of TCC is conducted with pressed pairs of aero-engine hot-end component structure material GH4169/GH4169 contacts in the range of 150-500°C and 60-180 MPa. The results show that the present experimental setup is feasible for the experimental investigation of high-temperature and high-pressure TCC, and the variation of the TCC across GH4169/GH4169 is obtained. Moreover, the variation of the TCC with and without a compensation heater is studied. The research results may serve as a significant reference for the prediction of aer-oengine thermal properties.