Nondestructive Evaluation of Ceramic Candle Filter With Various Boundary Conditions

摘要

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) using a dynamic characterization technique was conducted to study ceramic candle filters. Ceramic candle filters are hollow cylindrical structures made of porous ceramic materials used to protect gas turbine in coal-fired power plants. Deterioration and failure of ceramic filters occurs after being exposed to high-temperature and high-pressure operational environment over a period of time. This paper focuses on the development of an NDE method that can predict the in-situ structural stiffness of the candle filters while still being attached to the plenum. A combination of laboratory testing, theoretical analysis, and finite element method (FEM) simulations are presented. The candle filters were tested using a laser vibrometer/accelerometer setup with variable boundary restraints. A variable end-restraint Timoshenko beam equation was derived to determine the dynamic response of the candle filters with simulated in-situ boundary conditions. Results from the FEM simulation were verified with the analysis to determine the stiffness degradation of the candle filters as well as the boundary conditions. Results from this study show that the vibration characteristics can be used effectively to evaluate both the structural stiffness and the in-situ boundary restraints of the ceramic candle filters during field inspections.