PERSPECTIVE August/September, Volume 25, Number 4

THE FORUM FOR CANADA’S SECURITY AND DEFENCE COMMUNITY

COST SAVINGS AND

BY TIM OUTLAND,
DEL ROGERS, GEORGE AWISZUS
GE MARINE

A
reliable gas turbine is what There are significant lifecycle cost dif- eliminated long periods of unavailability.3, 4
gives a ship its striking pow- ferences between the gas turbine options, Unexpected shipboard events, includ-
er, and without a working and these variances need to be a major ing ingestion of Foreign Object Damage
prime mover, a naval vessel consideration when selecting the engines. (FOD) that happens to all gas turbines,
is dead in the water. There- One of the most significant design differ- and preventative maintenance actions
fore, a gas turbine that can be repaired ences could result in a minor in-situ repair are the leading reasons that GE in-situ
in-situ and quickly returned to service versus an extremely costly engine removal top case repair is used. Conversely, gas
is of tremendous value to a navy. GE’s with a very long turnaround time in an turbines without split casings require
LM2500 is the backbone for battle ships overhaul shop. complete engine removal from the ship,
for 33 navies worldwide, providing the This paper explores how the in-situ re- increasing repair time and gas turbine un-
most reliable form of power and an out- pair and maintenance design philosophy availability to weeks or even months. In
standing 99% reliability. GE gas turbines for GE’s LM2500 and LM6000 marine addition, the cost of repair per event in-
also provide the most power dense solu- gas turbines with a split casing has pre- creases to ~$1.5 to $3 million.
tion for meeting high speed missions.1, 2 vented hundreds of engine removals and Using historical data from three naval

Sponsored Content
Copyright 20018. Promotive Communications Inc., 1-226 Edward Street, Aurora, ON, L4G 3S8 Phone: 905-727-3875 Fax: 905-727-4428 www.vanguardcanada.com
 PERSPECTIVE

customers, GE estimates the cost savings This paper shares lessons learned that sels also have the added complication of
on an annualized basis of using a design assist the acquisition, maintenance and limited space within the inlet duct or ad-
with split casings: The United States ship operator communities in the devel- equate tooling to facilitate removal of the
Navy (USN) saves approximately $45 to opment of design-for-maintenance re- entire turbine.
$93 million per year; and the Royal Ca- quirements of a gas turbine, maintenance It is important to immediately determine
nadian (RCN) and Royal Australian Na- planning and quantification of lifecycle the extent of the damage visually before
vies (RAN) save $4 to $9 million each per costs. Oftentimes, maintenance activities resuming operation. Borescope inspec-
year. The number of split case repair and are only considered after the ship is at sea tions are not always conclusive since dam-
maintenance actions performed are 32 when a costly event occurs. age also can be sustained on non-rotating
USN instances in 2017, and an average airfoils such as vanes. FOD often impacts
of three per year each for the RCN and Unscheduled Compressor multiple blades and can be extensive. Mi-
RAN. Repairing an engine in-situ is par- Events nor damage can result in slight degrada-
ticularly important on single gas turbine Compressor events will unexpectedly oc- tion of performance or a compressor that
propulsion ships, which do not have re- cur and they can be classified into the fol- is more prone to stall. With continued
dundancy. For most surface combatants, lowing categories: operation, minor damage may propagate
the loss of even one gas turbine would se- FOD is the ingestion of a foreign ob- resulting in subsequent blade separation
verely limit the ship in achieving mission ject, salt water, sand laden intake air or and significant compressor damage.
objectives, increase the burden to the material left after the execution of main- Figure 2 illustrates a compressor blade
ship’s crew and significantly impact the tenance tasks such as the ship’s structure that experienced an impact/tear from a
downtime of the valuable combat asset. or tooling. Despite ship personnel robust FOD event. The blade was determined to
GE offers Intermediate level (I-level) procedures, training and preventative best be beyond serviceable limits and required
repair and maintenance which can be practices, ships propelled by gas turbines replacement.
performed on ship, dockside or at a lo- can be subjected to foreign object inges- Domestic Object Damage (DOD) is a
cal facility. Couple that with GE’s proven tion and subsequent compressor blade self-generated event when an internal ob-
procedures, tooling and global network damage. FOD by salt water ingestion ject liberates causing impact damage to
of expert service personnel, and the cost occurred on the Freedom-class Littoral the engine. DOD also can occur from an
and time to return the gas turbine to Combat Ship 1 with damage to a com- engine stall.
operation is markedly less than sending petitor’s gas turbine.5 In such an event, A gas turbine has the potential to stall
the component or turbine to a depot or the split casing design of the GE gas tur- when subjected to abnormal operating
OEM. Note, not all repairs can be made bine will immediately permit the extent conditions, or out-of-schedule Variable
in place; gas turbine removals may still of the damage to be determined and can Stator Vanes (VSV) or bleed valves.
be required due to event severity. How- allow the repair to be made in-situ in a GE LM2500 and LM6000 gas turbine
ever, by having a horizontal split casing, matter of days (see Figure 1). Conversely, designs have horizontal split casings to fa-
GE gas turbines can be opened in-situ, engines without split casings require the cilitate easy access, repair and maintenance
a thorough and immediate assessment complete removal of the gas turbine to to internal components.
made, and planning initiated to expedite determine the extent of the damage and The LM gas turbine design employs
repairs. make repairs. Some military marine ves- specialized hinges and braces allowing the

Figure 1: In-Situ Maintenance of GE LM2500 Horizontal Split Case Compressor Figure 2: FOD Damaged Compressor Blade

Sponsored Content
Copyright 20018. Promotive Communications Inc., 1-226 Edward Street, Aurora, ON, L4G 3S8 Phone: 905-727-3875 Fax: 905-727-4428 www.vanguardcanada.com
 PERSPECTIVE

Conclusion
Foreign or domestic object damage in-
Table 1: Number of Occurrences of Intermediate Top Case Events flicted on turbines is an inevitability in
demanding maritime environments. This
NAVY NUMBER OF TOP CASE EVENTS FLEET SIZE: COMMISSIONED SHIPS
damage should not be casually discount-
ed during turbine acquisition decisions or
USN 32 in 2017 400 gas turbines on over 110 ships as part the development of a comprehen-
sive lifecycle plan. The best way to limit
RCN Average 3 / year for last 24 gas turbines on 12 Halifax repair and maintenance to thousands of
15 years frigates; first commissioned in 1992 dollars and just a few days downtime is
by using a modular gas turbine design
RAN Average 3 / year 16 gas turbines on 4 classes of ships: with split casings as employed on GE’s
Adelaide and Anzac frigates, Hobart
gas turbines. GE’s design approach also
supports lifecycle strategies that embrace
destroyers and Canberra LHD’s
planned maintenance actions. Scheduled
maintenance extends the engine’s service
life due to changes in the ship’s propul-
whole casing to be opened rather easily, (GEK) for shipboard I-level maintenance sion plant load profile, or to incorporate
similar to an automobile hood. The low- procedures. Minimal specialized tooling, technical advances made in turbine de-
pressure turbine also has a horizontal split a hinge kit and hand tools were used on sign over the years. GE also supports this
casing. A case can be opened to allow for site by the FSR. design philosophy with proven tooling
internal inspection or maintenance in one The damage was determined to be from and a global service network.
working day. FOD and was greater than what was iden- Repairing a gas turbine in-place pre-
Horizontal split casings facilitate the tified by the borescope inspection. That serves ever-tightening maintenance bud-
following maintenance and repair actions: is because a borescope inspection pro- gets by protecting against the disruptive
• FOD and DOD repair. vides a limited view of the airfoils and costs of unplanned engine removals.
• Occasionally, a gas turbine requires a critical flow path hardware. By visually Most importantly, it substantially miti-
trim balance to lower vibration as an inspecting the compressor, it was deter- gates the operational risk of an engine
engine matures. A trim balance may mined that ten other compressor blades casualty that reduces the ship’s mission
also be performed to reduce airborne had minor damage. The 10th stage blade capability or impacts availability for weeks
and structure borne noise. There is no was replaced while the other blades were or months. This is particularly important
need to remove the gas turbine from blended with honing stones. in countries that operate a relatively small
the ship to balance the unit. The root cause was determined to be number of surface combatants with sin-
• Preventative maintenance actions that from loose ship “non-skid” deck sur- gle gas turbine propulsion systems, which
incorporate lessons learned after many face that passed through an incomplete do not have the inherent redundancy to
years of operation can be performed to mounted nylon sock on the inlet screen. maintain speed required to meet mission
extend the life of the gas turbine. These Top case repair costs are typically less objectives.
actions include performing inspections, than $100,000. These costs vary on the
updating components with developed low end for tasks such as trim balance For more information visit ge.com/marine.
life extension capabilities or implement- with no material, to blade replacement(s)
ing modifications for specific ship op- or blending in a FOD/stall repair. The References
eration profiles and loadings. By having work can typically be performed in two 1. “Building on a Marine Power
gas turbine top casing repair in-situ ca- to three days. Legacy,” 2018
pabilities, the cost of maintenance will 2. “GE Marine Gas Turbines for Frig-
be significantly minimized. Number of Occurrences of ates,” April 2018
Intermediate Top Case Repair 3. Thompson, B., Badgley Dr. R., Har-
FOD Repair Case Study and Maintenance Actions tranft, J., “Experience from Expan-
At the end of 2017 during a periodic Table 1 provides the number of top case sion of On-Board Maintenance for
borescope inspection of an international repairs made in the USN in 2017, the Marine Gas Turbines,” ASME Paper
ship, damage was found on the leading RCN in the past 15 years and estimates 89-GT-232
edge of a stage 10 compressor blade. The for the RAN in the context of their re- 4. Driscoll, M., Patterson, J., McFe-
compressor casing was opened in-situ to spective LM2500 fleet size. tridge E., See, C., “Removals for
determine the cause and the extent of the Preventative maintenance and life ex- Cause: A 35 Year Assessment of
damage, and repairs were made to the tension upgrades make up most of top LM2500 Engine Removals by the
turbine in a matter of days and at mini- case events (50% to 86%). This is followed United States Navy” June 2011
mal expense. by the need to trim balance the turbine 5. “What Price Freedom? Questions
A GE Field Service Representative or make FOD/stall repairs (7% to 25%). Surround LCS 1,” Aviation Week,
(FSR) performed maintenance tasks in Variations in percentages reflect different May 9, 2012.
accordance with the GE technical manual navy experiences.
Sponsored Content
Copyright 20018. Promotive Communications Inc., 1-226 Edward Street, Aurora, ON, L4G 3S8 Phone: 905-727-3875 Fax: 905-727-4428 www.vanguardcanada.com