Gas turbines are used where large amounts of energy is needed, typically as engines in aircraft, ferries and power plants. From an efficiency point of view it is desirable to increase the service temperature as much as possible. One of the limiting factors is then the maximum allowable metal temperatures in the turbine stages, primarily in the blades of the first stage, that are exposed to the highest gas temperatures. Specially designed materials are used to cape with these severe conditions, such as the nickel base superalloy IN792. In order to be able to design the components for higher temperatures and tighter tolerances, a detailed understanding and computational models of the material behaviour is needed.

The models presented in this work have been developed with the objective of being physically well motivated, and with the intention of avoiding excessive numbers of parameters. The influence of the parameters should also be as easy as possible to interpret. The models are to describe the the behaviour of IN792, under conditions typically found for a gas turbine blade. Specifically the high- and intermediate- temperature isothermal modelling of IN792 have been addressed.

One main issue when characterising the material and calibrating the models is the use of relevant tests, that are representative of component conditions. Therefore isothermal tests with an eye on the typical environment of a turbine blade have been planned and performed.

Using numerical optimization techniques the material parameters for the isothermal behaviour of IN792 at 650°C and 850°C have been estimated. The good overall calibration results for these specific temperatures, using the presented modeling concept and nonstandard constitutive tests, suggests that the model can describe the behaviour of IN792 in gas turbine hot part applications.