Surface temperature measurements from a stator vane doublet in a turbine afterburner flame using a YAG:Tm thermographic phosphor

Phosphor thermometry measurements in turbine engine environments can be difficult because of high background radiation levels. To address this challenge, luminescence lifetime-based phosphor thermometry measurements were obtained using thulium-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Tm) to take advantage of the emission wavelengths at 365 nm (1D2 → 3H6 transition) and at 456 nm (1D2 → 3F4 transition). At these wavelengths, turbine engine radiation background is reduced compared with emission from longer wavelength phosphors. Temperature measurements of YAG:Tm coatings were demonstrated using decay of both the 365 and 456 nm emission bands in a furnace environment up to 1400 °C. To demonstrate that reliable surface temperatures based on short-wavelength YAG:Tm emission could be obtained from the surface of an actual engine component in a high gas velocity, highly radiative environment, measurements were obtained from a YAG:Tm-coated Honeywell stator vane doublet placed in the afterburner flame exhaust stream of the augmenter-equipped General Electric J85 turbojet test engine at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). Using a probe designed for engine insertion, spot temperature measurements were obtained by measuring luminescence decay times over a range of steady state throttle settings as well as during an engine throttle acceleration. YAG:Tm phosphor thermometry measurements of the stator vane surface in the afterburner exhaust stream using the decay of the 456 nm emission band were successfully obtained at temperatures up to almost 1300 °C. Phosphor thermometry measurements acquired with the engine probe using the decay of the 365 nm emission band were not successful at usefully high temperatures because the probe design allowed transmission of intense unfiltered silica Raman scattering that produced photomultiplier tube saturation with extended recovery times. Recommendations are made for probe modifications that will enable temperature measurements using the 365 nm emission band decay, which will be beneficial in environments with strong reflections of combustor radiation.