We had IGV failure (cracks) on our 3 GE Frame 9 (MS9001E) Gas Turbines. We want to carry out the RCA to find out the cause of failure and take the remedial measure proactively as the consequences of broken IGV can be catastrophic.

Please suggest vendors other than GE who can accopmplish this task.

Hello, what kind of Cracks are you seeing and where are they located?
Can you determine if the cracks are due to high stresses, FOD (object damage), or rubbing against the casing?
Some inspection tips:
-Verify is there are corrosion on the spring washers, bushings
-verify proper X gaps (check for rolled metal or casing rubs)
-direction of IGV
-verify proper IGV angles between upper and lower case break and with each individual vane (rack and pinion might be off)
-if its FOD, might want to inspect your inlet system/duct on where the foreign matter is coming from
-is your anti-icing Bleed heat system working? any signs of icing causing the IGV cracks?

There are many vendors that have a metallurgical background that can inspect your cracks to determine where the point of propogation and cyclic fatigue is from. However they are usually not familar with the entire IGV system and its operating purpose.. You can try companies like PSM (Power System. Manuf.) or Pratt and Whitney for some answers if you are looking for a non OEM disposition. I know they have a strong engineering background and might offer IGV replacement blades.
good luck.
Regards,
RStevens

Thanks Steve,

Actually we dont want IGV replacements. We are interested in root cause failure analysis at the moment.

We will be contacting the companies you mentioned. Thanks for your advice.

Regards,

Zeeshan

Usually IGV do not have much dynamic stresses as compared to rotating blades just after it.did you inspect them also?
IGV just spin to give air required direction depanding upon load/ air fuel mixture etc.
normally during dust and moist enviornment, dust particle enter from fillter area and damage IGV paints surface. it looks like hair crack but better to remove paint surface before further.
if this condition prevail long time then there is a possibility of IGV airfoil crack.
where do you find cracks in your IGVs, i mean airfoil surface, its bush/pin area that helps it in rotating?