초록

Thermally insulating layer incorporating a distinguishing agent and method for inspecting the insulating layer are provided. The distinguishing agent may be used for determining a remaining thickness of the thermally insulating layer.

대표청구항 ▼

I claim as my invention: 1. Method for inspecting a turbine component comprising a thermally insulating layer over a ceramic matrix composite material, the method comprising: providing a distinguishing agent indicative of a remaining thickness of said thermally insulating layer, wherein the disting

I claim as my invention: 1. Method for inspecting a turbine component comprising a thermally insulating layer over a ceramic matrix composite material, the method comprising: providing a distinguishing agent indicative of a remaining thickness of said thermally insulating layer, wherein the distinguishing agent comprises a non-luminescent colorant; and monitoring visually perceptible color-changing effects of said distinguishing agent to determine a thickness range for said thermally insulating layer. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a corrective action on the turbine component based on the determined thickness range for said thermally insulating layer. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said distinguishing agent is introduced into an interface layer disposed between the thermally insulating layer and the ceramic matrix composite material. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said distinguishing agent is uniformly distributed throughout the thermally insulating layer. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said distinguishing agent is varyingly distributed throughout the thermally insulating layer to form a distinguishing gradient in the thermally insulating layer. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the thermally insulating layer comprises a stack of discrete layers, and the distinguishing agent is introduced to form distinctive adjacent layers in the stack of discrete layers. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said distinguishing agent comprises a coloring agent. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said coloring agent is selected from the group consisting of transition element oxides and rare earth element oxides. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein said coloring agent is perceptible in a range of an electromagnetic spectrum visible to human vision. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said distinguishing agent is selected from the group consisting of infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and visible electromagnetic spectrum. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the distinguishing agent is introduced in a precursor form of said thermally insulating layer. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said precursor form is selected from the group consisting of a fully densified body, a partially densified body, and a green body.