Monocrystalline high pressure turbine blades are booth cooled by an internal channel network and side-wall crossing holes. As they undergo complex thermo-mechanical cycles they suffer fatigue, creep and oxidation damages. In order to validate lifetime prediction chain under real conditions of use, the study of technological test configurations reproducing turbine cycle conditions was necessary. For that, a thermal gradient mechanical fatigue facility is developed. Thermal gradient is generated through an external surface heating and an internal air cooling. As a result, tests could be conducted following a growing complexity on smooth and multi-perforated tubular specimens going from isothermal test up to thermo-mechanical complex cycle. The need of in-depth analysis of these tests led to the study of two measurement methods. The electrical potential drop method for crack detection and crack following applied to complex shapes and digital image correlation which use was extended to high temperatures. Simulation key issue is the thermal field estimation. Measurement complexity led us to numerically determine it by various methods including aero-thermal coupled calculations. Finally lifetime prediction chain including non-local coverage was confronted with experimental measurements in terms of mechanical response, damage localisation and crack initiation lifetime.
