A novel test rig to investigate under-platform damper dynamics

In the field of turbomachinery, vibration amplitude is often reduced by dissipating the kinetic energy of the blades with devices that utilize dry friction. Under-platform dampers, for example, are often placed in the underside of two consecutive turbine blades. Dampers are kept in contact with the under-platform of the respective blades by means of the cen-trifugal force. If the damper is well designed, vibration of blades instigate a relative motion between the under-platform and the damper. A friction force, that is a non-conservative force, arises in the contact and partly dissipates the vibration energy. Several contact mod-els are available in the literature to simulate the contact between the damper and the under-platform. However, the actual dynamics of the blade-damper interaction have not fully understood yet. Several test rigs have been previously developed to experimentally investigate the performance of under-platform dampers. The majority of these experimen-tal setups aim to evaluate the overall damper efficiency in terms of reduction in response amplitude of the blade for a given exciting force that simulates the aerodynamic loads. Unfortunately, the experimental data acquired on the blade dynamics do not provide enough information to understand the damper dynamics. Therefore, the uncertainty on the damper behavior remains a big issue. In this work, a novel experimental test rig has been developed to extensively investigate the damper dynamic behavior. A single replaceable blade is clamped in the rig with a speci-fic clamping device. With this device the blade root is pressed against a groove machined in the test rig. The pushing force is controllable and measurable, to better simulate the actual centrifugal load acting on the blade. Two dampers, one on each side of the blade, are in con-tact with the blade under-platforms and with platforms on force measuring supports. These supports have been specifically designed to measure the contact forces on the dam-per. The contact forces on the blade are computed by post processing the measured forces and assuming the static equilibrium of the damper. The damper kinematics is rebuilt by using the relative displacement, measured with a differential laser, between the damper and the blade under-platform. This article describes the main concepts behind this new approach and explains the design and working of this novel test rig. Moreover, the influence of the damper contact forces on the dynamic behavior of the blade is discussed in the result section

FRETTING WEAR OF T800 COATING IN AERO-ENGINE APPLICATIONS

High cycle fatigue in blades is triggered by oscillating forces. Devices such as shrouds, that exploit dry friction, are commonly introduced in the blade assembly to reduce the blade vibrations. If severe wear occurs, the effectiveness of the dry friction damping decreases, vibrations increase, and the number of cycles to failure of the blade diminishes. Mating surfaces in shrouds undergo high loads combined with relative displacement of low amplitude. This is the typical condition known as fretting. Coatings are commonly applied on damping surfaces of turbine blades to mitigate wear. This study investigates the wear mechanism of contact interfaces coated by Tribaloy® T-800, a coating greatly used in aeroengines. The experimental campaign was performed with a point contact test rig. The investigation was carried out using as test parameters temperature, normal load and fretting amplitude. Nine sets of parameters were analyzed at different test durations. Friction coefficients were computed using the hysteresis loops measured during the fretting tests. The worn surfaces were measured by an optical equipment based on focus variation and the volume losses were accurately measured. The wear region was observed by scanning electron microscopy at the end of each test. At room temperature, the friction coefficient was found substantially independent of the normal load. The wear rates at room temperature were higher than at high temperature. Observation of the worn surfaces by scanning electron microscopy revealed several brittle cracks. The damage mechanism changes from brittle (at room temperature) to ductile (at high temperature). The volume loss as a function of the dissipated energy was found independent of the normal load, showing that dissipated energy is a better variable rather than the number of wear cycles to show results of wear tests

Fretting fatigue analysis of additively manufactured blade root made of intermetallic Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy at high temperature

Slots in the disk of aircraft turbines restrain the centrifugal load of blades. Contact surfaces between the blade root and the disk slot undergo high contact pressure and relative displacement that is the typical condition in which fretting occurs. The load level ranges from zero to the maximum during take-off. This cycle is repeated for each mission. In this paper, a fretting fatigue analysis of additively manufactured blades is presented. Blades are made of an intermetallic alloy γTiAl. Fretting fatigue experiments were performed at a frequency of 0.5 Hz and at a temperature of 640 °C to match the operating condition of real blades. The minimum load was fixed at 0.5 KN and three maximum loads were applied, namely 16, 18 and 20 kN. Both an analytical and a two-dimensional finite element model were used to evaluate the state of stress at the contact interfaces. The results of the analytical model showed good agreement with the numerical model. Experiments showed that cracks nucleate where the analytical model predicts the maximum contact pressure and the numerical model predicts the maximum equivalent stress. A parametric analysis performed with the analytical model indicates that there exists an optimum geometry to minimize the contact pressure. Tests showed that the component life changed dramatically with the maximum load variation. Optical topography and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis reveals information about the damage mechanism

A novel test rig to study the effect of fretting wear on the forced response dynamics with a friction contact

This paper presents a novel test rig to study the effect of fretting wear and of the contact surface evolution on the forced response of systems with dry friction contact. This rig allows simulating contacts similar to the type of contacts present between the shrouds at the blade tip. Several research groups have been studying how fretting wear affects the dynamic response of mechanical systems, developing numerical prediction tools that consider dry friction contact and nonlinearity. The aim of this work is to experimentally study the evolution of contact interfaces and how this evolution affects the system dynamics. Experimental results will aid to validate the numerical predictions. The test rig developed for this activity is made of a cantilever beam fixed at one end and with a friction contact at the free end. The contact couple is made of two replaceable specimens. The contact is loaded via a lifting mechanism through a screw with fine thread. Fretting wear test was performed at a constant frequency and force amplitude, exciting the beam with an electromagnetic shaker. To emphasize the change of the dynamic response, frequency sweeps were performed at various intervals during the wear test. The full range test with ‘changing preload’ due to progressing wear was performed until a full loss of contact. This paper describes the test rig design, intent, set-up, instrumentation, test plan and results. Results include the frequency response curves for unworn contact, wear profiles at multiple intervals and the effect of wear on the frequency response. Though energy dissipation per cycle is quite small, wear leads to material loss at the contact with a sufficiently large number of cumulative cycles and substantially affects the dynamic response. Results collected in this research activity are of particular importance to validate numerical tool that aim to simulate the dynamic behaviour of systems with dry friction contacts that undergo material loss caused by wear

Friction damping and forced-response of vibrating structures: an insight into model validation

Dry friction is widely incorporated in turbomachinery, in the form of under-platform dampers, to limit vibrations at resonance and reduce risks of high-cycle fatigue failures. Most of the test rigs that were used to investigate the behavior of under-platform dampers aim at evaluating the damper performance in terms of reduction of forced-response amplitude in blades. This approach could be insufficient to understand local nonlinearities in the contact and the influence of dampers on blade dynamics. A recently developed test rig provides the authors with an unprecedented set of information. It is capable to measure contact forces and relative displacements between dampers and blade in addition to the overall blade dynamic response. This controlled environment, together with an effective model of the blade/dampers system, is used to provide an insight into the subject of model validation. The presented experimental and numerical study of the damper is used to highlight the relevance of an accurate representation of the constraints induced by friction contacts and to discuss the adequacy of state-of-the-art contact models

Faster on-line calculation of thermal stresses by time integration

The Green’s function technique (GFT) is largely used for on-line calculation of thermal stresses in machines and plants, because it allows turning parameters such as fluid temperatures, pressures and flow rates directly in thermal stresses. Recently the use of the GFT has been extended by the authors to thermo-mechanical models having variable convective coefficients. The novel methodology is made of two steps. First of all, boundary temperatures are evaluated by time integration of a reduced thermal model and then thermal stresses are calculated by means of the GFT using as inputs the boundary temperatures previously evaluated. The new approach implies a large number of convolution integrals to be solved for thermal stress calculation. In order to reduce computation time it is here proposed to replace the convolution integrals which characterise the GFT with a reduced model of uncoupled first order differential equations, whose coefficients are estimated fitting the Green’s functions of the thermo-mechanical model with a sum of exponential terms. Thermal stresses are obtained by time integration of the model

Fretting wear of bolted joint interfaces

Under vibration loading, fretting wear between bolted joint interfaces may change the dynamic characteristics of structures. Even the reliability of long-lasting assembly structures could be affected. This paper focuses on an experimental study on the fretting wear behavior of bolted joint interfaces under tangential loading. A recently developed fretting test apparatus was used to measure the hysteresis loops and the bolt preload at different fretting wear cycles. Changes of tangential contact stiffness and friction coefficient were estimated from the measured hysteresis loops. Experimental results showed a large change in bolt preload, contact stiffness, and friction coefficient due to fretting wear. The effect of surface roughness on fretting wear behavior of bolted joint interfaces was discussed. A modified Iwan model, comprehensive of wear effects, was proposed to simulate the hysteresis loops. Comparison between simulations and experimental results was performed to validate the proposed method. Results achieved in this research can provide the basis for the dynamic analysis of long-lasting joint structures in which wear plays a fundamental role in modifying the contact parameters

Tribological Characterization of Electrical Discharge Machined Surfaces for AISI 304L

Surface treatments are normally carried out after machining. Surface treatment is a costly and time-consuming process. Hence, it makes sense to reduce the requirement of surface treatment as much as possible. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a frequently used machining process. EDM produces a recast layer on the surface of machined components. The tribological performance of this recast layer is not very well understood. The properties of the recast layer formed as a result of EDM depend upon the discharge current, electrodes and dielectrics. This work aims to study the effects of each on the tribological performance – in terms of the wear depth, friction coefficient, friction force and contact surface temperature of recast layers. Subsequent improvement in the quality of surfaces will significantly reduce the cost and time required to treat surfaces after machining. Hence, various combinations of discharge current, dielectrics and electrodes have been used to characterize and deduce their effects. The tribo-tests are performed in the boundary lubrication regime under pin-on-disc configuration to analyze sliding friction, contact surface temperature and the wear of the recast layers formed on AISI 304L. The surface morphology of the test pins has been performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) before and after the tests. The results show that indeed it is possible to control the tribological performance of the recast layers by varying EDM parameters. This approach promises to be a useful methodology to improve the tribological performance of the layers formed after EDM and reduce the time and costs required for surface treatments post machining

Modeling of Flexible Bodies for the Study of Control in the Simulink Environment

When studying complex mechatronic systems, it is useful to build models able to simulate both the dynamics of the phenomenon and the control system applied. Typically, the bodies involved are modeled as rigid bodies. In this work, a technique for modeling flexible bodies in Simulink environment is presented. Simulink is a powerful instrument where it is quite easy to integrate control algorithms with complex systems. The solution developed is presented and applied to a machining center. Modern machining centers ensure a level of accuracy that traditional manual machines cannot reach. Simulations of the working process considering vibrations are needed to obtain high precision machining. These simulations aim to determine the error in the position of the tool and to help designers in finding the optimal solution in terms of machining velocity and precision. This work is focused on the carriage of a machine tool moving along horizontal guides, typically named Z-axis. The axis is actuated and borne by a linear motor; therefore, movable constraints must be modeled. A finite-element (FE) model of the carriage was reduced with a Craig-Bampton reduction to provide the mass and stiffness matrices for an in-house Matlab simulation code. The rigid constraints of the carriage were implemented in the model as moving stiffnesses, and their value was set to obtain continuity of the constraints in the discrete model. In the end, a map of different vibrational configurations is proposed to visualize the possible errors that a machining process can generate

A coupled approach to model the effect of wear on the dynamics of bladed disks

This study proposes a technique to predict the effect of wear on the dynamics of structures with contact interfaces and the evolution of contact interface using a coupled static and dynamic multiharmonic balance (MHBM) method. A multiscale approach is implemented, namely slow-scale for wear phenomena and fast-scale for the non-linear dynamic response. The wear is computed using wear energy approach and adaptive wear logic. The technique is applied to a tuned shrouded bladed disk on a single sector using cyclic symmetry property to predict the evolution of wear at the shroud contact interface and the corresponding change in dynamic response