Browsing by Subject "Non-synchronous vibration"

This research presents the detailed investigation of coupled-mode flutter and non-synchronous vibration in turbomachinery. Coupled-mode flutter and non-synchronous vibration are two aeromechanical challenges in designing turbomachinery that, when present, can cause engine blade failure. Regarding flutter, current industry design practices calculate the aerodynamic loads on a blade due to a single mode. In response to these design standards, a quasi three-dimensional, reduced-order modeling tool was developed for identifying the aeroelastic conditions that cause multi-mode flutter. This tool predicts the onset of coupled-mode flutter reasonable well for four different configurations, though certain parameters were tuned to agree with experimentation. Additionally, the results of this research indicate that mass ratio, frequency separation, and solidity have an effect on critical rotor speed for flutter. Higher mass-ratio blades require larger rotational velocities before they experience coupled-mode flutter. Similarly, increasing the frequency separation between modes and raising the solidity increases the critical rotor speed. Finally, and most importantly, design guidelines were generated for defining when a multi-mode flutter analysis is required in practical turbomachinery design.

Previous work has shown that industry computational fluid dynamics can approximately predict non-synchronous vibration (NSV), but no real understanding of frequency lock-in and blade limit-cycle amplitude exists. Therefore, to understand the causes of NSV, two different reduced-order modeling approaches were used. The first approach uses a van der Pol oscillator to model a non-linear fluid instability. The van der Pol model is then coupled to a structural degree of freedom. This coupled system exhibits the two chief properties seen in experimental and computational non-synchronous vibration. Under various conditions, the fluid instability and the natural structural frequency will lock-in, causing structural limit-cycle oscillations. This research shows that with proper model-coefficient choices, the frequency range of lock-in can be predicted and the conditions for the worst-case, limit-cycle-oscillation amplitude can be determined. This high-amplitude limit-cycle oscillation is found at an off-resonant condition, i.e., the ratio of the fluid-shedding frequency and the natural-structural frequency is not unity. In practice, low amplitude limit-cycle oscillations are acceptable; this research gives insight into when high-amplitude oscillations may occur and suggests that altering a blade's natural frequency to avoid this resonance can potentially make the response worse.

The second reduced-order model uses proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) methods to first reconstruct, and ultimately predict, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of non-synchronous vibration. Overall, this method was successfully developed and implemented, requiring between two and six POD modes to accurately predict CFD solutions that are experiencing non-synchronous vibration. This POD method was first developed and demonstrated for a transversely-moving, two-dimensional cylinder in cross-flow. Later, the method was used for the prediction of CFD solutions for a two-dimensional compressor blade, and the reconstruction of solutions for a three-dimensional first-stage compressor blade.

This research is the first to offer a van der Pol or proper orthogonal decomposition approach to the reduced-order modeling of non-synchronous vibration in turbomachinery. Modeling non-synchronous vibration is especially challenging because NSV is caused by complicated, unsteady flow dynamics; this initial study helps researchers understand the causes of NSV, and aids in the future development of predictive tools for aeromechanical design engineers.

Non-synchronous vibration (NSV) in turbomachinery is a complex phenomenon of interest that has been studied but not yet fully understood. The interaction between fluid dynamic instabilities and natural vibration of the blades are the main reason NSV occurs. When the natural instability frequency/shedding frequency is close to the natural frequency of the body, the system is locked in, namely the shedding frequency “locks in” to the natural frequency of the body, catastrophic turbine or wing failure can potentially occur. The research done in this thesis report consists of both experimental studies performed on a symmetric NACA0012 airfoil in Duke University Subsonic Wind Tunnel and computational studies using Computational Fluid Dynamics software ANSYS Fluent, under various flow and airfoil motion conditions. Utilizing data acquisition system and LabVIEW control software, pressure data along the upper and lower surfaces of the airfoil were collected in time domain and transformed into frequency domain data with Fast Fourier Transform and analyzed in MATLAB. To understand the underlying flow physics and relationships between unsteady pressure contributed by shedding and natural vibration, the region where the two frequencies are locked in is more accurately identified. A preliminary model to predict the unsteady pressure distribution under lock-in condition from unlocked pressure data is defined. The solitary experiments and computational simulations done on NACA0012 airfoil, and the results found in this thesis provide a better understanding of lock-in condition and its relationship to flow conditions and serve as footstone for future studies on other geometries of interest under various flow conditions. The goal of steady/unsteady pressure analysis as part of the research is to visualize the pressure distribution on the surface of the airfoil in both locked-in and unlocked conditions. From the pressure distribution, the lock-in phenomenon can be better understood, as of when and why it occurs, and ultimately, how to avoid it in real-world operations.