Integrally Bladed Disk Vibratory DNA for Blade Failure Prediction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods are inadequate for predicting and preventing vibrational-induced damage and failures in integrally bladed disks (IBDs) due to mistuning and complex vibrational behavior, as they are influenced by manufacturing tolerances, wear, and damage, leading to varying vibrational frequencies among blades.
Innovation Solution
The use of vibratory DNA, characterized by nodal diameter plots and blade frequency ratios, to define the unique vibratory state of IBDs, enabling effective management and prediction of vibrational performance through reduced order modeling and database storage for quality control, repair validation, and virtual engine testing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional vibration monitoring methods are used to detect blade failures, then crack detection capability is provided, but the methods are inadequate for predicting and preventing vibrational-induced damage due to complex vibrational behavior and mistuning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the complex vibrational analysis problem by changing parameters from raw vibration signals to extracted features including natural frequencies, mode shapes, and participation factors. This parameter transformation simplifies the analysis while maintaining prediction accuracy, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational model that acts as a bridge between raw vibration measurements and failure prediction. This model processes complex vibrational data through standardized parameters, serving as a mediator that reduces analysis complexity while preserving the ability to predict blade failures accurately.
2Measurement precision
If detailed vibrational analysis is performed on each blade, then accurate detection of individual blade conditions is achieved, but the analysis becomes computationally intensive and difficult to manage across multiple blades
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the vibrational analysis by assigning unique identification parameters to each blade, allowing individual blade conditions to be tracked through extracted features like natural frequencies and mode shapes. This segmentation enables precise monitoring of each blade while avoiding the need for comprehensive analysis of the entire bladed disk assembly, thus reducing analysis time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified representations (copies) of each blade's vibrational characteristics through extracted parameters such as participation factors and mode shapes. These copied features capture essential blade condition information without requiring full detailed analysis, enabling rapid assessment across multiple blades while maintaining measurement precision.
3Reliability
If manufacturing tolerances and wear are accounted for in vibration analysis, then more accurate blade condition assessment is achieved, but the complexity of distinguishing between normal variations and actual damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses the difficulty of distinguishing normal variations from damage by changing parameters to include statistical measures and tolerance-based thresholds. The extracted features incorporate expected manufacturing variations and wear patterns, allowing the system to differentiate between normal operational variations and actual damage conditions, thus improving reliability without excessively increasing detection difficulty.
Data Source
AI summary
A vibratory DNA is defined which uniquely characterizes the vibratory state of each integrally bladed disk (IBD) of a fleet and devolves the complex vibrational responses of the IBDs into simple metadata which can be stored in a database and manipulated for various fleet health management purposes. Vibratory DNA can be developed from test apparatus vibration data and can be used to assess the acceptability of a manufacturing or repair process. Changes in vibratory DNA resulting from operation of an IBD in a rotary machine are indicative of operationally induced wear or cracking and can be useful when determining a root cause of failure of an IBD. Vibratory DNA may be used with a reduced order model to perform a virtual engine test of an IBD.