Viscoelastic Coating for IBR Disk Vibration Mitigation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Integrally bladed rotors (IBRs) experience excessive blade vibration due to low damping, leading to high cycle fatigue and engine damage, as existing vibration mitigation methods like damper rings are ineffective in directly addressing disk vibrations.

Innovation Solution

A vibration mitigation coating is applied directly to the external surface of the IBR disk, with a varying thickness and shape to optimize damping across a specific frequency range, using viscoelastic materials or super-elastic memory alloys, positioned radially from 2/3 to the exterior radius, to effectively dissipate vibratory energy.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a damper ring is used to mitigate vibration, then some vibration damping is achieved, but the damping effect is limited due to size and energy dissipation mechanism constraints

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevibration mitigation effectivenessVSAvoiddamping mechanism complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts the damping function from a separate damper ring component and integrates it directly into the disk structure through a coating applied to the disk surface. This eliminates the need for a separate damper ring while maintaining vibration mitigation functionality, thereby reducing device complexity while improving reliability through more effective damping.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The damping material is merged with the disk surface to form an integrated vibration mitigation system. The coating becomes an integral part of the disk structure, combining the disk's structural function with the damping material's vibration absorption function, thus eliminating the need for separate damping components.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Reliability

If the damping material thickness is increased to improve damping effect, then vibration energy dissipation is enhanced, but the coating weight and material consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedamping capabilityVSAvoidcoating weight

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The damping material is applied with varying thickness across different regions of the disk surface, with thicker coating applied where vibration energy concentration is highest. This localized quality variation optimizes damping capability in critical areas while minimizing overall coating weight and material consumption, resolving the contradiction between damping effectiveness and weight.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Measurement precision

If the damping material is positioned at specific radial locations to target specific frequency ranges, then vibration mitigation precision is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefrequency targeting precisionVSAvoidcoating application complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The invention varies the thickness parameter of the damping material coating across different radial locations to target specific frequency ranges. By controlling the thickness parameter, the coating can be optimized for different vibration frequencies without requiring complex multi-layer structures or precise positioning mechanisms, thus maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving frequency-specific damping.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The coating significantly reduces disk vibrations, preventing high cycle fatigue by targeting and suppressing specific frequency ranges, thereby enhancing the structural integrity and operational efficiency of the IBR.

Implementation Method 1

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectViscoelasticity: Viscoelasticity

Implementation Method 2

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectSuper-elasticity: Pseudoelasticity

Data Source

PatentEP4166756B1Vibration mitigation coating for an integrally bladed rotor and process of vibration mitigation through coating of an integrally bladed rotor

Publication Date: 2024.06.05 RTX CORP

Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 3

AI summary

A vibration mitigation coating for an integrally bladed rotor (60) including a disk (64) including an interior radius (66) proximate an axis (68) and an exterior radius (70) distal from the axis (68), the disk (64) including a substrate (72) with an external surface (74), said external surface (74) extends from the interior radius (66) to the exterior radius (70); and a damping material (76) disposed directly onto the external surface (74) of the substrate.