Powder-Filled Rotor Vane Damper for Turbine Vibration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vibration dampers for turbomachine rotor blades, particularly in slow-speed turbines, face challenges in achieving optimal mass for damping resonance while maintaining flexibility and friction efficiency, due to limited space and increased thickness requirements, leading to wear and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A vibration damper comprising a sealed container filled with powder, manufactured by additive manufacturing, which allows for adjustable mass without affecting stiffness, and includes features like hermetic sealing and flexible contact with the platform to adapt to varying geometries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If thicker sheet metal is used to achieve optimal mass for damping resonance in slow-speed turbines, then the damping mass increases, but the flexibility and friction efficiency of the damper deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The damper is divided into two independent components: a flexible structural component (plate or shell) and a separate mass component (powder or granular material). This segmentation allows the structural component to maintain flexibility for good contact with the platform while the mass component provides the required damping mass, resolving the contradiction between mass and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses powder or granular material (analogous to fluid principles) that can be contained within a flexible structure. The powder provides mass while allowing the containing structure to remain flexible and conform to the platform surface, enabling both high mass and good adaptability simultaneously.
2Weight of moving object
If thicker plates are used in reduced spaces between platforms in slow-speed turbines, then the optimal mass is achieved, but the shock absorber's flexibility and adaptation to blade/shock absorber contact deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the mass function (powder component) from the contact function (flexible plate/shell component), the invention enables the contact component to be thin and flexible for good adaptation, while the powder provides the required optimal mass, even in reduced spaces between platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The structural component is designed as a thin, flexible plate or shell that can easily adapt to the platform surface and conform to geometric variations. This flexible structure contains the powder mass while maintaining excellent contact, solving the contradiction between mass and adaptability in constrained spaces.
3Reliability
If the fit between the damper and the platform is improved, then the damping performance increases, but the complexity of achieving precise geometric matching increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible plate or shell structure naturally conforms to the platform surface through elastic deformation, achieving excellent fit and contact without requiring precise geometric matching. This flexibility ensures consistent damping performance while simplifying the manufacturing and assembly process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state of the mass from solid sheet metal to powder or granular material, which allows the containing structure to be flexible rather than rigid. This parameter change enables the damper to adapt to geometric variations, improving contact and damping performance while reducing complexity.
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 powder-filled damper effectively damps vibrations by friction, maintaining flexibility and contact efficiency, even in constrained spaces, thus improving damping performance and reducing wear.
Implementation Method 1
The energy generated by the movement of the blades and vibrating platforms is dissipated by friction between these sheets and the platforms
Implementation Method 2
During their movement, the sheets are pressed against the platforms by centrifugal forces
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~6
Figure 7~9
AI summary
A turbomachine rotor, comprising a disk carrying vanes, each vane comprising a blade linked by a platform to a root, recesses being defined between the platforms of the vanes and the disk, and vibration dampers being mounted in at least some of said recesses, each vibration damper comprising a first structural portion (102) configured to be in contact with a platform of which the vibrations are to be dampened, and a second mass portion (104) configured to carry out a function of damping these vibrations, characterised in that the second mass portion is in the form of a powder and the first structural portion is in the form of a box containing said powder.