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Prediction and Avoidance of Turbine Blade Fatigue Using a Fluid/Thermal/Structure Interaction Methodology

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA8650-13-M-2403
Agency Tracking Number: F131-162-1492
Amount: $149,699.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: AF131-162
Solicitation Number: 2013.1
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2013
Award Year: 2013
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2013-08-19
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2014-05-20
Small Business Information
5100 Springfield Street Suite 301
Dayton, OH -
United States
DUNS: 782766831
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Sivaram Gogineni
 Sr. Research Engineer
 (937) 266-9570
 spgogineni@gmail.com
Business Contact
 Sivaram Gogineni
Title: President
Phone: (937) 256-7733
Email: sgogineni@spectralenergies.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

ABSTRACT: The drive to increase turbine inlet temperature and overall pressure ratio as well as to reduce turbine weight has led to increases in aerodynamic/thermal loads that can induce flutter and resonance in blades responsible for structural fatigue. In the past, analyses of the unsteady flows that could excite structural failure modes were performed over an array of aerodynamic conditions that encompassed likely disturbance frequencies and inter-blade phase of blade vibrations to obtain a measure of the structural damping response. However, the prescription of vibration modes, non-deforming blades, and lack of circumferential non-uniformities in geometry and thermal effects limited their accuracy. With advances in computer speed, automation, parallelization, and numerical techniques, a direct coupled approach to resonant stress/fatigue analysis is now possible. Our approach is to compute the coupled unsteady fluid, thermal, and structural fields simultaneously at points along the engine operation line and at design and off-design conditions. Airfoils are allowed to deflect under the aerodynamic and thermal loads and can include the effects of thermal coatings as well as film-cooling. The simulations will produce stress and deflection fields as well as a measure of aerodynamic damping that can be used during design to reduce or avoid structural fatigue. BENEFIT: The commercial products foreseen from this SBIR program are physics based analytical tools which would be valuable in providing a means to predict both aerodynamic forcing and aerodynamic damping in relevant geometries via a single high-fidelity calculation. These will help improving the physics-based design systems for turbine-component durability. The proposed analytical and numerical tools are applicable to commercial and military engine manufacturers in order to design airfoils for advanced demonstrator engines. If they are adopted as a standard procedure they could result in reducing the life-cycle costs. The deliverable system at the end of phase II will include software package, experimental database, and comprehensive operating procedures.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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