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Considerations About the Necessary Mesh Density of Bearings in Detailed Finite Element Models
(2014)
In order to predict properly the behavior of very complex mechanical models, much focus needs to be done on the level of model details as well as the techniques used to predict component movements based on mechanical and thermal loads. In particular bearings and joints play a significant role in big model assemblies such as aero-engines where most of the structures are modeled by solid elements rather than using traditional shell or beam elements. This approach is very complex and expensive in terms of computational effort however can lead to increased simulation accuracy when done properly.
This publication will answer questions related to the modeling techniques required for detailed bearings (not only rotor bearings) and joints of an aero-engine application where these components are not idealized or simplified, i.e. the ball in a ball joint is meshed by solid elements. The investigation will discuss the question about the number of elements needed to mesh a ball joint in such a way that a correct rotation is possible. If the mesh is too coarse, a rotation would be impossible due to the faceting of the rotating parts. It will be shown that a proper rotation depends on a correct relation between the radius of the inner ball, the gap size of the bearing and the number of nodes in the circumferential direction. For this relation an analytical formula has been derived and successfully tested at some examples. Furthermore, some finite element codes offer the possibility of smoothed contact surfaces. These options improve the situation but they might cause issues too. For this reason these smoothed contact options are also considered under the aspects mentioned above.
Copyright © 2014 by Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG
The last stage bladed disk of a steam turbine is analyzed with respect to both flutter susceptibility and limitation of forced response. Due to the lack of variable stator vanes unfavorable flow conditions may occur which increases the risk of flutter at part load conditions. For this reason, intentional mistuning is employed with the objective to prevent any self-excited vibrations. A first step in this direction is done by choosing alternate mistuning, which keeps the manufactural efforts in limits. In this sense, two different series of blades have been made. However, small deviations from the design intention are unavoidable due to the manufacturing procedure, which could be proved by bonk tests carried out earlier. The influence of these additional deviations is considered in numerical simulations. Moreover, the strong dependence of blade frequencies on the speed is taken into account since centrifugal stiffening effects significantly attenuate the blade-to-blade frequency difference. Focusing on the first flap mode it could be shown that a mitigation of flutter susceptibility is achieved by prescribing alternate mistuning, which indeed evokes an increase of originally small aerodynamic damping ratios. Nevertheless, the occurrence of negative damping ratios could not be completely precluded at part load conditions. That is why optimization studies are conducted based on genetic algorithms with the objective function of maximizing the lowest aerodynamic damping ratios. Finally, mistuning patterns could be identified featuring a tremendous increase of aerodynamic damping ratios. The robustness of the solutions could be proved by superimposing additional random mistuning.