Vibration characteristics of axial compressor blade under complex loads

Abstract

In this study, 3D models of a compressor blade for an aero engine with three different levels of surface accuracy (with 4, 6 and 10 section profiles) were obtained via reverse engineering by fitting point-cloud data. Then, finite element and flow-field models of the blade were established and validated. The vibration characteristics of the blade under typical operating conditions were analyzed by considering the interaction between the aerodynamic load by airflow and the centrifugal load by blade rotating. The results showed that, under complex centrifugal and aerodynamic loads, the three blade models differed significantly in their high-order dynamic frequencies, and the modal frequencies that were dominated by a torsional mode of vibration were sensitive to the aerodynamic load. Hence, considering both the aerodynamic excitation and the centrifugal load increased the accuracy of the numerical computation of the blade vibration characteristics. Moreover, a comparison of the computational results from the three blade models showed that models B6 and B10 differed only insignificantly, and B6 decreased the complexity of the modeling process while satisfying the required computational accuracy. Thus, model B6 is the best option for engineering analysis and computation.