A Dissertation
Doctor of Philosophy
by
c Copyright by
Paul Mikrut
2012
All Rights Reserved
Abstract
by
Paul Louis Mikrut
The focus of this dissertation is on turbomachinery blade vibration measurements and unsteady fluid-structure interactions. Vibration of turbomachinery
blades are critical to jet engine durability and performance. The combined high
natural frequency of the vibrations and long service life of modern jet engines
can result in high cycle fatigue. There are two main topics discussed in this
dissertation. The first topic of this dissertation is the investigation of unsteady
fluid-structure interactions an isolated compressor blade in transonic flow. This
was preferred as a simpler alternative to a cascade of blades. Note that the
boundary conditions of an single vibrating blade are much simpler than those for
a vibrating cascade, and so a more clear understanding of the fundamental interactions are provided with the simple setup. New insights were obtained regarding
aerodynamic damping and quasi-steady blade vibrations in transonic flow.
The second topic of this dissertation discusses the development and application of a novel blade vibration measurement technique. Accurate blade vibration
measurements are critical in product aero-mechanical design validation and can be
difficult to obtain. This measurement technique, termed Blade Image Velocimetry,
provides an alternative to the current measurement methods which is both easy
ii
CONTENTS
FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TABLES
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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SYMBOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 A review of modern turbomachinery aeroelasticity . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1 Theoretical studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2 Numerical simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3 Experimental aeroelasticity of axial compressors . . . . . .
1.2.3.1 Experimental Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3.2 Experimental Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.4 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3 Background and motivation for the investigation of an isolated compressor blade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4 Background and motivation for the development of a novel blade
vibration measurement technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5 Objectives of this dissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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APPENDIX C: INTEGRAL
C.1 Introduction . . . .
C.2 Approach . . . . .
C.3 Results . . . . . . .
C.4 Conclusions . . . .
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BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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FIGURES
1.1
1.2
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2.1
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2.2
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2.4
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2.5
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2.6
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2.7
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2.8
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2.9
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2.10 Shapes of the two structural modes of the test blade as computed
by FEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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2.15 Sample image and estimated tip velocity for BIV applied to an axial
compressor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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3.1
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3.2
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3.3
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Time series of modal velocity for the first two modes at M = 0.75
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4.11 Time series of modal velocity for first two modes at M = 0.81 . .
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5.1
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6.1
Image of seeded fluid and structure for combined BIV/PIV measurements & computed velocity and vorticity field . . . . . . . . .
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7.1
Image of the rotor blade tip and estimated velocity using the BIV
technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chordwise distribution of error in ensemble-averaged circumferential tip velocity for a shaft speed of 2,886 RPM . . . . . . . . . .
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A comparison of RMS chord-normal fluctuating tip velocity as determined from POD and BIV analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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7.2
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7.6
A comparison of RMS chord-normal fluctuating tip velocity as determined from POD and BIV analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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A.2 Geomtery of airfoil used in exploratory measurements. All dimensions in mm. (a) Isometric view of blade geometry. (b) Blade cross
section at 0 = 0o . indicates camber line, is the approximate
location of the elastic axis for the cross-section. . . . . . . . . . .
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A.3 First two mode shapes of the blade. (a) Mode 1, f 1 = 1150 Hz.
(b) Mode 2, f 2 = 3820 Hz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TABLES
3.1
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7.1
COMPARISON OF RMS AMPLITUDES OF THE POD EIGENMODES AND THE FEM EIGEN-MODES USING THE BIV TECHNIQUE FOR A SHAFT SPEED OF 13,531 RPM NEAR DESIGN
CONDITIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
7.2
COMPARISON OF RMS AMPLITUDES OF THE POD EIGENMODES AND THE FEM EIGEN-MODES USING THE BIV TECHNIQUE FOR A SHAFT SPEED OF 13,531 RPM OPERATING
AT STALLED CONDITIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xi
SYMBOLS
x, y, z
x, r,
r, C, N
t time
f
?
IBPA
Blade chord
Mp
Kp
Cp
xii
Fp
Lp
Modal lift force acting on the blade for the pth mode
Tp
t?n
t?1,2
Fluid velocity
Mach number
C(k)
K1 (k)
K1 (k)+K0 (k)
Kn
H[]
<[]
=[]
2
()
Matrix transpose
xiii
Ensemble of
Ensemble of V
Correlation matrix of V
A
R()
N
xiv
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Aeroelasticity is broadly defined as the interaction between a fluid and a solid
structure. According to Bisplinghoff et al. [11], ...the term aeroelasticity includes phenomena involving interactions among inertial, aerodynamic and elastic forces. This is a multidisciplinary field of engineering which includes solid
mechanics, structural dynamics and unsteady aerodynamics. The aeroelastic response of structures is widely studied in many fields such as Aerospace and Civil
engineering. In the field of Aerospace engineering, there exist three major areas of
aeroelasticity. These include: wing response of aircraft, helicopter rotor response,
and turbomachinery blade response. The focus of this dissertation will be on
dynamic aeroelasticity1 in the context of axial turbomachinery.
Axial turbomachinery can be divided into two types, depending upon whether
the rotor is supplying energy to the gas (compressor, fan) or if the gas is supplying
energy to the rotor (turbine). The discussion will be limited to axial compressors,
where the rotor is supplying energy to the gas. A simplified schematic of the major
components constituting a single stage axial compressor are shown in figure 1.1.
The gas progresses through the machine along the axial direction (x-ordinate).
1
The terms dynamic aeroelasticity and static aeroelasticity are used in reference to the
time-response of the solid structure to the aerodynamic loads.
The gas passes through the inlet guide vanes, which set the incidence angle (angle
of attack) of the rotor blades. Energy is transferred to the flow as it passes
through the rotor blades. The gas is discharged from the rotor to another set
of stators (not pictured) which further condition the flow. Multiple stages of
rotor-stator pairs can exist in a given machine. Lakshminarayana[42] provides a
comprehensive discussion of the current state of knowledge regarding fundamental
turbomachinery flow physics.
The aerodynamic and structural design of compressor blades can result in conflicting requirements. Modern blade designs specify thin blades with large aerodynamic loads. This is done to increase the power-to-weight ratio of the engine,
allowing for more agile combat aircraft or higher payload capacity for civilian
transport and cargo aircraft. These designs can result in flexible blades with
high mechanical stresses. Unsteady aerodynamic loads can induce large stresses
in these blades, and as a result these designs can be susceptible to mechanical
fatigue failure [50]. A detailed knowledge of the aeroelastic interactions within
an axial compressor are therefore essential for accurate estimations of machine
durability.
There are many mechanisms which can result in unsteady blade loads. Figure 1.1(b) summarized a few sources which are found in modern axial compressors. The unsteady loads can be divided based on the fluid-structure coupling.
The categories are weak-coupled and strong-coupled. Weak-coupled loads are
characterized by little to no feedback between the fluid which is inducing the load
and the response of the structure. In contrast, strong-coupled aerodynamic loads
implicitly depend upon the vibration of the blade.
An example of an weak-coupled blade load is the interaction between the rotor
blades and the wakes from the stators. The change in the fluid forces as a rotor
blade translates through a stator wake can be independent of the vibration of the
rotor. The stator wakes cause an unsteady loading of the rotors whose frequency
is proportional to the shaft speed of the machine and the number of stators (the
number of excitations per revolution, N , is referred to as the N th engine order).
Strong vibrations are expected to occur when the loading frequency coincides with
a resonant frequency of a rotor blade. The relationship between the forcing and
resonant blade frequencies as a function of compressor shaft speed are visualized
using a Campbell diagram. An example of a typical Campbell diagram is shown
in figure 1.2. The blade vibrations which occur at these intersections are termed
synchronous vibrations, because they are synchronous with some multiple of
rotor shaft speed.
The prediction of blade vibration due to weak-coupled loads can be straightforward, precisely because the aerodynamic loads can be approximated without
detailed knowledge of the blade vibration. The ease of prediction and intuitive
understanding of the source of these loads allow engineers to modify the compressor design to avoid large blade vibrations (and thus extend the blade fatigue life).
Referring back to the stator-wake rotor blade interaction mentioned previously,
an approach to mitigate aeroelastic resonance is to change the number of stators.
This changes the frequency of aerodynamic loading the rotor blades encounter,
thus avoiding a potentially dangerous blade resonance condition.
Strong-coupled loads result in a system where the aerodynamic excitation is
implicitly dependent upon the motion of the structure. The conditions which
result in this coupling depend on a variety of factors, such as fluid properties,
blade material, flow velocity and blade geometry. An example is unsteady shock
Figure 1.2. Campbell diagram for forced response of a rotor blade from
34 stators. From Japikse and Baines [38].
that the stage can sustain at a fixed mass flow has an upper bound described
by the stall line, whereas the lower limit is described by the surge line. The
operating line describes the locus of flow conditions for which the stage was
designed. It can be seen that there are several distinct regions where flutter is
expected. Note that each flutter region can be described based upon the physics
of the strong-coupled aerodynamic loading. For example, stall-flutter is associated
with an unsteady flow separation over the blade, whereas low-incidence supersonic
flutter is associated with moving shock-waves in between adjacent blades.
Aerodynamic damping can be one of the largest determinants of turbomachine
durability. Modern blade designs have very low structural damping, and so aerodynamic damping can account for a large portion of the total blade damping. A
decrease in aerodynamic damping can result in an increase in vibration amplitude, thus decreasing the fatigue life of the blade. Therefore, it is desirable to
understand the physical causes of aerodynamic damping.
A review of the current work regarding axial-turbomachinery aeroelastic studies will be presented in the following section. This will include a description of
the current knowledge regarding aeroelastic behavior (from both experiment and
simulation) as well as a review of the experimental methods. Following this section will be a description of two research programs that were initiated to address
some deficiencies in both the experimental methods and theory describing the
aerodynamic damping of axial compressor blades.
namics are handled by enforcing the Kutta condition and allowing vorticity to be
shed from the airfoil trailing edge. This is done to account for changes in airfoil
lift associated with the unsteady flow. The blade can be approximated by a flat
plate, however more complex shapes can be accounted for by yet smaller perturbations about this initial unsteady flow (cf. Atassi and Akai [6], Akai and Atassi
[2]). Chapter 8 of Dowell et al. [21] and chapters 2-7 of the AGARD manual [52]
provide a detailed account of theoretical turbomachinery aeroelasticity models.
The structure is typically assumed to be constructed from a linear-elastic solid
with homogeneous, isotropic material properties. The structural dynamics are
usually found using a Rayleigh-Ritz approach. In general, the blades are assumed
to have negligible structural damping, such that the stability of the system depends upon the unsteady aerodynamics. Chapters 2-4 of Bisplinghoff et al [11]
present a comprehensive review of these approaches for single wings and blades
while chapters 13-15 of the AGARD manual [53] give an advanced discussion of
theoretical structural dynamics in the context of axial turbomachinery. The coupling between the unsteady aerodynamics and structure dynamics is accomplished
by LaGranges equation. The generalized coordinates are typically associated with
the structure, whereas the generalized forces/moments are associated with the unsteady aerodynamics. Chapter 19 of the AGARD manual [53] provides a detailed
discussion regarding the formulation of the aeroelastic equations of motion for
axial turbomachinery models of varying sophistication.
One of the main objectives of a theoretical analysis of a given compressor design
is to assess the stability of the aeroelastic system. This can be done by assuming
a set of blade vibration mode shapes (as determined from the Rayleigh-Ritz approach above). The effect of forced excitation is neglected, and an eigen-analysis
10
is performed. The eigen-values of the system correspond with the frequency and
total damping of a given vibration mode, and typically vary with mode shape and
fluid properties (density, pressure, velocity, Mach number, etc.). It is useful to
examine the factors which tend to reduce blade aerodynamic damping and lead
to flutter.
The reduced frequency, defined as
f c
,
U
(1.1)
is the ratio between the period of time required for a fluid particle to advect over
1/2 of the blade chord to the period of blade vibration. Here f is the frequency of
vibration (in Hz), c the chord of the blade and U is the free-stream fluid velocity.
The reduced frequency plays an important role in determining the stability of the
compressor blade vibrations. Flutter tends to occur at low reduced frequencies
(O(0.1)). Within the range of 102 ? 1, the unsteady aerodynamic loads
have a component which is in phase with the blade vibration velocity. As a result,
there is a significant energy exchange from the flow to the structure within this
reduced frequency range.
The interblade phase angle (IBPA) can also influence system stability. Recall
that the IBPA describes the relative phase difference in vibration between adjacent
blades. The flow disturbance associated with the adjacent blade motion induces an
unsteady load with a similar phase lag. The IBPA can vary from 0 to 2 radians in
discrete angles only (due to the discrete number of blades). As a result, for every
IBPA for which the induced loads contribute to the stability of the blade motion
there is a corresponding IBPA where the loads are destabilizing. In practice, it is
difficult to specify the IBPA of a rotor a priori. Therefore, the total damping for
11
the individual blade must be sufficiently large to accommodate the induced loads
due to adjacent blades at the least stable IBPA (cf. Chapter 19 of [53]).
There is a fundamental dependence on the type of structural motion: plunging
motions (translation normal to the blade chord) are typically more stable in low
speed flow than pitching (rotation of the blade) motions. That having been said,
the effect of a non-zero static imbalance2 can either enhance or reduce system
stability[2]. Finally, there are fundamental changes in the aeroelastic stability of
the cascade as the Mach number increases[62], [27]. Specifically, the presence and
motion of shock waves on the surface of the blade can be destabilizing for blade
motion which would otherwise be stable for subsonic flow.
A disadvantage of theoretical aeroelastic studies is the linearization of the fluid
dynamics. This approach is incapable of capturing strong nonlinearities such as
boundary layer separation (including airfoil stall and shock-induced). Numerical
simulations have been developed over the last four decades to address these shortcomings. A summary of the general approach as well as a few studies will be
presented in the next section.
The chordwise separation between the center of gravity and the elastic axis
12
13
14
15
16
nings [9]). The sensors are characterized by their small size and high frequency
response. They are typically recessed into the surface of the compressor blades
so as to mimic the original aerodynamics. The advantage of this approach is
that a direct measurement of unsteady pressure distribution can be obtained in
a time-resolved manner. However, there are a number of disadvantages. Spatial
resolution of the unsteady blade surface pressure is limited by the physical size of
the pressure transducer/pressure taps. The information available only characterizes the behavior of the flow in the vicinity of the blade surface. Although this
is useful in predicting aeroelastic stability, it may not yield much insight into the
source of the surface pressure fluctuations. The application of surface mounted
pressure transducers to rotating structures requires that both power and data
be transmitted between a stationary data acquisition system and the rotating
sensors. Traditionally, this is accomplished through slip-rings, although wireless
approaches are becoming more popular. Finally, the installation of these sensors
on a flexible blade can alter the structural dynamics. This can influence the measured unsteady pressure distribution, especially for self-excited blade vibration.
Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is a minimally-intrusive measurement technique that can be used to estimate fluid velocity [54]. The technique utilizes a
specialized CCD camera and a laser to estimate the displacement of particles dispersed in the fluid flow. The displacement of the particles between two images
acquired by the CCD camera divided by the time lag between the first and second image yields an estimate of the flow velocity. The spatial extent over which
fluid velocity estimates are obtained and the spatial resolution, depend upon the
resolution of the CCD camera and associated lens. This technique has been used
to successfully characterize the quasi-steady axial compressor flow environment
17
(cf. Wernet [64], Gorrell and Copenhaver [29] and chapter 14 of [60]), primarily
because of its ability to acquire a large amount of flow velocity information in a
non-intrusive manner with minimal equipment (in most cases the only sensor to
be calibrated is the CCD camera). Despite these advantages PIV has not been
widely integrated into axial compressor aeroelastic studies due to challenges associated with optical access and high equipment costs. Chapter six will present a
method which allows for the acquisition of simultaneous fluid and structure velocity estimation using a conventional single camera PIV system. Chapter three will
also use PIV to estimate the fluid static pressure due to a vibrating compressor
blade.
There are few techniques available for the characterization of the structural
dynamics of axial compressors. The review article of Al-Bedoor [3] provides a
survey of the current technology applied to blade vibration measurement. The
most common direct measurement technology is the strain gage. The sensors
can be recessed to preserve the aerodynamic shape of the blade. Few sensors
are necessary to deduce the entire motion of the blade. This technology remains
attractive because it represents the most reliable approach to obtaining accurate,
time-resolved measurements of the blade motion. The drawbacks of this approach
are similar to those found with the surface pressure measurements. Specifically,
the transmission of power and data between the rotating sensor and stationary
data acquisition system is not trivial. In addition, the machining required to
recess the gages to be flush with the surface of the blade can change the structural
dynamics.
Blade Tip Timing (BTT) is a non-contact structural vibration measurement
technology which has gained popularity over the last 40 years. Heath and Imregun
18
[33] and Lawson and Ivey [43] provide a detailed description of this measurement
technique. The concept of measurement will be summarized briefly. A set of
proximity sensors are installed into the outer casing in a circumferential pattern.
The proximity sensors can either be capacitive [43] or optical [66]. The sensors
are installed such that they detect when a blade tip passes by the sensor location.
The average time required for a blade tip to move from one sensor location to
another is known by the shaft speed of the rotor, the radius of the rotor at the tip
and the circumferential distance between the two sensors. Any deviations from
this average time indicates blade motion with respect to the hub. The advantage
of this method over conventional strain gages is that the rotor does not need to
be modified and installation only requires a few holes to be drilled in the outer
casing. The output from this measurement system is a time-series of blade tip
displacement. The sampling frequency of the method depends on the shaft speed
of the compressor and the circumferential separation of the sensors. The sampling
frequency is typically much lower than the frequency of blade vibration, and as
a result modes are distinguished by observing their aliased frequencies [66]. One
unique issue with this measurement system is the difficulty in obtaining amplitude
and frequency estimates when the blade vibration frequency is an integer multiple
of the shaft speed (a condition known as synchronous resonance). Data processing
algorithms based on linear regression principles have been proposed to overcome
this limitation [34], [25]. The accuracy of the vibration amplitude measurement
can be comparable to strain-gage measurements under controlled circumstances
[43]. However, the presence of noise as well as the assumptions used in data
processing can reduce the accuracy substantially [17], [43].
19
20
This investigation was concerned with the effects of reduced frequency, inlet Mach
number and interblade phase angle on the unsteady aerodynamic forces observed
on the blades. In contrast to the study by Stargardter, Kobayashi was concerned
with the physics of supersonic unstalled torsional flutter, a condition which is
characterized by high operating speed and low compressor backpressure (region
III of figure 1.3). A common feature of this system is the presence of a shock
whose chordwise position along the suction side of the blade oscillates in time.
The mean location of this oscillating shock was aft of the torsional axis of rotation. Measurements of unsteady surface pressure indicated that the suction side
downstream of this axis and the pressure side upstream of this axis were responsible for the unsteady forcing, whereas the rest of the airfoil surface had a damping
effect on the vibration. Changes in the reduced frequency of the airfoil oscillations
significantly affected the aerodynamic forcing on the suction surface. Increasing
the reduced frequency increased the stability of the aeroelastic system. This was
attributed to a decrease in the magnitude of the shock oscillations associated with
high frequency pitching oscillations.
Buffum et al. [14] also studied the stability of torsional oscillations of a cascade.
However, the inlet Mach number was much lower than the previous two studies
(M = 0.5). The effect of mean incidence angle were investigated for a constant
interblade phase angle of 180o . There was a region of separated flow extending
from the leading edge to about 30% chord along the suction side of the blades.
This flow separation resulted in strong aerodynamic forcing of the blades. The
largest contribution to the unstable forcing occurred within the separation region
near the leading edge. In contrast, a stabilizing forcing was observed in the region
where the flow reattached. The effect of increasing the reduced frequency was to
21
magnify the forcing. In general, this caused a decrease in cascade stability. This
study indicated that the unsteady flow associated with the initial separation point
can have a strong destabilizing effect.
Srinivasan [58] presented a review of many turbomachinery aeroelasticity case
studies. Similar to the work of Stargardter, the emphasis was on the complete
aeroelastic system in the context of industrial design. There are a few mechanisms
associated with the structural dynamics which may contribute to the self-limiting
behavior of compressor blades. The first was the disk mistuning, whereby the
frequencies of vibration of adjacent blades for a vibration mode are not identical.
If done correctly, the intentional mistuning of a rotor can increase the stability
of the system. The overall effect is to decrease the influence of the interblade
phase angle on the aeroelastic stability of the blade vibrations. It should be
noted that optimal mistuning will yield a rotor whose stability is governed by the
stability of the individual blades. However, mistuning can result in inordinately
large vibrations due to forced response. External sources of damping can be an
important source of energy dissipation for optimally mistuned rotors under forced
excitation.
Belz and Hennings [9] studied the effect of reduced frequency on the stability of
torsional oscillations in a transonic annular cascade. The investigation considered
two flow conditions which resulted in substantially different shock structures. A
transonic reference case had a passage shock which extended from the leading
edge of the pressure side to between 25% and 35% chord on the suction side. The
flutter case, in which the inlet Mach number was increased slightly, resulted in a
passage shock at 25%-35% chord on the pressure side and 65%-85% chord on the
suction side. In both cases, the shocks were observed to be both stabilizing and
22
destabilizing, depending on the interblade phase angle and the surface of the airfoil
on which they acted. The shock had a stabilizing influence on the pressure side but
a slight destabilizing influence on the suction side for the transonic reference case.
Note that the blade vibrations at these conditions were stable. In contrast, the
intersection of the shock on the suction side for the flutter case was consistently
responsible for the destabilization of the cascade. This configuration was most
unstable when the interblade phase angle was around 90 .
1.2.4 Review
The current design trends for axial compressors can result in blade designs
which experience flow-induced vibrations. These vibrations can lead to a reduction in the fatigue life of the blades, which can shorten the service life of the
engine. The aerodynamic loads associated with these vibrations can be classified
as either weak-coupled or strong-coupled with respect to the blade motion. Weakcoupled aerodynamic loads are not significantly influenced by the blade motion,
and potential vibration issues can be addressed relatively easily. Strong-coupled
aerodynamic loads implicitly depend on the motion of the blade, and can either
attenuate or amplify blade vibrations. The rate at which the blade vibration
amplitude grows or decays is described by the total damping, which is a combination of the structural damping and the aerodynamic damping associated with
the strong-coupled aerodynamic loads. Modern axial compressor rotors tend to
have very little structural damping, so aerodynamic damping can constitute most
of the total blade damping. Changes in aerodynamic damping can profoundly
influence the blade structural dynamics, which in turn effects the durability of the
compressor.
23
The literature review presented here demonstrates that although the current
state of knowledge regarding axial compressor aeroelasticity has improved dramatically over the last 70 years, the current tools used for predicting and measuring
the unsteady aerodynamic loads and resulting blade response in axial turbomachinery can be improved. The focus of the work described in this dissertation
was on the improvement of blade vibration measurements, and the investigation
of the fundamental fluid-structure interactions for an axial compressor blade. A
brief introduction to the experiments that were conducted, as well as a review of
the relevant literature associated with each will be presented.
24
most of the energy which is being transferred to the blade from the forcing is
dissipated as heat rather than used to nucleate and grow cracks in the structure.
The sources of the unsteady aerodynamic loads acting on the blade can be
characterized as either external or self-induced. External sources, such as wakes
from stators upstream of the rotor blades, are well understood and their effects
can be predicted using fairly simple models. Self-induced sources are typically
characterized by a feedback between the flexible blade and the unsteady aerodynamics. As a result, these sources are more difficult to model and their effects are
not as well understood. The response of the blade due to these sources will be
termed the natural response. The fatigue life of the blades can be dependent
upon the natural response. Therefore, it is important to characterize the natural
response and understand the unsteady forces associated with it.
A characteristic of modern axial compressor design are blades with extremely
low structural damping. Typical compressor blades can have a structural damping
ratio well under 1% of the critical damping ratio [53], [58], [40]. In contrast, blade
damping due to unsteady aerodynamic loads (aerodynamic damping) can vary by
a few percent. As a result, aerodynamic damping can have a large contribution
to total blade damping, and thus can play an important role in the fatigue life of
the rotor.
Aerodynamic damping results from unsteady fluid-structure interactions where
the induced aerodynamic loads are strongly coupled to the blade vibration. These
loads and the resulting aerodynamic damping can vary with blade geometry, local
flow conditions and vibration mode shape. The methods used for predicting these
unsteady loads can be categorized based upon the computational approach. The
methods are theoretical calculations and numerical simulations.
25
Theoretical calculations simplify the equations of motion by a-priori assumptions regarding the dynamics of the fluid and blade. The result is a description of
the unsteady aerodynamic loads using few equations. The review article by Atassi
[5] presents a summary of modern aeroelastic theory. The general approach can be
described as follows. The fluid dynamics are linearized about the mean flow. The
unsteady aerodynamic loads are estimated by assuming harmonic blade vibration.
The flow is assumed to be well-behaved (no boundary layer separations), inviscid
and that the Kutta condition is satisfied (flow stagnation point is at the apex of
trailing edge). The aerodynamic damping is estimated from the phase difference
between the unsteady load and the blade displacement, as well as the mechanical
properties of the blade and the magnitude of the unsteady forces.
Numerical simulations have gained in popularity over the last 30 years due to
the proliferation of cheap and powerful computers. This approach discretizes the
problem and numerically solves the equations of motion that describe the system.
Increasing computational power has allowed for sophisticated simulations which
do not require as many simplifying assumptions to describe the unsteady fluidstructure interaction. As a result, numerical simulations can predict the unsteady
loads for flows which have strong non-linearities, such as shocks and boundary
layer separations. Note however that given the constraints of finite computation
time and processing power, only approximate solutions can be obtained on a routine basis. Guidance from theory, experiment or experience must be incorporated
with these simulations to provide a complete understanding of the interactions.
A set of experiments were designed to explore the fundamental fluid-structure
interactions of a typical compressor blade at high incidence angle. The experiments were performed using an isolated, cantilevered blade with an end-wall
26
exposed to a two sided compressible jet. Note that real compressors have adjacent
blades which influence the flow field. The objective for this set of experiments was
to investigate the fundamental physics, and so an isolated compressor blade offered very simple boundary conditions which allowed for a direct interpretation
of the results. A major obstacle in the prediction of aerodynamic damping is the
accurate description of these fundamental mechanisms, especially for transonic
flows. The motivation of this work was to provide further understanding of the
dynamics of an isolated compressor blade such that these fundamental models
may be refined.
A key feature of this experimental setup was the cantilevered blade, which
more closely reproduced the structural dynamics of a typical rotor blade. In
contrast, other studies such as Kobayashi [41], Belz and Hennings [9] and Buffem
et al. [14] prescribed a known motion profile to an airfoil. The prescribed motion
profile, while useful in determining the fundamental physics of a vibrating airfoil,
can greatly suppress the feedback which is critical to the blades natural response.
A more accurate estimate of the dynamics of a flexible rotor blade was obtained
by using a cantilevered blade that was allowed to vibrate freely.
The aerodynamic damping for this series of experiments was directly evaluated
by observation of the blade response to a mechanical impulse. The experiment was
set up in such a way as to allow for the mechanical impulse to be applied without
significant distortion of the flow field. Previous studies relied upon phase differences between the unsteady aerodynamic forces and the prescribed airfoil motion
to deduce the aerodynamic damping. The author knows of no prior study which
has utilized the impulse-response approach to characterize aerodynamic damping.
Consequently, the results of these experiments will provide a new perspective on
27
1.4 Background and motivation for the development of a novel blade vibration
measurement technique
Modern turbomachinery operate in a complex aeromechanical environment
that leads to unique challenges for blade vibration measurements. These measurements are intended to characterize the dynamics of a system where the structure
has low mass, low internal damping, and is rotating at high speed in an unsteady
aerodynamic environment. Traditional measurement techniques either require a
large investment in experiment design and implementation (strain gages) or yield
28
ambiguous results. A novel measurement technique which utilizes a digital camera and laser system, similar to the equipment used for PIV measurements, to
deduce blade vibration from observations of the tip motion. A brief review of
other non-contact structural vibration measurement techniques will be presented.
There are several other non-contact structural vibration measurement techniques which have been applied to non-rotating structures. Laser Doppler Vibrometry (LDV) [8], [19] and fiber optic interferometry [20], [4] do not influence
the dynamics of the system, and can be scanned in order to obtain the spatial
information that is required to estimate the amplitude of various eigenmodes of
the vibration. These methods are not well suited for measurements on rotating
structures given that they yield information at a small number of spatial locations only when there is a clear line of sight between the sensor and the structure.
The accurate determination of three-dimensional structural motion using these
data can be difficult. Harris and Piersol [32] provide a review of various vibration
measurement techniques.
Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a general technique that utilizes two successive images of a structure or flow field in order to estimate displacement. The
method often partitions the image into interrogation zones for which a spatial
correlation algorithm is applied. This results in a two-component displacement
vector in the plane of the image at each interrogation zone. The displacement is
related to the velocity field by the time difference between the images [54]. The
implementation of DIC for both static and dynamic strain measurements has been
reviewed by Hild and Roux [35].
Photogrammetry is another non-contact measurement technique which estimates structural displacement from images. The similar technique, Videogram-
29
30
data. Gomes and Lienhart [28] also utilized PIV equipment to measure structural
velocity. Their objective was to obtain a set of high fidelity measurements for
aeroelastic code validation. The structural velocity measurement was similar to
that employed by Breuer et al. In both cases, the features used in the correlation
algorithms were generated from the intersection of the laser light sheet and a solid
surface.
The main difference between the non-contact vibration techniques discussed
and the present BIV measurements is the application of a small paint dots to
the structure in order to mimic the seeding images that are typically found in
conventional PIV measurements. This allowed standard correlation algorithms to
be employed in order to determine the structural velocity. There are a number
of advantages to this approach. First, the BIV provides a spatial distribution
of structural and fluid velocity simultaneously (in a plane). Secondly, the PIV
algorithms are convenient to use and provide an extremely accurate estimate of
the true structural velocity. These measurements were acquired at a relatively
low temporal frequency, and so the technique is fundamentally different from point
measurements of strain or vibration velocity where high frequency time series data
are recorded. However, the measured spatial distribution of structural position
and velocity allows for the determination of the instantaneous amplitude of the
vibration modes when a priori knowledge of the the three-dimensional eigen-mode
shapes is available.
BIV and BTT both use velocity measurements at the tip to infer blade vibration. However, there are several important differences between BIV and BTT.
First, estimates of the blade tip velocity are acquired along the entire chord at the
blade tip. This allows for the discrimination of different modes of vibration based
31
upon the velocity distribution at the tip and thus avoids the need to rely upon the
aliased frequencies of vibration. The high spatial resolution afforded by BIV also
provides more estimates of the blade tip velocity. These estimates are statistically
independent from one another and can be used to minimize the influence of noise
on the velocity estimates.
A description of the experimental setup used to validate the BIV technique will
be presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 6 will focus on the development of the BIV
technique through several bench-top experiments. A discussion of the theory and
uncertainty analysis of the technique will be provided. Chapter 7 will discuss the
application of BIV to a high speed axial compressor rotor. A second validation will
be presented to verify the techniques applicability to rotating structures. This
will be followed by a discussion of the measured blade vibration at two compressor
operating conditions near the design shaft speed of 15,000 RPM.
32
33
CHAPTER 2
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND DATA PROCESSING
2.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the experimental setups and data processing approaches
used in this dissertation. The chapter is divided into two sections. The first
section discusses the equipment and data processing algorithms used to investigate
the fluid-structure interactions of an isolated compressor blade in a high speed
jet. Two sets of experiments were performed. The first used Particle Image
Velocimetry to quantify the flow about the blade at mid-span and at several
Mach numbers and angles of attack. The second set of experiments used a Laser
Doppler Vibrometer to acquire time-resolved blade vibration measurements.
The second section discusses the experimental setup and data processing used
in the development and validation of the BIV technique. Three sets of experiments
were performed. The first experiment used a PIV system to acquire simultaneous
fluid and structure velocity measurements to motivate a unique capability of the
BIV technique. The second experiment was a bench-top validation of the measurement technique. The third experiment applied BIV to the rotor blades of a
single stage axial compressor.
34
35
number. The test section had two walls. The first consisted of an aluminum plate
bolted to a rigid structure and acted as a stiff base. The blade (shown in green)
was bolted to this wall as a cantilever. The second wall was a clear acrylic plate
with a nominal thickness of 12.7 mm. The plate was installed to reduce finite-span
effects such that the flow over the blade was nominally 2D. The plate was secured
to a fixture extending from the nozzle exit (not shown) and to the aluminum plate
using struts located downstream of the blade.
A contoured hole was cut in the plate to allow for a reduced cross-section
of the blade to extend out beyond the test section. This portion of the blade,
referred to as the handle, was used to apply a mechanical impulse to the blade.
A mechatronic hammer was used to apply a repeatable mechanical impulse to the
blade handle. Figure 2.2 (b) shows the mechatronic hammer installed in the test
36
(a)
(b)
37
0.3
Velocity [m/s]
0.2
0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0
10
10
15
20
25
15
20
25
0.01
0.008
0.006
0.004
0.002
0
Time [ms]
38
10
8
6
Z [mm]
4
2
0
2
4
6
8
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
X [mm]
camber line at the leading and trailing edges relative to the x-axis were 4 and 4
respectively. The airfoil geometry was consistent with a subsonic, low pressure,
low solidity compressor. The cross-section shown in figure 2.4 was held constant
over a 54 mm span. The handle section was formed by extending a reduced airfoil
profile, corresponding to between 25% and 50% chord, an additional 25 mm.
The first two eigen-modes of vibration are shown in figure 2.5. The eigenmodes were calculated using ANSYS 12.0. It can be seen that the first eigenmode corresponds with a bending-type vibration, whereas the second mode wa a
torsion-type vibration. Note also that the frequency of the second eigen-mode was
higher than the first eigen-mode by a factor of 4.4. The mode-shapes and natural
frequencies of the first ten eigen-modes can be found in appendix 1. The first two
modes will be referred to as bending and torsion respectively.
The instrumentation used in this series of experiments consisted of the following. A pressure transducer and k-type thermocouple were installed downstream of
the screens shown in figure 2.1. The pressure transducer was installed to measure
39
(a)
(b)
||
0.3
Z [mm]
10
0.25
0.2
10
0.15
50
40
30
0.1
20
10
20
0
10
Y [mm]
0
20
20
X [mm]
0.05
Figure 2.5. First two eigen-modes of the blade. (a) Mode 1, f1 = 349
Hz; (b) Mode 2, f2 = 1540 Hz.
the differential static pressure between the nozzle inlet and exit, whereas the thermocouple provided a temperature measurement at the nozzle inlet. Measurements
of atmospheric pressure were obtained from a mercury barometer. The nozzle exit
Mach number, velocity and temperature were calculated by assuming isentropic
flow and the relations
"
A1
M1 1 +
=
A2
M2 1 +
1
M22
2
1
M12
2
+1
# 2(1)
(2.1)
and
"
1+
P1
=
P2
1+
1
M22
2
1
M12
2
# 1
(2.2)
These relations provide a unique estimate of the nozzle exit Mach number when
the upstream Mach number is less than 1.
Blade vibration was measured using a commercial Laser Doppler Vibrometer
(LDV) with a typical accuracy of 20 m/s. The beam was focused on the handle
40
section of the blade. The blade vibration was quantified by estimating the modal
amplitude. The instantaneous velocity of the blade surface was filtered to isolate
the mode of interest, and then a conversion factor based upon the mode shape
was applied to obtain the modal amplitude from the surface velocity.
41
42
the chord-normal direction. The vectors which deviated by more than 3 standard
deviations from their immediate neighbors were discarded.
The four vector fields, two for each camera, were then stitched together to
form a composite fluid velocity field. The velocity field had a spatial resolution of
approximately 4 vectors per mm and a field of view of 8080 mm. The accuracy of
the velocity measurements was approximately 1% of the freestream fluid velocity.
The PIV system was synchronized to the impact hammer and measurements
were phase-averaged to re-construct the first bending response. This measurement approach was used because it provided a well-defined reference point. This
reference point allowed for the investigation of the flow field as it evolved with
the unsteady vibration of the blade, and may provide insight into the dynamic
fluid-structure interactions.
The bending response was isolated by aligning the tip of the impactor with the
mid-chord line of the blade. Note that the mid-chord location was near a nodal
line for the torsion eigen-mode, and so it was expected that the response would be
primarily due to bending. Approximately 1500 vector fields were phase averaged
about the first 1.5 cycles of vibration after the mechanical impulse was applied.
Twelve evenly spaced points were used for the subsonic tests cases and 24 points
were used for the transonic tests cases. The number of points was increased for
the transonic test cases because of the large response observed for first torsion at
these conditions. The resulting time series could be used to estimate the unsteady
lift and identify key features associated with the impulse response.
43
1
p (t) =
p (xm , ym ) ap
v(xm , ym , )
t
ap
ap =
d,
(2.3)
fc fs
fp
(2.4)
44
instead of the real valued signal is that accurate estimates of the instantaneous
amplitude and phase may be obtained.
Figure 2.6 presents a graphical summary of how the measured blade surface was
decomposed into modal velocities to estimate the modal damping ratio.
v [m/s]
0.5
0
0.5
1 [m/s]
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0.5
0
0.5
2 [m/s]
0
0.5
0
0.5
0
Time [ms]
The magnitude of H [p (t)] provides a good estimate of the variation in the signals
envelope with time. The frequency of the signal may be estimated from the
45
= [H [p (t)]]
< [H [p (t)]]
(2.5)
where =[] and <[] select the real and imaginary component of the signal. The
modal damping ratio may be estimated by
2f
d
log (|H [p (t)] |)
dt
(2.6)
If the magnitude of the modal velocity had an exponential decay rate, then
equations 2.5 2.6 should be constant. This assumption was used for the estimate of all damping ratios reported. Note that a linear curve fit was applied to
tan1 (= [H [p (t)]] /< [H [p (t)]]) and log (|H [p (t)] |) to provide accurate estimates
of the natural frequencies and damping ratios.
46
is shown in Figure 2.7. The model shown is a cantilevered beam which nominally
represents a generic axial compressor blade geometry. The 6061-T6 aluminum
plate had a thickness of 0.50 mm, a chord of 78 mm, and a span of 189 mm. The
plate was positioned in the test section of an open jet wind tunnel at a nominal angle of 20o relative to the incoming flow. The free-stream fluid velocity was 12 m/s.
This resulted in large amplitude oscillations of the plate. The frequency of oscillation was obtained from a conventional Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) system,
and was found to be 53 Hz. The reduced frequency, defined by ? = f c/(U ),
was 1.08 where c is the chord length, f is the frequency of oscillation, and U is
the free stream velocity. The CCD camera field of view was 84 84 mm resulting in a spatial resolution of 24.3 pixels/mm. The camera was calibrated using a
standard PIV calibration plate using a 3rd order polynomial fit with an RMS of
0.08 pixel.
The coordinate system is defined by the x, y and z vector directions that are
oriented in the chord-wise, span-wise and blade normal directions, respectively. A
dual-cavity Nd:YAG laser light source was focused into a 1 mm thick light sheet
in order to illuminate the fluid plane of interest. The sheet was oriented at a
small angle relative to the tip plane such that the tip was illuminated. Note that
if the camera can not focus on the fluid plane of interest and the blade tip at the
same time, a two-camera system would need to be employed. A random pattern
of matte white paint dots were applied to the tip of the cantilevered beam.
This pattern was designed to mimic that of a seeded flow typical of conventional
PIV so that the same vector calculation algorithms could be employed without
modification. The CCD camera was synchronized to the laser trigger to obtain two
consecutive images of the vibrating blade and seed particles in the fluid. Image
47
All images were processed using LaVisions DaVis software suite. The images
were first filtered using a Sobel edge detection filter. Local intensity fluctuations were minimized using a sliding background subtraction algorithm. The BIV
calculation consisted of a three iteration multipass approach using progressively
smaller square windows. The interrogation windows used on the first pass were
64 64 pixels in size weighted with an axisymmetric Gaussian weighting function
(the weighting function had no preferential direction with respect to the image).
The overlap between interrogation windows was 50%. The last two passes utilized 32 32 pixel windows with an axisymmetric Gaussian weighting function
and a Whittaker image reconstruction on the final pass. This resulted in a vector
resolution of 1.5 vectors/mm.
Vector validation allowed a maximum vector velocity that was set to 3 times
48
greater than the maximum anticipated tip velocity and a minimum correlation
peak ratio (for a given window, the ratio of the highest correlation peak had to
be at least 1.3 times greater than the second highest correlation peak). Lastly, a
median filter (velocity vectors which deviate by more than 2 standard deviations
of their neighbors were rejected) and a single smoothing operation were applied.
For a brief introduction to these processing operations, the reader is referred to
chapters 5 and 6 in Raffel et al. [54].
49
12.7
3o
3.17
LDV measurement point
50.8
z
x
Figure 2.9. Sketch of the blade cross section geometry (not to scale). All
dimensions in mm. The cross section was constant across the 115.6 mm
span.
50
Normalized Velocity
(a)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
0
20
40
60
50
80
100
y [mm]
x [mm]
Normalized Velocity
(b)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
0
20
40
60
50
80
y [mm]
100
0
x [mm]
Figure 2.10. Shapes of the two structural modes of the test blade as
computed by FEM. Shapes are exaggerated for clarity. (a) First torsion
mode of the model, [f ]1 = 782.4 Hz; (b) Second bending mode of the
model, [f ]2 = 959.4 Hz.
the LDV velocity measurement was 20 m/s. The single point LDV was positioned
near the blade tip.
The accuracy of the structural velocity measurements was evaluated experimentally. Velocity measurements obtained from BIV were spatially averaged in
the vicinity of the LDV measurement point. The LDV measurements were time
averaged over the 200s required to obtain two BIV images. Only the first mode
51
est. The experimentally measured error in the estimation of modal amplitude was
defined by
r h i
q
2 2 2 [ 2 ]p
p
r h i
,
[E ]p
2
2
(2.7)
r h i
where 2 2 is the amplitude of the pth mode as measured by the LDV and
p
q
2 [ 2 ]p the amplitude of the pth mode as measured by the BIV technique.
The beam was harmonically forced only at first torsion at two different amplitudes to demonstrate the interaction of the two types of error. The time between
the two images, denoted by t, was varied among different tests to vary the
influence of the random and bias errors on the measured amplitude of vibration.
52
53
limits of the BIV technique on a high-speed rotor since at design conditions the
blades could be considered nearly rigid.
The first three eigen-modes of the blades and their associated frequencies
are shown in the left column of figure 2.13. The tip mode shapes, , are also
shown in the right column of figure 2.13. The eigen-modes were calculated using
ANSYS 12.0. Note that the complete eigen-modes are highly three-dimensional,
which results in a set of nearly orthogonal tip modes.
A schematic of the experimental setup is shown in figure 2.14. The BIV
system utilized hardware common to a typical, two-camera, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system [54]. The cameras (FlowMaster 2S, 2048 x 2048 pixel
CCD) were focused on rotor tip through a casing window. The field of view of
54
(a)
0
10
RT [mm]
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
30
40
30
40
X [mm]
(b)
0
10
RT [mm]
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
X [mm]
(c)
0
10
RT [mm]
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
X [mm]
Figure 2.13. First three eigen-modes of the rotor blade. (a) [f ]1 = 2, 148
Hz; (b) [f ]2 = 2, 698 Hz; (c) [f ]3 = 4, 025 Hz.
55
the cameras was 65 120 mm with a spatial resolution of 29.5m/pixel. The field
of view for both cameras overlapped by 100 pixels and the images were used
to form a composite view of the blade tip. The cameras were calibrated using
a printed calibration plate which conformed to the inner casing window. The
spatial calibration mapped the camera images to a uniform grid in the axial and
circumferential directions. A 3rd order polynomial fit was used to calibrate the
cameras.
The cameras were operated in double-frame double-exposure mode, where
a pair of images were acquired with the blade illuminated once per image. This
recording approach is typically used in PIV to provide an unambiguous estimate
of particle direction and velocity. Single-frame, double exposure (SFDE) was also
used successfully since the mean blade motion eliminated directional ambiguity.
A detailed description of these recording approaches can be found in Raffel et al.
[54].
The blade tip was illuminated using a dual cavity Nd:YAG PIV laser (New
56
(b)
0
10
10
20
20
30
30
RT [mm]
RT [mm]
(a)
40
40
50
50
60
60
70
70
80
80
0
10
20
30
X [mm]
10
20
X [mm]
30
Figure 2.15. (a) Sample image of a blade tip used for BIV measurements.
(b) Sample tip velocity estimated from the BIV technique.
Wave SOLO 120). The beams were expanded using a spherical lens and an optical diffuser such that illumination was uniform. The laser and cameras were
synchronized to a once-per-revolution (OPR) sensor.
A surface treatment was applied to the blade tips to facilitate velocity estimation. This surface treatment consisted of a random pattern of matte white
dots on the matte-black blade tips (see figure 7.1(a)). The diameter of the
dots was between 50 and 150 m and were designed to mimic a seeded flow
commonly found in PIV. This allowed the use of standard PIV vector calculation
algorithms to determine blade tip velocity.
All images were processed using LaVisions DaVis software suite. The images from each 4 megapixel camera were warped according to the cameras spatial
calibration and stitched together to form a set of 8 megapixel composite images.
57
The images were enhanced to reduce background reflections. The intensity of the
image was multiplied by 10 and a sliding background subtraction algorithm was
then applied. A bias of -50 counts was applied to the intensity of each pixel. Any
pixel whose intensity was less than zero was then set to zero.
The vector calculation consisted of a three iteration multipass approach
using progressively smaller square interrogation windows. All passes utilized an
axisymmetric Gaussian window weighting function and the interrogation windows
were overlapped by 50% of the window size. The first pass used 128 128 pixel
interrogation windows. An initial guess of the blade velocity, specified in equivalent pixel displacement, was provided to improve correlation accuracy. The last
two passes used 64 64 pixel interrogation windows, overlapped by 50% of the
window size and weighted using an axisymmetric Gaussian weighting function.
Vector validation consisted of the following criteria. Vectors which deviated by
more than 1% of the theoretical average tip velocity were rejected, as well as
those whose peak correlation value was less than 1.75 times larger than the next
highest peak. Vectors which deviated by more than 2 standard deviations from
their immediate neighbors were also removed and replaced with the local median
velocity. Groups of 4 vectors or less were removed entirely. Lastly, the vector field
was then spatially averaged about a set of points uniformly distributed along the
blade camber line. Twenty-one points along the camber-line were used, resulting
in a spatial resolution of about 4 mm, see figure 7.1(b).
An a-posteriori calibration was applied to the vector field. This consisted of
a correction of vector magnitude and direction. The correction set the difference
between the ensemble-averaged un-corrected BIV velocity field and the known
mean tip velocity to zero. The mean tip velocity was found from the shaft speed
58
and tip radius. This calibration was applied to the data in order to account for
small scale optical distortions in the casing window and misalignment between the
two cameras.
Two rotor shaft speeds were investigated using the BIV measurement technique. The first was at low shaft speed (2,886 RPM), and was used to validate
the measurement technique. The second was at high shaft speed (13,531 RPM).
The first set of experiments were conducted at low shaft speed and were
performed to validate the accuracy of the measurement system against a known
rotor tip velocity. The rotor shaft speed was held constant at 2,886 RPM, corresponding to a blade tip velocity of 65.5 m/s. The magnetic bearings were used
to oscillate the rotor axially. The axial oscillation was synchronous to the shaft
rotation with a frequency of 96.2 Hz and an amplitude of 49 mm/s. The frequency
of the axial oscillation was well below the natural frequencies of the blades and
so the motion of the tip due to blade vibration was assumed to be negligible.
Three blades were analyzed, corresponding to different points within a cycle of
oscillation. Blade number 5 was used as the reference case for the a-posteriori
calibration. Five-hundred realizations of the tip velocity were acquired for each
blade.
The second set of experiments were conducted at a shaft speed of 13,531
RPM, corresponding to a blade tip velocity of 322 m/s. The magnetic bearings
maintained the axial position of the shaft to 30m, and controlled the whirl
orbits to within 6 mum. BIV data were acquired at two operating points. The
first was at the aerodynamic design point of the compressor. The second was a
low air mass flow condition where the compressor was operating in deep stall.
Large unsteady aerodynamic loads were expected at this flow condition and the
59
BIV technique was used to determine if these unsteady loads would induce a
detectable level of blade vibration. A single blade was investigated and an aposteriori calibration based on the ensemble-averaged tip velocity was applied
at each operating condition. One thousand realizations of the tip velocity were
acquired for each operating point.
60
CHAPTER 3
PIV MEASUREMENTS OF STEADY FLOW ABOUT A FLEXIBLE BLADE
3.1 Introduction
This chapter presents PIV measurements of the flow around the flexible cantilevered compressor blade. Experimental measurements of the flow about the flexible compressor blade will provide perspective for the results presented in chapters
4 and 5.
PIV measurements of the flow were obtained at 65% span for several combinations of blade angle of attack and Mach number. The measurements were
synchronized to the impact hammer described in chapter 2 so that the phaseaveraged fluid response could be evaluated.
Five different combinations of Mach number and blade angle of attack were
investigated using PIV. The combinations of angle of attack and Mach number
are given in table 3.1. The Mach numbers investigated were representative of
three important types of flow fields: incompressible, subsonic compressible, and
transonic.
Data were acquired at 0 = 8 and for incompressible(M = 0.16), highsubsonic (M = 0.60) and transonic flow (M = 0.75). Additionally, data were
acquired at 0 = 13 and for incompressible (M = 0.16) and transonic flow
(M = 0.75). The Mach numbers and angles of attack investigated were selected
61
TABLE 3.1
TEST MATRIX FOR PIV INVESTIGATION OF FLOW FIELD
ABOUT THE BLADE
0 [degrees]
f 1 c
U
f 2 c
U
0.16
0.71
3.14
0.55
0.22
0.99
0.75
0.16
0.70
13
0.15
0.99
4.36
13
0.75
0.16
0.70
to represent several noteworthy flow conditions. Incompressible and compressible subsonic flow can be accurately described using linear aeroelastic theories.
Transonic flow can be challenging to predict using current theoretical or numerical approaches. Consequently, measurements of the flow at transonic conditions
can provide additional insight that are not available to theoretical or numerical
approaches.
The angles of attack investigated were selected to represent two specific conditions. Note that axial compressor blades use incidence angle in lieu of angle
of attack to account for differences between the camber-line angle at the leading
edge and the chord-line of the blade. The 0 = 8 was selected as an equivalent
low incidence condition. Such a condition might be found near the working line
of the compressor performance map presented in figure 1.3. The 0 = 13 was
selected as a high incidence condition that may be found near the surge line
shown in figure 1.3.
62
63
64
f )
+ (f U) = 0
t
(f U)
+ (f UU) = P
t
(3.1)
(3.2)
(3.3)
where f is the density of the fluid, U is a vector describing the fluid velocity, P
is the pressure, and is the spatial derivative operator (
).
z
The
Euler equations state that the product of a component of the material acceleration
with the fluid density is equal to the sum of the pressure gradient along the given
direction. If the flow can be assumed to be isentropic, the fluid density and
pressure can be related. A scaled pressure can be defined as
1/
P?
P (1)/
P
.
1 f
(3.4)
(3.5)
Equation 3.5 relates the gradient of the scaled pressure field to the material
acceleration of an isentropic flow with negligible viscous effects.
The pressure field was calculated by spatial integration of the acceleration field
from a location where the pressure was known. Note that the pressure field, being
a scalar, should be independent of the path used for the integration. Different
path integrals from the same reference point to the same location should yield
identical results. This can be used to reduce the random error in the pressure
field estimate by averaging the pressure over many different path integrals. A
65
x0 )
i(z z0 ) k(x
,
2 ((z z0 )2 + (x x0 )2 )
x0 ) + k(z
z0 )
k(x
,
US (x, z) = S
2 ((z z0 )2 + (x x0 )2 )
U (x, z) =
(3.6)
(3.7)
where and S are the strength of the irrotational vortex and source respectively,
i and k are unit vectors aligned to the x and z axes respectively and x0 , z0
describes the location of the source and/or vortex. A set of 2N control points
were distributed along the blade profile at the same chord-wise locations as the
source and irrotational vortices. The control points were used to enforce an impermeability boundary condition at the blade surface. The Kutta condition was
enforced by requiring that the velocity magnitude at the two control points at
66
the blade trailing edge had equal velocity magnitude. Note that this resulted in
2N +1 equations for the 2N unknowns (the strength of the sources and vortices,
and S). A least-squares solution was obtained for the source and vortex strengths.
Compressibility was accounted for by a Prandtl-Glauert transformation.
3.3 Results
The average fluid velocity, RMS velocity and average vorticity at 65% span are
shown in figure 3.1 for a free stream Mach number of M = 0.16 and 0 = 8 . These
data represent the in-plane (x z axes) time-averaged and RMS fluid velocity
and out-of plane (yaxis) time-average vorticity. The fluid velocity statistics
were derived from 1500 PIV vector fields acquired between 0.5 and 1.5 bending
vibration cycles after the impact hammer hit the blade. The vorticity field was
calculated from the time-averaged velocity field. The average and RMS velocity
fields were normalized by the 57 m/s free-stream velocity. The fluid vorticity was
normalized by the factor |U |/2b, where 2b is the chord length of the blade. The
coordinate system used in the plots was aligned to the blade coordinates and so
the free-stream velocity is inclined relative to the xaxis by approximately 8 and
proceeds along both positive x and z axes.
The average fluid velocity and vorticity fields indicated that the flow was attached over the first 80% of the chord. The wake region, denoted by the velocity
magnitude deficit (figure 3.1 (a)) was approximately 5 mm in chord-normal extent
and centered about the blade trailing edge. The average vorticity field indicated
that outside of the wake, the flow was very nearly irrotational. The wake centerline, denoted by a region of zero vorticity, extended away from the trailing
edge nearly parallel with the x-axis. Note that the trailing edge of the blade was
67
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
U /|U |
0.4
10
0.3
z [mm]
5
0
0.2
5
0.1
10
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
2
0
2
4
10
6
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
68
angled 10 downward relative to the x-axis, and so it can be observed that the
wake center-line deviated from the blade trailing edge angle. The fluid velocity
vectors near the trailing edge were nearly parallel with the blade surface. There
was no direct evidence of flow separation. However, the flow field near the trailing
edge suggests a substantial flow deceleration which could result in boundary layer
separation.
The RMS velocity is shown in figure 3.1 (b). The typical RMS in the freestream was 0.03U , whereas the RMS velocity in the wake was as high as
0.2U . A correlation of the fluctuations in the velocity field far away from the
blade indicated that the free-stream fluctuations could be attributed to tunnel
velocity fluctuations and noise present in the PIV measurement. The tunnel velocity fluctuations were approximately 1% of free-stream, and the error in the PIV
measurements were approximately 1% 2%.
The phase-averaged fluid response around the blade at 0 = 8 and M =
0.16 is shown in figure 3.1. The figure shows three plots, corresponding to the
phase-averaged normalized velocity magnitude (figure 3.2 (a)), the out-of-plane
normalized vorticity (figure 3.2 (b)), and the calculated static pressure field (figure
3.2 (c)). The fields represent the flow response 0.5 cycles (with respect to the
bending mode) after the mechanical impulse was applied to the blade. The static
pressure is presented in terms of the non-dimensional pressure coefficient, Cp .
It can be observed that the phase-averaged velocity and vorticity fields were
similar to the time-averaged fields. This indicated that the unsteady flow induced
by the vibrating blade was small relative to the steady flow. The vorticity and
velocity fields also indicated that, in the phase-averaged sense, there were no large
scale boundary-layer separations. The pressure field (figure 3.2 (c)) indicated that
69
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
10
1.5
z [mm]
1.25
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
2
0
0
2
10
6
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
Cp
1
10
0.5
z [mm]
0.5
10
1.5
15
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
70
the net lift on the airfoil was positive, and that the pressure gradients above the
suction side were moderate. This was consistent with the velocity magnitude
results, which indicated a gradual deceleration from the peak velocity at 2%
chord. Additionally, the pressure field on the pressure side of the blade indicated
a higher flow acceleration from the stagnation point.
1.5
Cp
0.5
0.5
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
% chord
Figure 3.3 presents a comparison of the measured phase-averaged surface pressure distribution and the 2D steady panel method calculation. The surface pressure derived from the PIV data for the four phases shown had a similar chord-wise
71
distribution as the panel-method prediction. The PIV data and the panel method
show fair agreement along the first 80% of the pressure side of the blade. A slight
over-prediction of the surface pressure (resulting in a high Cp ) along the suction
side between 15% and 75% chord was observed. Note that this over-prediction
was found for all phase-averaged data, but varied with blade velocity. A portion of
this bias could be attributed to errors in both the static pressure field calculation
and errors in extrapolation to the blade surface. In contrast to the suction side,
excellent agreement was obtained for the the pressure side of the blade over the
first 80% of the chord.
A bias in surface pressure aft of 80% chord was observed. Here, the PIV data
indicated a lower pressure at the trailing edge than was predicted using the panel
method. The lower pressure coefficient was observed on both suction and pressure
side surfaces, and was present for all phase-averaged data. The source of this bias
was most likely a boundary layer separation. The asymmetry of the vorticity field
within the wake and the large chord-normal extent suggested that a minor flow
separation may have been present. This was not surprising given that the angle
of the suction side trailing edge was approximately 12 relative to the free-stream
velocity and that a significant adverse pressure gradient was predicted by the panel
method over the last 50% of chord.
The time-averaged velocity, vorticity and RMS velocity are shown in figure 3.4
for M = 0.55 and 0 = 8 . Here, the velocity magnitude was normalized by the
180 m/s free-stream velocity. The average velocity was qualitatively similar to the
observations at M = 0.16. The normalized velocity over the suction side of the
blade was higher at M = 0.55 compared to M = 0.16. Additionally, the velocity
deficit in the wake was smaller at M = 0.55 when compared against M = 0.16.
72
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
U /|U |
0.4
10
0.3
z [mm]
5
0
0.2
5
0.1
10
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
5
2
0
2
4
10
6
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
73
Specifically, the velocity magnitude of the wake for M = 0.16 was less than half of
the free-stream velocity, however at M = 0.55 the magnitude was nearly 75% of
free-stream. A comparison of the RMS velocity fields at M = 0.16 and M = 0.55
(figures 3.4 (b) and 3.1 (b)) revealed an increase in the RMS velocity in the wake
and near the suction side of the blade. The largest increase in RMS velocity was
observed on the suction side of the blade aft of mid-chord and in the wake near
the trailing edge.
The phase-averaged fluid response at 0 = 8 and at M = 0.55, 1/2 cycle
after the mechanical impulse was applied to the blade is shown in figure 3.5. The
phase-averaged flow field was qualitatively similar to the time-averaged flow field,
and so it may be concluded that the unsteadiness at these flow conditions due to
blade vibration was also much smaller than the steady flow. Furthermore, it can
be observed that at this phase the wake velocity magnitude decreased downstream
of the trailing edge of the blade. This decrease was observed up to 10 mm aft of
the trailing edge, beyond which the magnitude was approximately constant.
The vorticity field, shown in figure 3.5 (b), was qualitatively similar between
M = 0.16 and M = 0.55. Note however that the normalized wake vorticity
magnitude was smaller by a factor of 2, and was coincidental with the increase in
wake velocity magnitude observed in figure 3.5 (a).
The phase-averaged pressure field is shown in figure 3.5 (c). The following
differences can be noted between the M = 0.16 andM = 0.55 results. First,
the pressure over the suction side was significantly lower at M = 0.55 than at
M = 0.16. The minimum Cp was also lower due to the large flow acceleration
near the suction side leading edge. Larger pressure gradients were observed over
the suction side surface, which agree well with the larger velocity gradients.
74
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
2
0
2
4
10
6
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
Cp
1
z [mm]
10
0.5
0.5
10
1.5
15
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
75
1.5
Cp
0.5
0.5
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
% chord
Figure 3.6 shows the surface pressure coefficient of the blade calculated from
the panel method previously described and the estimates from the phase-averaged
PIV data 1/2 cycle after impact. Good agreement was obtained between the
steady panel method and the measured pressure distribution over the first 80% of
the chord. A negative bias was observed near the trailing edge of the blade for all
phase points investigated. This was consistent with the M = 0.16 results.
The time-averaged velocity, vorticity and RMS velocity fields for 0 = 8 and
M = 0.75 are shown in figure 3.7. The velocity magnitude was normalized by the
242 m/s free-stream velocity. A black isocontour denotes the region of supersonic
flow over the blade. Note that despite the presence of supersonic flow over the
suction side of the blade, no discernable shock was identified. The aerodynamic
76
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
U /|U |
0.4
10
0.3
z [mm]
5
0
0.2
5
0.1
10
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
5
2
0
2
4
10
6
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
77
design of the blade was not optimized for transonic flow, and so a shock was
expected for transonic operating conditions. The large velocity gradients upstream
of the supersonic pocket indicated that the seed particles tracked the fluid velocity
with reasonable accuracy, and so particle lag (cf. Raffel et al. [54]) could not
have been entirely responsible for the absence of a shockwave. Consequently, the
PIV measurements of the flow at these conditions are included as a qualitative
description of the flow.
The RMS velocity was significantly higher at M = 0.75 than at either M =
0.55 or M = 0.16. The isocontours of the time-averaged blade velocity over the
suction side had a different shape at M = 0.75 when compared to the M = 0.55
results. The flow at M = 0.75 resulted in the highest normalized velocity over the
blade. The wake thickness nearly tripled over the 23 mm distance downstream
of the trailing edge. Nearly all of this expansion occurred on the upper side of
the wake (associated with negative vorticity). The minimum normalized velocity
within the core of the wake was approximately 80% of free-stream. For reference,
the minimum wake velocity for M = 0.55 and M = 0.16 were 75% and 40% of freestream respectively. Finally, substantial increases in RMS velocity were observed
in the wake region near the blade trailing edge and near the blade leading edge
on the suction side.
The phase-averaged fluid response at 0 = 8 and M = 0.75 is shown in figure
3.8. It is immediately obvious from the velocity magnitude field (figure 3.8 (a))
that the phase-averaged measurements did not indicate a shock bounding the
downstream side of the supersonic flow region. Thus, it should be noted that the
phase-averaged results were also a qualitative description of the flow.
The wake region differed substantially from the low speed results. Specifically,
78
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
4
5
z [mm]
2
0
2
4
10
6
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
Cp
1
z [mm]
10
0.5
0.5
10
1.5
15
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
79
the thickness was much larger 1/3 of a chord-length aft of the blade trailing
edge. This region was also characterized by a disruption of the vorticity from the
suction side of the blade. Recall that at low speed (figures 3.2 (b) and 3.5 (b))
the wake vorticity magnitude was slightly asymmetric about the wake centerline
and the wake was well defined by a region of low velocity magnitude and high
vorticity magnitude. Here, the lower side of the wake associated with positive
vorticity could be identified easily and was similar to the M = 0.16 and M = 0.55
observations. The upper side of the wake associated with negative vorticity had a
larger spatial distribution at M = 0.75 than was observed at lower tunnel speeds.
The static pressure field at 0 = 8 and M = 0.75 is shown in figure 3.8 (c).
A comparison of figure 3.8 (c) to the M = 0.55 results (figure 3.5 (c)) revealed
that the favorable pressure gradient observed on the pressure side of the blade was
proportionally smaller at M = 0.75 than at M = 0.55. Furthermore, the static
pressure over the suction side near the blade leading edge had a larger gradient
at M = 0.75 than at M = 0.55. This indicated a proportionally larger flow
acceleration for transonic flow conditions than at subsonic conditions.
Two instantaneous fluid velocity fields for the blade at 0 = 8 and M = 0.75
are shown in figure 3.9. Here, the blade was translating in the negative z direction.
The instantaneous fields are included as a reference to provide insight into the
anomalous results. Note that both vector fields were acquired t 1/(2f 1 ) after
the impulse had been applied, and were less than 12 out of phase (with respect to
the bending mode) with each other. It can be seen that the region of supersonic
flow above the suction side of the blade was roughly similar in size and shape
to that observed in the phase averaged results. A gradual deceleration was also
observed near the downstream edge of the supersonic pocket, which implied a
80
shock-free deceleration. This indicated that the gradual flow deceleration observed
in the phase-averaged data was not an artifact of phase-averaging a moving shock,
but rather was a reflection of the instantaneous flow measurements.
Another noteworthy feature of the instantaneous flow fields is the presence of
pockets of both high and low momentum flow near the trailing edge and wake.
The pockets were transonic and bound by steep velocity gradients. The presence
of these pockets indicated that the flow was highly unsteady at these conditions
and may have had a significant out-of-plane velocity component.
The time-averaged fluid velocity and vorticity, and the RMS of the in-plane
velocity for 0 = 13 and M = 0.12 are shown in figure 3.10. The velocity
magnitude was normalized by the 41 m/s free-stream fluid velocity. The peak
velocity over the suction side surface was higher for 0 = 13 than the 0 = 8
data. There were some minor differences between the incompressible flow fields at
0 = 8 and 0 = 13 . Specifically, the increase in angle of attack resulted in an
increase of the velocity magnitude within the wake and a reduction in the velocity
gradients bounding the wake.
The phase-averaged fluid velocity magnitude, vorticity and static pressure for
0 = 13 and M = 0.12 are shown in figure 3.11. The peak velocity over the
suction side surface was higher for 0 = 13 than the 0 = 8 data. The phaseaveraged flow field was similar to the time-averaged field, indicating that the
unsteady flow induced by blade vibration was small.
The vorticity field was also qualitatively similar to that observed at 0 = 8
and M = 0.16. A slight decrease in the wake vorticity magnitude was observed at
0 = 13 when compared with the 0 = 8 data. The similarities between both
the velocity and vorticity fields suggest that the change in angle of attack had a
81
(a)
Velocity [m/s]
30
450
25
400
20
350
15
300
Y [mm]
10
5
250
0
200
5
150
10
100
15
20
30
20
10
0
X [mm]
10
20
30
(b)
Velocity [m/s]
30
450
25
400
20
350
15
300
Y [mm]
10
5
250
0
200
5
150
10
100
15
20
30
20
10
0
X [mm]
10
20
30
minor influence on the flow field far from the blade surface.
The phase-averaged pressure field (figure 3.11 (c)) was also qualitatively similar
82
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
U /|U |
0.4
10
0.3
z [mm]
5
0
0.2
5
0.1
10
15
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
0
2
4
10
15
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
83
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
10
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
15
0.75
10
0.5
10
10
20
30
40
0.25
50
x [mm]
(b)
y 2b/|U |
8
15
10
z [mm]
4
5
0
2
4
10
10
10
20
30
40
50
x [mm]
(c)
z [mm]
Cp
15
10
0.5
0
0.5
0
1
5
1.5
10
10
10
20
30
40
50
x [mm]
84
1.5
Cp
0.5
0.5
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
% chord
The surface pressure for the blade at 0 = 13 and M = 0.12 is shown in figure
3.12. The surface pressure estimate deviated significantly from the theoretical
profile obtained from the 2D panel method. First, the PIV results indicated a
higher favorable pressure gradient on the pressure side of the blade. Second,
85
the location of minimum pressure varied, with the panel method predicting a
minimum at 1% of chord and the PIV estimate indicating the minimum at 10%
chord. Third, the adverse pressure gradient near the trailing edge of the blade
was much steeper for the theory when compared to the measurements.
The fluctuations in surface pressure were similar in magnitude to those observed at 0 = 8 and M = 0.16, suggesting that the unsteady flow was small
relative to the mean flow. In addition, the same bias in pressure near the trailing
edge on the suction surface was observed. The chordwise extent of the bias was
similar between 0 = 8 and 0 = 13 .
The time-averaged fluid velocity and vorticity, as well as the RMS velocity
of the flow are presented in figure 3.13. The velocity magnitude was normalized
by the 245 m/s free-stream velocity, and a black isocontour is shown to denote
the region of supersonic flow. Substantial differences may be observed between
these results and the fields presented for M = 0.12 and 0 = 13 (figure 3.10).
However, these results were qualitatively similar to the observations at M = 0.75
and 0 = 8 (cf. figure 3.7). A shock-free deceleration of the flow over the
suction side was observed, and so these results should be viewed as a qualitative
description of the flow. The key changes that an increase in angle of attack had
on the flow field were concentrated in the wake region. Specifically, at 0 = 13
the wake thickness near the blade trailing edge was about half of the thickness
observed at 0 = 8 . The thin wake was also associated with an increase in
negative fluid vorticity.
The phase-averaged fluid velocity, vorticity and static pressure fields for the
blade at 0 = 13 and M = 0.75 are shown in figure 3.14. A gradual deceleration
from supersonic to subsonic flow was observed over the suction side of the blade;
86
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
U /|U |
0.4
10
0.3
z [mm]
5
0
0.2
5
0.1
10
15
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
0
2
4
10
15
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
87
3.4 Conclusions
The PIV results suggest the following characteristics regarding the flow field.
First, at 0 = 8 and for subsonic flow the flow at mid-span was attached over
most of the chord. The phase-averaged surface pressure was in reasonable agreement with the predicted pressure from a 2D panel method code. The unsteady
component of the flow field due to the mechanical impulse applied to the blade
was small relative to the mean flow. This suggested that the linearization of the
fluid dynamics about the steady flow was appropriate for this experiment. The
RMS velocity fluctuations increased with increasing Mach number. Increasing
the angle of attack from 0 = 8 to 0 = 13 at incompressible flow conditions
resulted in noticeable differences in the blade surface pressure distribution.
88
The flow field at transonic conditions was highly unsteady, and most of the
unsteadiness was concentrated in the wake and near the suction side of the blade.
Pockets of high and low momentum flow were observed in the instantaneous vector fields for both angle of attacks observed. These pockets were found in the
wake region and were clearly discernable from the surrounding flow by high velocity gradients. Furthermore, an anomalous supersonic shock-free deceleration
was observed over the suction side of the blade at both angle of attacks. This deceleration was observed for the time-averaged, phase-averaged and instantaneous
velocity fields.
89
(a)
|U|/|U |
1.75
1.5
1.25
z [mm]
10
0.75
10
0.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.25
x [mm]
(b)
y 2b/|U |
8
6
10
z [mm]
2
4
10
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
(c)
Cp
1
0.5
z [mm]
10
0.5
1.5
10
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
x [mm]
90
(a)
Velocity [m/s]
500
25
450
20
400
15
350
10
300
250
200
150
10
100
15
50
Y [mm]
30
20
30
20
10
0
X [mm]
10
20
30
(b)
Y [mm]
Velocity [m/s]
30
500
25
450
20
400
15
350
10
300
250
200
150
10
100
15
50
20
30
20
10
0
X [mm]
10
20
30
91
CHAPTER 4
NATURAL RESPONSE OF AN ISOLATED COMPRESSOR BLADE IN
COMPRESSIBLE FLOW
4.1 Introduction
The sources of the unsteady aerodynamic loads acting on the blade can be
characterized as either external or self-induced. External sources, such as wakes
from stators upstream of the rotor blades, are well understood and their effects
can be predicted using fairly simple models. Self-induced sources are typically
characterized by a feedback between the flexible blade and the unsteady aerodynamics. As a result, these sources are more difficult to model and their effects are
not as well understood. The response of the blade due to these sources will be
termed the natural response. The fatigue life of the blades can depend on the
natural response. Therefore, it is important to characterize the natural response
and understand the unsteady forces associated with it.
The PIV results indicated that the steady flow about the blade at the subsonic
Mach numbers investigated could be modeled with reasonable accuracy using a
linear, two-dimensional aerodynamic theory. In addition, transonic conditions
resulted in a highly unsteady flow field. The current chapter will discuss the timeresolved blade natural response. The PIV measurements from chapter 3 will be
used to provide perspective for these measurements.
92
4.2 Theory
This section will discuss the theoretical models used to describe the aeroelastic behavior of the cantilevered blade in a high speed flow. A discussion of the
structural dynamics will first be provided, followed by a brief discussion of the
unsteady aerodynamic model used. The section will conclude with an analysis of
the fluid-dynamic equations of motion used to estimate the unsteady aerodynamic
loads from measurements of fluid velocity.
2w
2w
D
+ 2
+ ...
x2
y
2
2w
+2(1 )
D
+ ...
xy
xy
2
2
w
2w
+ 2 D
+ 2
+ Fz (x, y, t).
y
y 2
x
2w
s 2 =
t
2
x2
93
(4.1)
Here, s is the density of the blade, is Poissons ratio for the given blade material,
Fz (x, y, t) is the external force applied to the blade surface and D describes the
stiffness of the blade. The boundary conditions are zero displacement and strain
along the clamped edge at the root (y = ys ), and zero net force and bending
moment along the free edges of the blade. These can be expressed as
w
= 0 y = ys x,
y
2w
2w
+
=
x2
y 2
2w
2w
2w
D 2 + 2
D
= 0 x = 0, xc y,
x
x
y
y
xy
2w
2w
+ 2 =
y 2
x
2
2
2
w
w
w
D 2 + 2
D(x, y)
= 0 x = 0, xc y,
y
x
x
x
xy
w=
(4.2)
(4.3)
(4.4)
(4.5)
w(x, y, t) =
P
X
(4.6)
p=1
p (x, y) and Zp (t) can be estimated from the equation of motion assuming Fz = 0
using a separation of variables approach. The solution of p for a given set of
boundary conditions is typically performed numerically for all but the most simple
blade geometries. Once are known, equation 4.1 can be re-cast as an ODE for
94
Zp (t),
p s
d2 Zp
+ Kp Zp = 0
dt2
(4.7)
where Kp is a separation constant which depends on the blade stiffness and mode
shape p . Assuming solutions of the form Zp = Z p ei2fp t yields
Kp = (2fp )2 s p .
(4.8)
Note that fp is the natural frequency of the pth mode. Considerable simplification
of equation 4.1 can be obtained by taking advantage of the orthogonality of .
Specifically, using equations 4.6 and 4.8, multiplying by q and integrating over
the planform of the blade yields
Mp
d2 Zp
2
+ (2fp ) Zp = Fp
dt2
(4.9)
where
Z Z
2p s dxdy
(4.10)
(4.11)
Mp
A
95
stiffness of the blade, such that the changes in are negligible. This was a
reasonable simplification for the blade under investigation. The modal damping
will be modeled as a viscous damping force
Fz (x, y, t) C(x, y)
w
t
where C(x, y) describes the spatial distribution of the damping coefficient. Equation 4.9 is modified as
d2 Zp
dZp
+ Cp
+ Mp (2fp )2 Zp = Fp
2
dt
dt
2
d Zp
dZp
2
Mp
+ 2(2fp )p
+ (2fp ) Zp = Fp
dt2
dt
Mp
(4.12)
where
Z Z
Cp
(4.13)
1 Cp
4fp Mp
(4.14)
96
97
quantified by performing a linear curve fit of the mode shape along the xaxis at
constant span,
(4.15)
where a is the distance between the center of rotation and the mid-chord of the
blade.
Mode shapes where classified as bending when |h(y)| >> |(y)|, and as torsion
when |(y)| >> |h(y)|. The delineation was straightforward for the first two
eigen-modes of the blade which were shown in figure 2.5. Here, the first eigenmode shape was clearly a bending type mode, whereas the second eigen-mode was
a torsion mode. Note that the axis of rotation for the torsion mode varied along
the span.
The delineation between bending and torsion modes resulted in considerable
simplification of the equations of motion,
dZp (t)
dZp (t)2
2
+ 2(2f p )p
+ (2fp ) Zp (t) = Lp
Mp
dt2
dt
dZq (t)
dZq (t)2
2
Iq
+ 2(2f q )q
+ (2f q ) Zq (t) = Tp
dt2
dt
(4.16)
(4.17)
where Zp (t) is the amplitude of the bending motion of the pth mode, Zq (t) is the
amplitude of the q th torsion mode, Lp is the modal lift force, Tq is the modal
moment, and Iq describes the moment of inertia of the blade cross section with
respect to the torsion motion. The subscripts were included to keep the form of
the equations as general as possible. A solution to the system of equations can
now be obtained by calculating the unsteady lift and moment due to the motion
98
of the airfoil.
The estimate of the unsteady lift and moment acting on the blade was calculated using a closed form approximate solution for the unsteady response of
an airfoil in two-dimensional compressible flow. The formulation of the modal lift
and moment were taken from Lin and Iliff [45]. This formulation was derived from
a power-series type solution from the Laplace transformed Possio equation, first
presented by Balakrishnan [7]. The Possio equation relates how the unsteady surface pressure on a vibrating thin flat plate varies with the chord-wise distribution
of plate velocity in compressible flow. The flow is assumed to be attached over
the entire plate and leaves smoothly off the trailing edge (the Kutta-Joukowski
condition). Finally, it is assumed that flow unsteadiness vanishes far away from
the blade. The power series solution presented has an accuracy of M 2 log(M ) and
is considered to be accurate forM < 0.7 [45]. Note that the relations presented
here assume subsonic flow, and so the model was expected to be inaccurate at
transonic flow conditions.
The lift and moment coefficients due to bending and torsion vibration of a flat
plate are given by [45]
99
k4
3
2
2
+ 2k C(k) + 2k C(k) ,(4.18)
2
(4.20)
(4.21)
(4.22)
Here, k is the complex reduced frequency (k icf /U ) and C(k) is the Theodorsen
function, given by
C(k)
K1 (k)
,
K1 (k) + K0 (k)
(4.23)
where Kn are modified bessel functions of the second kind and of order n. Note
that the dependence of a on span was omitted for clarity. The lift and moment
coefficients are related to the lift and moment by
100
"
#
()
h(y)
p
2
b Lh (M, k)
+ L (y, M, k)(y) q () , (4.24)
L()
= U
b
"
#
()
h(y)
p
2
Th (M, k)
+ T (M, k)(y) q () .
(4.25)
T(y, ) = U
b
Here, is the complex frequency of vibration ( i2f ), b is the half-chord of the
denotes the Laplace transform
airfoil, k is the complex reduced frequency and []
of the argument with respect to time.
Note that the vibration amplitude can be factored out of both the aerodynamic forcing and structural dynamics equations. Consequently, this formulation
can only yield estimates of the stability of blade vibration at a given set of flow
conditions.
The following approach was used to provide a theoretical benchmark against
which the natural response of the blade may be compared. The measured modal
amplitudes of the blade were used with equations 4.24 and 4.25 to obtain the expected modal forces. These modal forces were used with equations 4.16 and 4.17
to predict the expected vibration amplitude. The damping for each mode was
incorporated into the theoretical model using the impulse response in quiescent
air (cf. figure 2.3). A discussion of the approach used to estimate the damping
ratio is provided in chapter 5.
A comparison of the measured amplitude and the prediction described above
can provide insight into the fluid-structure interactions. For example, if the theoretical and measured modal velocities are equal in magnitude, it may be concluded
that the model of the aerodynamic forces describe the unsteady fluid-structure interaction well. If the theory over-predicts the measured velocity, it may indicate
101
that additional damping was present. In contrast, if the theory under-predicts the
measured velocity, it may be concluded that additional forcing was present.
4.3 Results
The autospectral density of the blade surface velocity for 0 = 8 is shown
in figure 4.1. A minimum of 30 averages per Mach number with a Mach number
resolution of 0.025 and a frequency resolution of 12.5 Hz were used to generate
these plots.
Most of the observed vibration were due to excitation of the first two modes.
Multiple distinct peaks in the spectra were observed. These peaks correspond to
the natural modes of vibration (see Appendix A), suggesting that some degree
of excitation of these high frequency modes was present. At high tunnel speeds
(0.8 M 0.95) the magnitude of vibration for the first two modes were 4
orders of magnitude larger than the other high frequency modes. The broad-band
vibration not associated with a blade mode was also small over a large range
of tunnel speeds. It can be observed that at frequencies greater than 2kHz the
broadband response increased with increasing Mach number. Note that the broadband response was at least 6 orders of magnitude smaller than the first two blade
modes. Consequently, the natural response of the blade at this angle of attack
could be approximated by considering only the first two modes of vibration.
Figure 4.1 (b) shows the autospectra of blade vibration velocity at frequencies
less than 2, 000 Hz. There are a number of noteworthy features. The peaks
associated with the first two vibration modes had a slight increase in frequency
with Mach number. This was due to the steady aerodynamic loads generated by
the blade. The stress induced by the generation of lift and moment had the effect
102
(a)
Log () [m2/s2/Hz]
10
2
3
0.9
0.8
Mach number
0.7
6
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
10
11
0.2
12
0.1
13
5000
10000
Frequency [Hz]
15000
(b)
Log10() [m2/s2/Hz]
2
3
0.9
0.8
Mach number
0.7
6
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
10
11
0.2
12
0.1
13
500
1000
1500
Frequency [Hz]
2000
of increasing the modal stiffness of the blade, which resulted in an increase in the
natural frequency. The increase in natural frequency was approximately 6.5% for
103
9
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Frequency [Hz]
The spectra also show that the frequency of blade vibrations was quantitatively
different at tunnel speeds near M = 0.8. Specifically, excitation near 840 and 1,200
Hz (corresponding to ? = 0.35 and 0.5 respectively) was observed only around
this region; increasing or decreasing the tunnel speed eliminates this excitation.
Figure 4.2 shows the autospectral density of the blade vibration as a function
of frequency for four Mach numbers. It can be seen that the local maxima at
M = 0.80 were relatively broad and were only present and were only observed
between 0.74 M 0.90. Note that the critical Mach number for this angle of
104
attack was 0.62, as calculated from the two-dimensional panel method described
in chapter 3. Thus, these vibrations occurred when the flow was transonic.
0.3
[m/s]
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Mach number
The RMS modal velocity for the first two modes as a function of Mach number are shown in figure 4.3. The RMS velocity was calculated as follows. The
measured blade vibration velocity was band-pass filtered to isolate the modes of
interest. A conversion factor was applied to account for the mode shape at the
measurement location. Then, the RMS was calculated over a 0.68 second time
105
segment. The segment duration represented approximately steady state conditions of the blowdown tunnel while still allowing for convergence of the statistics
of the blade vibration. The resulting collection of RMS amplitudes were then
averaged based on Mach number using the same averaging procedure as was used
to estimate the autospectral density.
There are several noteworthy features shown in figure 4.3. The following may
be observed for the variation of the RMS velocity for the first mode (bending). The
average RMS velocity increased with Mach number up to M 0.7. The RMS
velocity was nearly independent with respect to Mach number between 0.70
M > 0.90. There exist a narrow band of Mach numbers (0.90 < M < 1) where
the RMS velocity was at a maximum. The local maxima had a corresponding
reduced frequency of ? 0.134. Additionally, the scatter in the individual RMS
was also largest at these conditions which implied that the vibration was very
unsteady.
The solid lines shown in figure 4.3 show the theoretical benchmark of blade
vibration using the measured RMS modal velocity. The theoretical model underpredicted the measured modal velocity at low Mach number for the first mode.
This suggested that additional fluid forcing was present. In contrast, the theoretical model over-predicted the modal velocity for the first mode at high subsonic
conditions, suggesting that there was an additional source of damping influencing
the system which was not accounted for.
The second mode (torsion) RMS modal velocity also increased with increasing
Mach number until M 0.75. A local maxima was observed at M 0.75 with a
corresponding reduced frequency of ? = 0.752. A gradual decrease in the RMS
modal velocity with increasing Mach number was observed at M > 0.75. The local
106
maxima for the torsion mode also had high scatter in the individual observations.
The theoretical model under-predicted the modal velocity over the entire range
of the models validity (M 0.7). This indicated that there may have been an
additional source of excitation for the torsion mode.
Figure 4.4 shows the autospectral density of the blade surface vibration as a
function of both Mach number and frequency at an angle of attack of 13 . Note
that at this incidence angle, the critical Mach number based on a steady 2D panel
method was found to be M 0.50. Although the spectra was qualitatively similar
to that observed for the 8 angle of attack, there are several important differences.
First, the high frequency broadband vibration was reduced over most of the Mach
numbers investigated. The third and fourth eigen-modes (with frequencies of 1740
Hz and 3800 Hz, see appendix 1) had a higher vibration amplitude when the blade
angle of attack was increased to 13 . The frequency shift for the first two eigenmodes was not as large as was observed for the 0 = 8 results. The shift in
natural frequency was 0.5% for the first mode and 3% for the second mode. The
decrease in frequency shift could be attributed to a smaller variation in mean
aerodynamic loading as a function of Mach number. This could be attributed to
the presence of flow separation at high angle of attack, which would effectively
reduce the steady aerodynamic lift and moment.
A few autospectral density curves of the measured blade surface velocity are
shown in figure 4.5 for 0 = 13 . Note the presence of two peaks near 840
Hz and 1200 Hz when M = 0.74 and 0.80 respectively. An increase in angle
of attack resulted in an increase of the magnitude of the peaks and reduction in
their subsequent width, though the effect was most noticeable for the 840 Hz peak.
However, more important was the fact that the amplitude, frequency and Mach
107
(a)
Log10() [m2/s2/Hz]
2
3
0.9
0.8
Mach number
0.7
6
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
10
11
0.2
12
0.1
13
5000
10000
Frequency [Hz]
15000
(b)
Log10() [m2/s2/Hz]
2
3
0.9
0.8
Mach number
0.7
6
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
10
11
0.2
12
0.1
13
500
1000
Frequency [Hz]
1500
2000
number at which these peaks occurred was nearly identical to the low incidence
case. The insensitivity to angle of attack indicated that the mechanism responsible
for these peaks were not significantly influenced by the steady flow field induced
108
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Frequency [Hz]
by the blade. The narrow Mach number range over which these peaks occurred
suggests that the source may be associated with the test facility rather than the
blade. Note that the peaks for the two humps were 2 orders of magnitude smaller
than the first two modes, and so represent a minor contribution to the overall
blade vibration.
The RMS amplitude of vibration for the first two modes as a function of Mach
number are shown in figure 4.6 for an angle of attack of 0 = 13 . Also included
are the theoretical benchmarks for the RMS modal velocity. The bending modal
velocity was similar in magnitude between the two angle of attacks over most
of the tunnel speed range. However, no distinct local maxima was observed at
M = 0.95 for 0 = 13 . It may be concluded that the bending response of the
blade at subsonic flow conditions was not very sensitive to changes in 0 between
109
110
0.3
[m/s]
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Mach number
111
(a)
(b)
1
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
1
0
500
100
200
300
400
500
100
200
300
400
500
2 [m/s]
2 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
0
1
0
500
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
The time-series of modal velocities for the first two modes at M = 0.65 and
0 = 13 are shown in figure 4.7 (b). The variation in bending modal velocity was
consistent with the response observed at 0 = 8 . However, the torsion modal
velocity was much larger in magnitude at 0 = 13 when compared to the 0 = 8
results.
The variation in the envelope of the modal velocity for both modes was also
112
investigated. This was done to determine if there were any significant patterns
of the bursts of vibration observed in the time-series modal velocity data. The
envelope of the modal velocity, A(t), was defined as
h
2 i1/2
A(t) 2p (t) + H p (t)
,
(4.26)
113
(a)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
2000
3000
4000
2000
3000
4000
t? = t0 U /C
(b)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
t? = t0 U /C
blade structure itself was very unlikely. Therefore, the cross-correlations observed
may indicate coupling through the unsteady fluid-dynamics interacting with the
blade.
The auto- and cross-correlation coefficients for the modal velocity envelope
114
fluctuations at 0 = 13 and M = 0.65 are also shown in figures 4.8 (a) and
(b) respectively. An increase in the characteristic de-correlation time scales was
observed, with t?1 335 and t?2 220 respectively. The characteristic time-scales
over which the local maxima in the autocorrelation coefficients occurred were 3.7
Hz and 10.4 Hz for the first and second modes respectively. Significant correlation was also observed in the cross-correlation between the envelope fluctuations
for the first and second modes at t? > 2, 000.
(a)
(b)
1
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
1
0
500
100
200
300
400
500
100
200
300
400
500
2 [m/s]
2 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
0
1
0
500
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
Figure 4.9. Time series of modal velocity for the first two modes at
M = 0.75. (a) 0 = 8 ; (b) 0 = 13 .
A time-series of the modal velocity for both bending and torsion modes at
M = 0.75 is shown in figure 4.9. The modal velocity for the bending mode for
both angles of attack investigated appear qualitatively similar to the response
observed at M = 0.65. Recall that for both 0 = 8 and 13 the RMS modal
115
velocity for bending had little variation between 0.65 M 0.75. Figure 4.9
indicated that the time-resolved bending modal velocity was also similar over this
speed range.
The torsion modal velocity at M = 0.75 and 0 = 8 was also similar to the
response observed at M = 0.65. A local maxima of the torsion response was
observed at M = 0.75. The similarities in the dynamic response of the torsion
mode between these Mach numbers implied a similarity in the dynamics of the
aerodynamic forcing.
Significant differences were observed for the torsion modal velocity at M = 0.75
and 0 = 13 when compared against the M = 0.65 and 0 = 13 observations.
Specifically, the long duration, high amplitude bursts of vibration were eliminated
at M = 0.75. The vibration could be described as combination of steady, low
amplitude vibration with many short-duration, high amplitude pulses. Recall
that at M = 0.75 and 0 = 13 , the RMS torsion modal velocity was between local
maximas, and so it can be concluded that the reduction in RMS modal velocity
was due to an increase in vibration intermittency rather than a decrease in peak
vibration amplitude.
The auto- and cross-correlation coefficients for the modal velocity envelope
fluctuations are shown in figure 4.10. The variation in correlation coefficient with
time-lag was similar to the results presented for M = 0.65 at 0 = 8 . Furthermore, moderate cross-correlation was observed between both modes over a
long time-scale. Note however that there were some noticeable differences in the
observed autocorrelation for the blade response when the tunnel speed was increased from M = 0.65 to M = 0.75. A decrease in t?2 was observed at M = 0.75.
Specifically, t?2 = 122 at M = 0.75, compared with t?2 = 166 at M = 0.65.
116
(a)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
2000
3000
4000
2000
3000
4000
t? = t0 U /C
(b)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
t? = t0 U /C
The effect of increasing the tunnel speed from M = 0.65 to M = 0.75 also had
an effect on the auto- and cross-correlation coefficients at 0 = 13 . Specifically,
lower correlation coefficients were observed for both auto- and cross-correlation
and the coefficients fluctuated with the characteristic time lag over a much shorter
117
period. This implied that the fluctuations in the envelopes were probably random.
(a)
(b)
1
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
1
0
500
100
200
300
400
500
100
200
300
400
500
2 [m/s]
2 [m/s]
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
0
1
0
500
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
Figure 4.11. Time series of modal velocity for first two modes at
M = 0.81. (a) 0 = 8 ; (b) 0 = 13 .
A time-series of the blade modal velocity for the first two modes at M = 0.81
is shown in figure 4.11. The following may be observed for the response at 0 =
8 . The bending response was qualitatively similar to the responses observed at
M = 0.75 and M = 0.65. The torsion response was composed of both burst and
pulse type patterns. Note that the peak amplitude of the pulses for the torsion
response were similar between both observations at M = 0.81 and M = 0.75.
The response of the bending mode at 0 = 13 was also qualitatively similar
to the response observed at slower tunnel speeds at the same angle of attack.
There were significant differences in the response of the torsion mode between
M = 0.81 and M = 0.75. The pulses in modal velocity amplitude were much
118
119
(a)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
2000
3000
4000
2000
3000
4000
t? = t0 U /C
(b)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
t? = t0 U /C
RMS modal velocity at this Mach number had a local maxima at 0 = 8 . The
bending mode response at 0 = 8 (figure 4.13 (a)) can be characterized by long
bursts of vibration. The torsion response could be characterized by a series of
120
(a)
(b)
1
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
1
0
500
100
200
300
400
500
100
200
300
400
500
2 [m/s]
2 [m/s]
1
0
1
0
100
200
300
400
0
1
0
500
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
pulses superposed onto low amplitude bursts of vibration. These results suggest
that the local maxima in RMS bending modal velocity could be attributed to
a reduction in the intermittency of the vibration and an increase in the peak
vibration amplitude. In contrast, the reduction in RMS modal velocity for the
torsion mode could be attributed to an decrease in the peak vibration amplitude.
The bending modal velocity at 0 = 13 and M = 0.95 (figure 4.13 (b))
was qualitatively similar to the response observed at 0 = 13 and M = 0.81.
Specifically, at both Mach numbers the bending vibration could be described as a
series of low amplitude pulses.
A large reduction in the peak amplitude was observed for the torsion mode
when the tunnel speed was increased from M = 0.81 to M = 0.95 at 0 = 13 .
This was also accompanied by a decrease in the vibration intermittency. Note
that the RMS modal velocity for the torsion mode was nearly constant between
0.81 M 0.95 at 0 = 13 . This was interesting because these two different
vibration patterns resulted in similar RMS vibration levels.
121
(a)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
2000
3000
4000
2000
3000
4000
t? = t0 U /C
(b)
1
Correlation Coefficient
0.75
0.5
0.25
0.25
0.5
4000
3000
2000
1000
1000
t? = t0 U /C
The auto- and cross-correlation coefficients for modal velocity envelope fluctuations of the first two modes of the blade at M = 0.95 are shown in figure 4.14.
The average t? between successive zero crossings of the autocorrelation coefficients
122
were much larger at M = 0.95 than at any of the slower tunnel speeds presented
previously. This feature was observed for both modes, but was most noticeable
for bending. A similar pattern was also observed for the cross-correlation of both
modes. Finally, the characteristic de-correlation time for both modes were also
very large at t?1 = 970 and t?2 = 356.
The auto- and cross-correlation coefficients for 0 = 13 and M = 0.95 are
shown in figure 4.14 (b). The effect of increasing the tunnel speed from M = 0.81
to M = 0.95 effectively reduced the average t? between zero crossings for the
autocorrelation coefficients. This was most pronounced for the bending mode.
The local maxima in the autocorrelation coefficients at large t? was smaller at
M = 0.95 when compared to the M = 0.81 results.
TABLE 4.1
NON-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
FLUCTUATIONS IN THE MODAL VELOCITY AMPLITUDES OF
THE BLADE AT 0 = 8 .
Mach number
t?1
t?2
U
f 1c
U
f 2c
0.65
160 125
17.5
3.9
0.75
122 131
20.3
4.5
0.81
360 123
21.9
4.9
0.95
970 356
25.7
5.7
123
TABLE 4.2
NON-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
FLUCTUATIONS IN THE MODAL VELOCITY AMPLITUDES OF
THE BLADE AT 0 = 13 .
Mach number
t?1
t?2
U
f 1c
U
f 2c
0.65
335 220
17.5
3.9
0.75
282 173
20.3
4.5
0.81
229
95
21.9
4.9
0.95
131
79
25.7
5.7
Tables 4.1 and 4.2 present the measured non-dimensional de-correlation time
scales (t?1 , t?2 ) and the reduced period (1/ ? ) for the first two blade vibration modes.
It may be observed that t?1 tended to increase with increasing Mach number at
0 = 8 . The opposite trend was observed when the angle of attack was increased
to 0 = 13 . There was little variation in t?2 with Mach number until M = 0.95
when the blade angle of attack was 0 = 8 . An increase in angle of attack to
0 = 13 resulted in a decrease in t?2 with increasing M .
It is important to note the magnitude of the non-dimensional period of vibration compared to the cross-correlation results. The four tunnel speeds investigated
had moderate cross-correlation between the two modes at |t? | > 500. In contrast,
the longest characteristic period for the bending mode was an order of magnitude
smaller. The implication is that fluctuations in the vibration amplitude may have
124
4.4 Conclusions
The response of the blade over a large range of Mach numbers and at two angle
of attacks was investigated. The response was due primarily to vibration of the
blade at the first two modes. An increase in the angle of attack from 0 = 8 to
0 = 13 resulted in significant changes in the blade response over 0.5 M < 1.
Specifically, excitation of the third and fourth modes were observed at 0 = 13
but were not at 0 = 8 . Additionally, the variation in RMS modal amplitude for
the bending and torsion modes with Mach number was also sensitive to 0 .
The response of the blade in first (bending) mode at 0 = 8 was characterized
by the gradual increase in vibration amplitude with increasing Mach number up to
M = 0.90. A similar increase in the RMS modal velocity with Mach number was
also observed for the second (torsion) mode up to M = 0.60. A local maxima in
the RMS modal velocity was observed at M = 0.75 for first torsion. In addition,
a local maxima for first bending was observed at M = 0.95. An increase in angle
of attack resulted in two local maxima for the torsion mode at M = 0.65 and
M = 0.80. Additionally, the response in bending at 0 = 13 revealed a gradual
increase in RMS modal velocity without a similar local maxima at M = 0.95. All
the local maxima for the bending and torsion modal velocities occurred during
conditions of transonic flow over the blade.
The modal vibration velocity revealed that the response of the blade was highly
unsteady. The envelope of the modal velocity fluctuated, and these fluctuations
were influenced by Mach number and angle of attack. The local maxima observed
for the bending mode at 0 = 8 was associated with a long duration burst-type
125
126
CHAPTER 5
IMPULSE RESPONSE OF AN ISOLATED COMPRESSOR BLADE IN
COMPRESSIBLE FLOW
5.1 Introduction
The objective of this chapter was to explore the response of the cantilevered
blade to a mechanical impulse at different flow conditions. The response of the
blade to a mechanical impulse can depend on the structural properties of the blade,
the fixture on which it is mounted, and the unsteady aerodynamic forces that occur
as a result of blade vibration. In typical axial turbomachinery the combined effect
of all these interactions can determine the vibration characteristics of the blades.
The blades response to the flow was a result of the aerodynamic forces acting
on the blade. These forces can be separated based on their phase relationship with
the blade. Components of the aerodynamic forcing which were in-phase with the
blade vibration will be referred to as aerodynamic excitation, whereas out-of-phase
components are referred to as aerodynamic damping. Aerodynamic damping can
be an important factor in both the natural response and the transient response of
turbomachine blades. The objective of this set of experiments was to investigate
the effective damping of the cantilevered blade
127
5.2 Theory
5.2.1 Model of aerodynamic damping
The aerodynamic damping was defined as the component of aerodynamic forcing that was out-of-phase with the blade vibration displacement. The equations
governing the response of the blade for the bending and torsion modes were presented in chapter 4. They are repeated here for clarity
dZ1
dZ12
2
+ 2(2f 1 )1
+ (2f 1 ) Z1 = L1
M1
dt2
dt
2
dZ2
dZ2
2
I2
+ 2(2f 2 )2
+ (2f 2 ) Z2 = T2 .
dt2
dt
(5.1)
(5.2)
Note that the subscripts refer to the eigen-modes of the blade. The factor
and
dZ2
dt
dZ1
dt
dZ12
1
dZ1
2
M1
+ 2(2f 1 ) 1 = [L1 ]
+ (2f 1 ) Z1 = < [L1 ] (5.3)
dt2
M1 4f 1 dt
2
dZ2
1
dZ2
2
I2
+ 2(2f 2 ) 2 = [T2 ]
+ (2f 2 ) Z2 = < [T2 ] , (5.4)
dt2
I2 4f 2 dt
=[L1 ]
,
M1 4f 1
=[T2 ]
.
I2 4f 2
A
1
(5.5)
A
2
(5.6)
128
(5.7)
where A0 is the initial amplitude of vibration. This assumption implied that the
modal forcing due to the natural unsteady aerodynamics were small compared
to the forces generated as a result of the mechanical impulse. Such a situation
may occur immediately following a large mechanical impulse. The estimates of
the effective damping ratio use the first seven cycles of vibration for the first mode
to estimate the aerodynamic damping. The duration used was selected based on
observations of the blade vibration after the impulse had been applied.
The effective damping ratio was estimated using the approach described in
chapter 2, section 2.2.3. It will be repeated here for convenience. Given the
time-resolved modal velocity of the blade, Zp (t), Matlabs Hilbert function was
applied to make the signal analytic. This operation is denoted by the operator H[].
Assuming a form for Zp (t) described by equation 5.7, the magnitude of H[Zp (t)]
129
is given by
|H[Zp (t)]| = A0 ef p p t .
(5.8)
tan
= [H[Zp ]]
< [H[Zp ]]
= 2f p t.
(5.9)
Equations 5.8 and 5.9 were used to estimate the effective modal damping, p .
It was further assumed that the damping ratio and frequency of vibration were
approximately constant over the duration of the impulse response. This assumption is valid for simple vibration energy dissipation mechanisms such as viscous
damping and the aerodynamic damping described by linear theory. Note that this
assumption may not be valid if non-linear sources of vibration dissipation are significant, such as Coulomb or slip damping (cf. [32]) or non-linear fluid-structure
interactions that result in hysteretic damping (such as dynamic stall, cf. [55] and
[12]).
The results presented in the following sections characterize the blade motion
in terms of modal velocity, p , rather than modal displacement, Zp . Note that
for an impulse response, the modal velocity () differs from the position (Z) by
a factor of 2f p (j p ). It was discovered that p << 1 for both modes and
all flow conditions investigated. As a result, the difference between the modal
velocity and displacement is the amplitude and phase. Recall that the damping is
depended only on the normalized decay rate, and so the error associated with using
modal velocity in lieu of displacement can be considered negligible. In general,
this relation is not valid for complex modal amplitude variations or large damping
ratios.
130
5.3 Results
5.3.1 Variation in effective damping ratio for the first two modes
Figure 5.1 shows the effective modal damping ratio of the blade at 0 = 8 as
a function of Mach number. The figure presents the damping ratio from single
impulse events (in dots) and the Mach-averaged damping ratio as a solid curve.
Despite the high repeatability of the impulse response in quiescent air, the data
show significant scatter at non-zero fluid velocities. The scatter is very large for
the bending vibration at transonic Mach numbers (recall Mcrit. 0.62). The
modal damping ratio for bending increased with increasing Mach number up to
M = 0.65. A moderate decrease in damping to slightly below the value measured
in quiescent air was observed between 0.65 M 0.80. A sharp increase was
then observed between 0.80 M 0.85, followed by a large decrease. The Machaveraged damping was nearly zero at M = 0.95. A slight increase was observed
between 0.95 M 1.00. The ensemble variation also grew with increasing Mach
number up to M = 0.90. A reduction was observed in the ensemble variation
between 0.90 M < 1.
The damping ratio of the torsion mode had less variation with Mach number
than the bending mode. The scatter in the individual damping ratio estimates
was nearly uniform over nearly the entire Mach number range and was larger than
the scatter observed for quiescent air. Additionally, the damping ratio was very
nearly zero over the entire range of Mach numbers investigated.
The effective damping ratio under quiescent flow conditions (M = 0) was
significant with 1 0.0128 and 2 0.0078. An investigation of the change
in damping ratio as a function of atmospheric pressure was performed using a
similar blade. The objective of this experiment was to estimate the contribution
131
of the quiescent air to the damping of the blade. A description of this experiment
and the results can be found in Appendix A. It was found that the quiescent
air contributed very little to the aerodynamic damping. Thus, it may be likely
that most of the damping observed under quiescent conditions for these tests were
associated with the fixture holding the blade rather than due to the presence of
the fluid.
(a)
(b)
0.1
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.05
0.005
0.005
0
0.01
0.015
0.05
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.02
0
Mach number
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Mach number
The effective damping ratio of the blade at 0 = 13 is shown in figure 5.2. The
following observations may be made. The damping of the bending mode increased
slightly with increasing Mach number at a rate similar to the 0 = 8 results for
M < 0.80. A slight decrease in damping was observed between 0.80 M 0.95.
The damping for the torsion mode showed little variation over a large range of
132
Mach numbers. Similar to the 0 = 8 results, the torsion modal damping ratio
was also very nearly zero. Note however that an increase in damping and a
reduction in scatter was observed between 0.50 M 0.60.
(a)
(b)
0.1
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.05
0.005
0.005
0
0.01
0.015
0.05
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.02
0
Mach number
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Mach number
133
(b)
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.02
(a)
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.02
0.02
0.03
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.03
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Mach number
Mach number
0 = 8 and 13 had nearly identical variation with Mach number below M < 0.55.
The measured damping ratios at high Mach number deviated from the theoretical
prediction. The theoretical model was derived from a linearized version of the
equations of motion, and so it was expected that it would be inaccurate at high
Mach number.
The variation in damping with Mach number for the torsion mode is shown
in figure 5.3 (b). The theoretical and experimental aerodynamic damping ratios
were in reasonable agreement and very nearly zero for low Mach numbers.The
theoretical damping ratio diverged from the measurements beyond M > 0.70.
134
135
(b)
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
(a)
0
0.2
0.4
0.4
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.5
0.5
3 [m/s]
3 [m/s]
0
0.2
0
0.5
10
15
20
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
25
30
35
40
45
50
0
0.5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
time period, implying negative aerodynamic damping. The general trend could be
approximately described by an exponential growth, but instantaneous vibration
amplitude was also characterized by a quasi-periodic oscillation. Finally, a large
spike was observed at t = 18 ms, immediately followed by a sharp reduction in
vibration amplitude.
The effect of increasing blade angle of attack at M = 0.75 resulted in noticeable
changes in the response. The difference between the two cases, shown in figure
5.5 (a) and 5.5 (b) can be described as follows. The bending modal damping at
0 = 13 was larger than observed at 0 = 8 . The bending response had low
magnitude deviations from an exponential decay. The torsion modal damping was
positive, and the response deviated from an exponential decay. These deviations
were quasi-periodic.
The blade impulse response at M = 0.81 is shown in figure 5.6. Recall that
at this Mach number a local minima was observed for the torsion modal damping
at 0 = 13 and for the bending modal damping at 0 = 8 . The 0 = 8
136
(b)
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
(a)
0
0.2
0.4
0.4
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.5
0.5
3 [m/s]
3 [m/s]
0
0.2
0
0.5
10
15
20
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
25
30
35
40
45
50
0
0.5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
case (figure 5.6) could be described as follows. The vibration amplitude remained
nearly constant for a long period after the mechanical impulse was applied. The
resultant total damping was approximately zero, implying that the aerodynamic
damping was negative. Note that at t = 47 ms, an abrupt decrease in vibration
amplitude was observed. The torsion amplitude over the same time period had
an exponential decay for the first 15 ms after the mechanical impulse. A sharp
decrease in vibration amplitude was observed between 30 t 36 ms, followed by
a period of rapid growth. This period of growth transitioned into another period
of decay.
The response at M = 0.81 and 0 = 13 (figure 5.6) also had some noteworthy
features. The bending vibration amplitude had an initial exponential decay with
a correspondingly low damping ratio. This damping ratio was lower than the
damping observed at M = 0.75. A sharp decrease in vibration amplitude was
observed at t = 36 ms, followed by a period of nearly constant amplitude vibration.
The torsion response could be characterized by an exponentially growing vibration.
137
Note that large deviations from this growth rate were observed.
(b)
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
(a)
0
0.2
0.4
0.4
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.5
0.5
3 [m/s]
3 [m/s]
0
0.2
0
0.5
10
15
20
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
25
30
35
40
45
50
0
0.5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
The blade response at M = 0.95 is shown in figure 5.7. Recall that at this
Mach number, a local minima in bending modal damping was observed at 0 = 8 .
This is illustrated in figure 5.7 (a), which revealed that the bending vibration
was nearly constant over most of the observed response. A period of decaying
vibration amplitude was observed beyond t = 38 ms. The torsion response could
be characterized by a period of rapid growth followed by high amplitude vibrations.
The instantaneous amplitude fluctuated, but the mean value was nearly constant
between 25 t 45 ms.
The response at high angle of attack and M = 0.95 is shown in figure 5.7
(b). The bending vibration amplitude had an approximately exponential decay,
138
though moderate deviations from this curve were observed. The decay rate was
much larger than was observed at 0 = 8 and M = 0.95 as well as at 0 = 13
and M = 0.81. The torsion vibration amplitude had little decay over the same
time period. Note that the amplitude had moderate fluctuations about the nearly
constant mean value.
(b)
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
1 [m/s]
1 [m/s]
(a)
0
0.2
0.4
0.4
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.5
0.5
3 [m/s]
3 [m/s]
0
0.2
0
0.5
10
15
20
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
25
30
35
40
45
50
0
0.5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Time [ms]
Time [ms]
5.4 Conclusions
The response of the blade to a mechanical impulse was investigated as a function of Mach number and blade angle of attack. It was found that the effective
damping, as inferred from the blade vibration decay rate, varied significantly with
tunnel speed. The bending modal damping ratio had a similar variation with
139
Mach number for the two angles of attack investigated between 0 M < 0.6.
This variation agreed reasonably well with a linear model for the aerodynamic
damping. The model diverged from the measurements beyond M 0.60. This
suggests that most of the variation in the response of the blade to a mechanical
impulse for M 0.6 could be attributed to changes in the aerodynamic damping
as described by linearized unsteady thin airfoil theory.
The ensemble-averaged effective damping ratio for first bending showed a gradual increase with Mach number up to M = 0.65 for both angle of attacks investigated. Beyond this Mach number, the damping ratio at 0 = 8 had a substantial
decrease followed by a recovery at M = 0.90. At M >= 0.90, the damping ratio decreased again resulting in a total blade damping ratio of nearly zero. This
decrease coincided with a local maxima for the bending modes natural response.
This behavior was not observed at 0 = 13 . Instead, a moderate decrease was
observed between 0.65 M 1.0.
The ensemble-averaged effective damping for the torsion mode showed less
variation than the bending mode. At 0 = 8 , the aerodynamic damping decreased
between 0 M 0.4 such that the total modal damping was very nearly zero.
The damping ratio then remained very nearly constant over 0.4 M 1.0. In
contrast, the damping at 0 = 13 for this mode remained very nearly constant
at zero over 0 < M < 1.
The time-resolved blade response to a mechanical impulse revealed that the
response at 0 = 8 for bending could be described well by an exponential decay.
This implied that the viscous damping force model for the aerodynamic damping
(cf. chapter 4) was a fair approximation). In contrast, the bending response at
0 = 13 deviated from the exponential decay.
140
The time-resolved blade response for the torsion mode differed substantially
from the bending response. Specifically, the majority of the responses observed
had an exponential decay (or growth) like behavior only for the first few cycles
after the mechanical impulse was applied to the blade. This variation was observed
at both angle of attacks and over a wide range of Mach numbers. This suggested
that a linear model for the modal damping was not appropriate for this mode.
141
CHAPTER 6
DEVELOPMENT AND UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS OF BLADE IMAGE
VELOCIMETRY
6.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses the theory and bench-top validation of a novel noncontact blade vibration measurement technique. This technique was developed
as an alternative to the two conventional vibration measurement techniques commonly employed in turbomachine aeromechanical validation : strain gages and
Blade Tip Timing.
A description of the general implementation of combined BIV/PIV will be
presented in the following section along with a demonstration which shows the
aeroelastic response of a flat plate in incompressible flow. This will be followed by
a detailed analysis of the accuracy of the PIV algorithms for measuring the structural velocity. The calculations used for the determination of the modal amplitude
as well as the associated uncertainty analysis will then be provided. This will be
followed by a discussion of two sets of experiments used to both demonstrate and
validate the BIV measurement technique. The first experiment was a benchtop
validation of the measurement technique against a commercially available Laser
Doppler Vibrometer using a harmonically forced cantilevered beam. The second
set of experiments applied the BIV measurement technique to a high-speed axial
142
143
(a)
40
35
30
25
z 0 [mm]
20
15
10
5
0
5
10
15
20
10
10
20
x0 [mm]
30
40
50
Vorticity [rad/s103 ]
2.5
(b)
40
35
30
1.5
25
z0 [mm]
20
0.5
15
0
10
0.5
1.5
10
15
20
10
10
20
x0 [mm]
30
40
50
2.5
Figure 6.1. (a) Image of seeded fluid and structure for combined
BIV/PIV measurements. (b) Computed velocity and vorticity field.
fluid velocity; structure velocity 50; contours indicate fluid vorticity.
144
The BIV/PIV image pairs were acquired at 1 Hz. The low sampling rate with
respect to the frequency of the structural vibration (53 Hz) implied that each
velocity field obtained by combined BIV/PIV was an independent realization.
However, dynamic information can be obtained by phase averaging the velocity
measurements with respect to the blade motion. The phase-state of the vibration
was determined by measuring the angle of the blade with respect to the approach
flow as well as the angular velocity of the blade. The angle of the blade tip was
determined from a single blade image. The angular velocity was derived from
the velocity measurements. A phase-space type diagram of 300 realizations of
the structural motion is shown in figure 6.2. The resulting limit cycle shown is
approximately elliptical. The solid ellipse shown in the figure represents a phase
averaged representation of the quasi-periodic blade motion. The major and minor
axes represent the amplitude of the phase-averaged angular displacement and
velocity, respectively. The ratio of the major axis to the minor axis of this ellipse
yields an estimate for the frequency of vibration, and was found to be 48 Hz.
The phase-averaged velocity and vorticity fields at two points in the response
are shown in figure 6.3. An isocontour representing velocity magnitude of 11 m/s
is shown in order to illustrate the spatial extent of the wake. In figure 6.3(a),
the plate is shown pitching upward and the general structure of the flow field is
similar to the instantaneous measurement presented in figure 6.1(b). Note that
the velocity field shown is a planar section of a highly three dimensional flow at
the tip of the plate. The velocity shows a separation point at 30% chord (as
measured from the leading edge). The isocontour shows that the separation region
grows in the chord-normal direction as the flow progresses downstream. Aft of
50% chord, the isocontour becomes nearly parallel to the free-stream velocity.
145
3
/10
[radians/s]
0.05
(a)
0
(b)
0.05
0.05
0.05
[radians]
Figure 6.2. Phase space behavior of the flat plate subject to uniform
flow. Points marked represent phase-state locations used in figure 6.3.
There are significant differences in the flow field as the plate pitched downward
(figure 6.3(b)). The separation point moved forward to approximately 15 percent
of the chord, and two regions within the wake were observed. Specifically, the
isocontour is nearly parallel to the blade over the mid section of the chord, and
nearly parallel to the free stream direction near the trailing edge. Analysis of the
full cycle of the phase-averaged response revealed an interesting dynamic between
the plate and the fluid. As the plate pitches upward (figure 6.3(a)), the separation
point retreats toward the trailing edge and the chord-normal extent of the wake
grows. A new separation region then forms upstream of the pre-existing wake
region as the plate begins to pitch downward. The new separation region grows
until the lowest angle of attack is reached. A video illustrating the phase-averaged
velocity field over the entire limit cycle is available from the authors1 .
Figures 6.1 - 6.3 demonstrate that significant insight into fluid-structure inter1
http://www.archive.org/details/BIV_PIV_Phase_average_Mikrut_Morris_09
146
Vorticity [rad/s103 ]
2.5
(a)
40
35
30
1.5
25
z0 [mm]
20
0.5
15
0
10
0.5
1.5
10
15
20
10
10
20
x0 [mm]
30
40
50
Vorticity [rad/s103 ]
2.5
(b)
40
35
30
1.5
25
20
z0 [mm]
2.5
0.5
15
0
10
0.5
1.5
10
15
20
10
10
20
x0 [mm]
30
40
50
2.5
147
actions can be obtained using the BIV/PIV technique in aeroelastic flows. The
following section will focus on the accuracy of the structural velocity measurements using the PIV hardware. This will be followed by a description of the
mathematics and uncertainty related to using the BIV measurements to estimate
the discrete modal amplitudes.
148
Velocity measurements obtained from BIV were spatially averaged in the vicinity of the LDV measurement point. The LDV measurements were time averaged
over the 200s required to obtain two BIV images. The optical arrangement and
vector processing were similar to that described in the previous section.
The velocity measured by the BIV system is shown as a function of the LDV
measured velocity in Figure 6.5(a). The corresponding difference between the two
measured velocities are shown in Figure 6.5(b) in pixel equivalent displacement.
The LDV velocity was converted to pixel equivalent displacement by applying
the PIV camera calibration to the LDV data. The peak locking effect[65], a common error in PIV measurements, is evident in the data. The standard deviation
of the peak-locking effect is approximately 0.045 pixels. This corresponds to an
accuracy of 1.2% of the full-scale measurement, or 9.1 mm/s over a range of 757
mm/s. These results will be used in section 6.5 for estimating the uncertainty of
the blade modal amplitude.
149
(a)
(b)
0.5
0.2
0.4
0.15
0.3
VPIV [m/s]
0.2
0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.3
0.15
0.4
0.5
0.5
0.2
2
0.5
VLDV [m/s]
XLDV [pixels]
(xi , yj ) and time (tn ), [vv]i,j = v(xi , yj ). Here i = 1, j = 1 represents the leading
edge of the blade tip. The trailing edge of the blade is represented by i = M ,
where M is determined by the number of velocity vectors along the chord that are
provided by the PIV processing. The notation [ ]i,j denotes the element of the
argument corresponding to the ith row and j th column. The number of subscripts
denotes the dimension of the argument; in this case a matrix with 2 dimensions.
The velocities can be represented by a summation of eigenmodes as
[vv]i,j =
P
X
[]i,j,p []p .
(6.1)
p=1
eigenmode shapes of the structure are given by the three dimensional matrix .
Because the BIV technique provides velocity measurements at the tip of the structure, it will be useful to provide a more specific notation to represent these values.
Specifically, the measurements along the chord of the blade tip are represented as
(6.2)
[]i,p []i,j=1,p .
(6.3)
such that is a two dimensional [M P ] matrix with rows corresponding to the ith
measurement point along the chord-wise direction and the columns corresponding
to the pth vibration mode evaluated at yj=1 . Unlike the full eigenmode shapes
given by , the columns of the matrix are not generally orthogonal.
The relationship between the observed velocities and the modal amplitudes is
now given by
V = ,
(6.4)
This relation can be inverted to obtain the modal amplitudes directly from the
measured velocities:
= [T ]
where the superscript
T V
(6.5)
that the columns must be linearly independent ( must be full column rank).
Equation 6.5 can be used with equation 6.1 to estimate the full blade velocity v .
151
The mean squared amplitude of the various modes is most often of interest, and
can be evaluated directly from an ensemble of velocity measurements (V) through
equation 6.5. However, it will be useful to consider the mean squared amplitudes
of the modes based on the statistics of the measured velocities in order to simplify
the uncertainty analysis to follow. The ensemble of (tn ) can be represented as
the matrix
(t1 ) (t2 ) (t3 ) (tN )
(6.6)
where the discrete time tn is shown explicitly for clarity. Note that is a [P N ]
matrix, where N is the number of samples. The vector of mean-squared amplitudes
of the P modes is estimated by
1 T
(6.7)
where the operator D () selects the diagonal elements of the argument. Note that
2 is a vector of length P .
The measured velocities can be used to define the ensemble of observations as
=
V(t1 ) V(t2 ) V(t3 ) V(tN )
= ,
(6.8)
1
1
T = T T .
N
N
152
(6.9)
[T ] :
2 = D (LCR)
(6.10)
Equation 6.10 relates the mean-squared amplitudes of the structural modes given
in 2 to the two-point correlation matrix of the observed velocities.
The results obtained from application of equation 6.10 may be validated
by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) of the observed tip velocities, .
POD performs an eigen-decomposition of the two point correlation matrix of an
ensemble of velocity observations. Feeny and Kappagantu [23] demonstrated that
for structural vibration, the eigen-modes obtained from POD approximate the
mode-shapes of a given structure. Therefore, if the tip projection of the active
modes of vibration are nearly orthogonal, then the eigen-modes obtained from
POD should agree with the active tip-mode shapes, . Conversely, if the observed
tip velocity is due primarily to measurement noise, then the POD eigen-modes
will differ significantly from .
Note that the POD eigen-modes are an orthogonal least-squares approximation to the tip projection of the active blade modes, which may be non-orthogonal.
The difference in the mode shapes can result modal-amplitude estimates which
differ significantly between BIV and POD analyses. The amplitude estimates obtained from BIV will reflect the true modal amplitude because BIV uses the true
tip projection, rather than an orthogonal approximation.
153
= + T ,
(6.11)
C=
1
( T T + T T T + + T ) .
N
D (LCR) = 2 +
1
D (L T T + R + L T R) .
N
154
(6.12)
The left hand side of equation 6.12 represents the measured quantity. The first
term on the right hand side of equation 6.12 contains the true values of the modal
amplitudes. The remainder of the terms are errors due to the additive noise. The
second and third terms on the right hand side of equation 6.12 are noise-signal
cross correlations, while the last is the autocorrelation of the noise. The signalnoise correlation terms can be finite in magnitude for a given experiment, but
have an expected value of zero so long as the noise is not related to the mode
shapes. However, the error due to noise autocorrelation is positive definite which
leads to an expected bias. This error will be defined as
[A ]p
i
1 h
E [D (L T R)]p / 2 p ,
N
(6.13)
where E[] is the expected value of the argument. The error is can be simplified to
h
i
[A ]p = D [T ]1
2 / 2 p ,
(6.14)
1 T
.
E D
N
(6.15)
155
N
M
1
M
X
1 X 1
1 X
N n=1 M 1 i=1
M i=1
M
1 X T
T
M i=1
!
,
(6.16)
(6.17)
p=1
where
2
p
M
1
M
X
1
1 X
[]i,p
[]i,p
M 1 i=1
M i=1
M
1 X T
T
[ ]p,i
[ ]p,i
M i=1
!
(6.18)
is the variance of the pth mode along the chord. Note that 2 was assumed
constant for all modes such that is a scalar quantity. Equations 6.12 and 6.17
represent a system of P + 1 equations with P + 1 unknowns which is solvable for
the mean-squared modal amplitudes 2 and the noise 2 .
6.4.2 Bias error due to velocity discretization
The bias error associated with the discretization of the velocity when using
BIV will now be considered. The BIV measurement technique computes velocity
156
[]p
q
2 [ 2 ]p cos 2 [f ]p tn ,
(6.19)
2 [ ]p cos 2 [f ]p tn .
[f ]p t
p
(6.20)
[]p
(6.21)
[B ]p = 1
sin( [f ]p t)
.
[f ]p t
(6.22)
157
158
0.1
0.05
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
(t)f
159
TABLE 6.1
COMPARISON OF MODAL AMPLITUDE ESTIMATES FOR A
BEAM UNDER TWO COMPONENT HARMONIC FORCING.
LDV [m/s]
BIV [m/s]
Mode 1
0.0015
N/A
Mode 2
1.4159
1.4097
Mode 3
0.7468
0.7338
6.6 Conclusions
BIV has been developed for measuring structural vibration using a commercial PIV system. The method is non-intrusive and can measure structural velocity
with high accuracy. Furthermore, PIV measurements can also be obtained simultaneously using this technique.
160
There are a number of potential advantages compared to traditional structural measurements. First, the instantaneous amplitude of the blade mode shapes
can be obtained because a spatial distribution of structural velocity is measured.
When coupled with PIV measurements of the fluid velocity, the causal relationships between the fluid and structural motion can be studied. An example was
provided using a thin flat plat in a low-speed wind tunnel. A limit-cycle behavior was found in which the first torsional vibration mode was closely linked with
a moving separation point. A second advantage of BIV is the ability to obtain
aeroelastic measurements on rotating structures. This will allow measurements of
both forced excitation and flutter in turbomachinery blades.
The theory relating the fluctuating velocity at the free-end of a blade (the
tip) to the modal amplitudes of the blade was presented. The measurements can
provide independent realizations of the modal amplitude as long as the observable
mode shapes are linearly independent. The equations were developed in order to
describe the variance of the modal amplitudes in terms of the two-point correlation
matrix of the measured velocity. This allowed for an analysis of the error due to
noise corruption in the velocity measurements.
Two sources of error in the estimation of modal amplitudes were identified.
The first is associated with the noise corruption of the velocity estimates and is
due to the peak-locking effect, an error common to PIV. This results in an overestimation of the modal amplitudes. The second error is due to the central difference
approximation of the velocity. Specifically, when the time between successive images is large the velocities are underestimated which leads to a systematic error
in the modal amplitudes.
A specimen was created to represent a compressor blade geometry. The blade
161
vibration modes were excited using harmonic acoustic forcing and compared with
laser vibrometry measurements that were acquired simultaneously with the BIV.
The results confirmed that the noise in the BIV measurements were dominated by
peak-locking error. This led to an over estimation of the modal amplitudes when
the displacement of the blade was small ((t)f < 0.1). The magnitude of the
error agreed well with the predicted values based on the estimates of peak-locking
noise. The error due to the central difference approximation of the velocity was
found to dominate at large blade displacements ((t)f > 0.1). Good agreement
was found between the experimentally measured magnitude and the theoretical
prediction.
162
CHAPTER 7
APPLICATION OF BIV TO AN AXIAL COMPRESSOR
7.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses the application of the BIV measurement technique to
a high speed axial compressor rotor. A description of the axial compressor and
data analysis algorithms used in this investigation can be found in chapter 2. The
theory used in determining the modal vibration velocity was described in chapter
6.
Two rotor shaft speeds were investigated using the BIV measurement technique. The first was at low shaft speed (2,886 RPM), and was used to validate
the measurement technique. The second was at high shaft speed (13,531 RPM).
The first set of experiments were conducted at low shaft speed and were performed to validate the accuracy of the measurement system against a known rotor
tip velocity. The rotor shaft speed was held constant at 2,886 RPM, corresponding
to a blade tip velocity of 65.5 m/s. The magnetic bearings were used to oscillate
the rotor axially. The axial oscillation was synchronous to the shaft rotation with
a frequency of 96.2 Hz and an amplitude of 49 mm/s. The frequency of the axial
oscillation was well below the natural frequencies of the blades and so the motion
of the tip due to blade vibration was assumed to be negligible. Three blades were
analyzed, corresponding to different points within a cycle of oscillation. Blade
163
number 5 was used as the reference case for the a-posteriori calibration. Fivehundred realizations of the tip velocity were acquired for each blade.
The second set of experiments were conducted at a shaft speed of 13,531 RPM,
corresponding to a blade tip velocity of 322 m/s. The magnetic bearings maintained the axial position of the shaft to 30m, and controlled the whirl orbits to
within 6m. BIV data were acquired at two operating points. The first was at the
aerodynamic design point of the compressor. The second was a low air mass flow
condition where the compressor was operating in deep stall. Large unsteady aerodynamic loads were expected at this flow condition and the BIV technique was
used to determine if these unsteady loads would induce a detectable level of blade
vibration. A single blade was investigated and an a-posteriori calibration based on
the ensemble-averaged tip velocity was applied at each operating condition. One
thousand realizations of the tip velocity were acquired for each operating point.
7.2 Results
This section presents the results of the application of BIV to the rotor of the
axial compressor. The results of the low shaft speed test will be discussed first,
followed by the analysis of the high-speed unsteady blade tip velocity.
7.2.1 Results, 2,886 RPM shaft speed with magnetic bearing excitation
A snapshot of the blade tip for the low shaft speed test is shown in figure
7.1. Also shown is the estimated tip velocity. Note that the leading and trailing
edges of the adjacent blades were removed for simplicity of presentation. It can be
seen that the major component of tip velocity is in the circumferential direction,
due to shaft rotation.
164
(b)
0
10
10
20
20
30
30
RT [mm]
RT [mm]
(a)
40
40
50
50
60
60
70
70
80
80
0
10
20
30
X [mm]
10
20
X [mm]
30
Figure 7.1. (a) image of a blade tip used for BIV measurements. The
shaft speed was 2,881 RPM. (b) Tip velocity estimated from the BIV
technique.
x 10
4.5
(V RT )/RT
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
% Chord
165
1/2
(V RT ) < (V RT )2 >
,
(7.1)
where <> denotes the ensemble average of the argument, RT is the radius of the
blade tip and is the shaft speed as estimated from the OPR sensor. Note that
good agreement was obtained for all four cases analyzed. The typical RMS error in
the BIV measured velocity for a single blade was 2.1 104 RT , corresponding
to a velocity of 14 mm/s. This was about 0.29 pixels displacement in the cameras
field of view. The uncertainty in the shaft speed and tip radius resulted in an
uncertainty of 4 mm/s in the true circumferential velocity, and so it can be
seen that the RMS error for the BIV measurement was near the practical limit
for digital image correlation velocity estimates (cf. Westerweel [65]).
The RMS error in the axial velocity estimate as a function of chord is shown
in figure 7.3. The error was defined as
1/2
(V x Vx ) < (V x Vx )2 >
,
(7.2)
where Vx is the axial velocity estimated from the shaft axial position sensor installed in the magnetic bearings. Note that good agreement was obtained with a
typical RMS error of 1.6 104 RT , corresponding to a velocity of 11 mm/s,
or about 0.22 pixel. This was similar in magnitude to the circumferential velocity
error. The similar magnitude between the circumferential and axial velocity errors
suggest a similar source: inaccuracies in the sub-pixel velocity estimate associated
166
x 10
4.5
4
(Vx Vx )/RT
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
% Chord
Figure 7.3. Chordwise distribution of RMS error in axial tip velocity for
a shaft speed of 2,886 RPM. blade 1;
blade 4; blade 5; blade 5,
single-frame double-exposure.
with BIV.
The axial velocity induced by the magnetic bearings was calculated from
the phase-averaged velocity of several blades. Figure 7.4 shows the reconstructed
axial velocity using both phase-averaged BIV and the axial position sensor. It
can be seen that the axial velocity obtained from BIV agreed with the true axial
velocity of the hub. This also validates the assumption that tip velocity due to
blade vibration was negligible at this operating point.
In summary, the BIV measurement technique is capable of accurately resolving two components of tip velocity of a rotating blade with high accuracy.
Furthermore, the accuracy associated with single-frame, double-exposed images
was similar to double-frame, double-exposed images.
167
60
40
20
20
40
60
0
1/2
1
Phase [radians]
3/2
Figure 7.4. Phase-averaged axial velocity vs. reference time. shaft speed
was 2,886 RPM and axial velocity was induced by magnetic bearings.
BIV measurement; axial velocity from axial position sensor.
168
0.5
0.4
0.3
VN [m/s]
0.2
0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0
20
40
60
80
100
% Chord
for the second POD eigen-mode and the second FEM mode are less favorable, but
qualitatively similar. Finally, it can be seen that the velocity distribution associated with the third POD eigen-mode does not resemble the velocity distribution
associated with the third FEM mode. The good agreement between the chordnormal RMS velocity distributions associated with the first POD mode and the
first FEM mode implies that a significant portion of the observed fluctuating tip
velocity was due to blade vibration in the first mode (cf. figure 2.13). Additionally, the poor agreement between the third POD eigen-mode and the third FEM
mode implies that the measurement technique could not distinguish between any
tip velocity due to excitation of this mode and the random noise associated with
errors in the tip velocity measurement. Finally, it can be concluded that the
second mode of vibration was active. The deviation of the POD chord-normal
169
TABLE 7.1
COMPARISON OF RMS AMPLITUDES OF THE POD
EIGEN-MODES AND THE FEM EIGEN-MODES USING THE BIV
TECHNIQUE FOR A SHAFT SPEED OF 13,531 RPM NEAR
DESIGN CONDITIONS.
Mode Number
[m/s]
0.54 0.13
15 7
0.31 0.13
87
velocity distribution from that observed using the FEM tip mode-shape implies
that the vibration amplitude was very close to lower limits of the measurement
technique.
Table 7.1 summarizes the RMS modal amplitudes and the maximum tip
deflection for each mode. The uncertainty in the modal amplitude was assumed
to be equal to the RMS noise estimated from the approach discussed in section 6.4.
The uncertainty in the displacement was estimated by multiplying the RMS noise
by the t used to measure the tip velocity. It can be seen from the maximum tip
deflections that the blade vibrations at this compressor operating point were very
small, and very near the limits of measurement accuracy for the BIV technique.
Figure 7.6 shows a comparison of the chord-normal RMS velocity at the tip
for the three blade FEM modes and the first three POD eigen-modes when the
compressor was operated in stalled conditions at high shaft speed. Also shown is
the RMS noise estimate. The chord-normal velocity attributed to blade vibration
170
0.5
0.4
0.3
VN [m/s]
0.2
0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0
20
40
60
80
100
% Chord
was much higher when the compressor was operated under stalled conditions than
at design mass-flow. The RMS velocity for the first two FEM modes increased by
a factor of three each. Furthermore, excitation of the third FEM was detected. A
comparison between the velocity distribution using the FEM tip modes and the
POD eigen-modes shows good agreement between both analyses, confirming that
a large portion of the observed fluctuating tip velocity was due to blade vibration.
Table 7.2summarizes the RMS modal amplitudes and the maximum tip deflection for each mode. It can be seen that all three vibration modes were much
larger than the estimated noise. Additionally, a comparison with table 7.1 reveals
that the amplitude of the first two modes of vibration increased by 330% and 345%
respectively. Finally, it should be mentioned that in spite of this dramatic increase
in vibration amplitude, the maximum tip deflection due to blade vibration was
171
TABLE 7.2
COMPARISON OF RMS AMPLITUDES OF THE POD
EIGEN-MODES AND THE FEM EIGEN-MODES USING THE BIV
TECHNIQUE FOR A SHAFT SPEED OF 13,531 RPM OPERATING
AT STALLED CONDITIONS.
Mode Number
[m/s]
1.70 0.12
47 6
1.09 0.12
27 6
0.70 0.12
15 6
very small.
7.3 Conclusions
A novel method for the estimation of blade vibration amplitudes on rotating
turbomachinery blades has been presented. The method, termed Blade Image Velocimetry, utilized equipment common to a standard PIV system. The theory and
uncertainty analysis of the measurement technique were presented. A method for
the estimation of the noise corruption of the measured tip velocities was presented.
Additionally, it was shown how a POD analysis could independently validate the
results obtained from BIV.
The measurement technique was applied to a high-speed, low pressure axial
compressor. The accuracy of the velocity measurements was evaluated at low
shaft speed using a known shaft rotation rate and axial position. The max-
172
173
CHAPTER 8
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
are also significant limitations to these studies which have precluded widespread
routine use on problems of practical interest.
175
aft of the blade trailing edge. Note that anomalous, shock-free deceleration was
observed at these conditions, and so the PIV results should be interpreted as a
qualitative description of the flow.
The PIV measurements indicated that the flow field at transonic conditions
was significantly different than at subsonic conditions. This change most likely
influenced the mechanisms by which the blade exchanged energy with the flow.
The literature review presented in chapter 1 showed that shock-boundary layer
interaction may be a key mechanism that can result in large blade vibrations. According to Lee [44], shock oscillation typically occurs when the local Mach number
upstream of the shock was between 1.1 and 1.5. A steady panel method analysis
of the airfoil transformation predicts a peak Mach number of approximately 1.4
at 30% chord on the suction side of the airfoil at a free-stream Mach number of
M = 0.75, which implies that an oscillating shock could have been present [44].
The response of the blade was characterized into two types. The first, termed
the natural response, described the quasi-steady vibration of the blade as a result
of steady flow. The second response described the transient response of the blade
as a result of the steady flow and a mechanical impulse, and was quantified using
the modal damping ratio.
The natural response was dominated by the first two eigen-modes of the blade.
These modes, termed bending (f 1 = 349 Hz) and torsion (f 2 = 1540 Hz), were
sensitive to both Mach number and angle of attack. The RMS modal velocity for
the bending mode tended to increase with increasing Mach number and a local
maxima was observed at 0 = 8 and M 0.95. This local maxima occurred over
a narrow range of Mach numbers. The RMS modal velocity for the torsion mode
also increased with increasing Mach number and a local maxima was observed at
176
177
both angles of attack investigated. In contrast, the torsion response was underpredicted for all conditions investigated.
The amplitude of the modal velocity was highly unsteady between 0.65
M 1 for both angle of attacks investigated. The vibration for both modes could
be described as a series of bursts and pulses of vibration. The bursts were
periods of high amplitude vibration, whereas the pulses were shorter in duration.
The pulses and bursts of vibration occurred at regular intervals over a large range
of transonic conditions for both angles of attack investigated. The duration of the
bursts and pulses were sensitive to both Mach number and angle of attack. Furthermore, it was discovered that these vibration patterns were correlated between
the first two blade modes. The orthogonal mode shapes and large difference in
natural frequency for the the modes indicated that the correlation may have been
a result of modal coupling through the fluid. The characteristic time scales over
which both modes were correlated were much longer than the vibration period for
either mode. This indicated a coupling between the modes through the unsteady
fluid dynamics.
The correlation between the bending and torsion modes may provide an advantage for flutter control strategies. The cross-correlation between the torsion
and bending modes indicates that a control strategy that targets one mode may
also result in control of the second mode for this system. Additionally, the relatively long time scales observed for the blade vibration indicate that an effective
control system may only need to operate intermittently to promote conditions
which attenuate blade vibrations.
The variation in damping was also investigated for the first two modes. The
bending modal damping ratio varied significantly between single impulses when
178
the free-stream tunnel speed was M > 0.60. The scatter in the damping ratio
is important for the aeroelastic design of turbomachinery blades because it was
so large. A large variation in aerodynamic damping can be incorporated into
aeromechanical design by providing sufficient design margin for modal damping.
The Mach-averaged aerodynamic contribution to damping for the bending
mode increased with increasing tunnel speed for subsonic flow. This variation
was in fair agreement with the model predictions using unsteady thin airfoil theory. A decrease in this damping was observed for transonic flow conditions, with
negative aerodynamic damping being observed at M > 0.95 when 0 = 4 . In
contrast, the Mach-averaged aerodynamic damping for the torsion mode was insensitive to tunnel speed at M > 0.4. This behavior deviated from the model
predictions.
The time-resolved vibration decay due to a mechanical impulse was also observed. It was found that the bending vibration could be described well by a
sinusoid with exponentially decaying (or growing) amplitude. This observation
was valid for both angle of attacks and all Mach numbers investigated. The torsion modal velocity amplitude after the mechanical impulse deviated from the
characteristic exponential decay.
179
The PIV measurements indicated that a substantial change to the flow field
occurred for transonic conditions. Specifically, the presence of pockets of high and
low momentum flow were observed aft of the blade and did not appear to be correlated with the rest of the flow field. Obtaining insight into the physics associated
with these observations may yield additional insight into the blades response at
transonic flow conditions. The complete description of this flow field at a fixed
tunnel speed and blade angle of attack through experimental measurements shall
be referred to as fluid velocity mapping. Such a mapping could be accomplished
by a variety of measurement techniques. However, non-intrusive techniques (such
as Laser Doppler Velocimetry or PIV) may be suitable for this study because of
their minimal influence on the flow.
A second area for future work is the investigation of cascade effects. The experimental setup specifically targeted and isolated compressor blade to minimize
experiment complexity. This allowed for a straightforward investigation of the
fluid-structure interactions. A natural extension of this work would be to repeat
the experiment using a cascade. A flexible test blade would be installed in a
cascade of stiff blades. Ideally, only the flexible test blade would be allowed to
vibrate, thus providing insight into how the steady aerodynamics of a cascade influences the unsteady fluid-structure interactions. The use of stiff cascade blades
surrounding the flexible test blade is recommended to remove adjacent blade vibration velocities as a potentially uncontrolled variable. The results from this set
of experiments would help guide future studies of more complex systems, such as
fully flexible cascades and turbomachine rotor/stator stages. Furthermore, the
experimental data provided by these simple studies could provide well-defined
benchmark problems for theoretical and computational model development.
180
181
182
183
184
185
APPENDIX A
VARIATION IN BLADE DAMPING RATIO IN QUIESCENT AIR AS A
FUNCTION OF STATIC PRESSURE
A.1 Introduction
This appendix describes the investigation of the effect of static pressure on the
measured damping ratio of a cantilevered blade in quiescent air. This test was
performed to provide perspective on the relative contribution of both the quiescent
air and the fixture holding the blade to the observed damping ratio.
187
(b)
10
8
6
z [mm]
4
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
10
x [mm]
188
Figure A.3. First two mode shapes of the blade. (a) Mode 1, f 1 = 1150
Hz. (b) Mode 2, f 2 = 3820 Hz.
189
and impulsive loading mechanism were placed within a vacuum chamber. The
structural response was measured using the single point LDV. The deflection of
the blade by the impactor was held constant throughout the test.
A.3 Results
Figure A.4 displays the damping ratio for the first two modes as a function of
static pressure. The effect of increasing static pressure resulted in a minor increase
in the damping ratio. The increase was slightly larger in mode 1 than in mode 2.
The damping ratio for both modes is extremely small. This result is consistent
with the results of Kielb and Abhari [39].
A cubic polynomial was fit to the data to determine the damping of the structure in a complete vacuum. The change in damping between vacuum and atmospheric pressure can provide an estimate of the aerodynamic damping due to
quiescent air. Table A.1 displays the measured damping ratios at atmospheric
pressure and the estimated damping ratio under vacuum conditions. It can be
seen that most of the damping was due to the fixture rather than the quiescent
air.
A.4 Conclusions
The damping ratio of a cantilevered blade was investigated as a function of
static pressure under quiescent conditions. It was found that the modal damping
ratio for the first two modes decreased as static pressure was decreased. The
damping ratio at vacuum conditions was estimated by polynomial extraction.
It was found that the change in damping ratio between vacuum conditions and
190
TABLE A.1
MODAL DAMPING RATIO OF THE BLADE AT ATMOSPHERIC
PRESSURE AND VACUUM
Atmospheric Pressure
Vacuum
Mode 1
3.2 104
2.7 104
Mode 2
0.7 104
0.4 104
191
192
APPENDIX B
FIRST 10 EIGEN-MODES OF THE ISOLATED COMPRESSOR BLADE
The first 10 eigen-modes of the blade used in these experiments are shown
in figures B.1 - B.10. The frequencies, which are included in the captions, are
repeated in table B.1 for quick reference to those observed in the autospectral
density plots.
193
||
0.3
Z [mm]
10
0.25
0.2
10
0.15
50
40
30
0.1
20
10
20
0
10
Y [mm]
0
20
20
X [mm]
0.05
194
195
196
197
198
TABLE B.1
UNDAMPED NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF THE FIRST TEN
EIGEN-MODES OF THE BLADE AS COMPUTED BY FEA.
Mode #
Frequency [Hz]
349
1,540
1,767
3,804
3,985
4,990
6,976
8,570
8,649
10
10,084
199
APPENDIX C
INTEGRAL TIME SCALE
C.1 Introduction
The results presented in chapter 4 indicate that the characteristics of the response of the blade for the first two modes varied with free-stream Mach number.
The auto-correlation coefficients of the fluctuations in the modal velocity envelope also varied with Mach number. A way to characterize the changes in the
correlation coefficients is by observation of the integral time scale.
C.2 Approach
The integral time scale was defined as
Z
t?C
rxx ( )d
(C.1)
t?C
where rxx is the autocorrelation coefficient of the fluctuations in the modal velocity
envelope and t?C is the non-dimensional time where rxx (t? ) = 0.5. Recall that t?
represents a characteristic through-flow time, t? tU /c. This time-scale can
indicate changes in the non-dimensional time over which the envelope fluctuations
first become de-correlated. These in turn can yield insight into the time-scales
associated with the fluid-structure interactions exciting the blade.
200
(b)
300
300
250
250
(a)
200
150
100
50
0
0
200
150
100
50
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0
0
Mach Number
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Mach Number
C.3 Results
Figure C.1 shows the integral time scale of the first two modes of vibration as
a function of Mach number at 0 = 8 . The integral time scale for both modes
were much higher than the characteristic through-flow time, indicating that the
vibration for each mode was correlated over a long time-scale. The time-scale for
both modes increased with increasing Mach number. Additionally, the time-scale
over a 0.6 second window varied significantly. This scatter indicated that the
envelope fluctuations were not statistically converged over the 0.6 second window.
This was consistent with the observations of the RMS modal velocity presented in
chapter 4. This variation was especially large for the bending mode near M = 1.
The nearly linear growth in the ensemble-averaged time-scale with Mach number for both modes at M < 0.60 indicated that the characteristic decorrelation
time for the envelope fluctuations was proportional to Mach number. This may
201
(b)
300
300
250
250
(a)
200
150
100
50
0
0
200
150
100
50
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0
0
Mach Number
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Mach Number
indicate that the duration of the characteristic pulses and beats observed in
the time-series data varied proportionally with Mach number. Note that a local
maxima in the integral time scale for the first mode was observed at M = 0.95.
These flow conditions corresponded to a local maxima in the first modes RMS
velocity; which was characterized by long periods of high vibration.
Figure C.2 shows the integral time scale of the first two modes of vibration as
a function of Mach number at 0 = 13 . The following differences between these
results and the 0 = 8 results may be observed. First, for the bending mode the
individual time scales at M > 0.90 had less variation at 0 = 13 than at 0 = 8 .
The ensemble-averaged time-scale at these conditions for the bending mode was
also lower at 0 = 13 than at 0 = 8 . The variation at M < 0.9 was higher
for 0 = 13 . Finally, it should be noted that the variation in the time-scale for
the second mode at 0 = 13 had a local maxima near M = 0.67 followed by a
local minima at M = 0.75. This variation was observed for both the individual
202
(b)
250
250
200
200
(a)
150
100
50
0
0
150
100
50
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0
0
0.2
Mach Number
0.4
0.6
0.8
Mach Number
estimates and the ensemble averaged data, and was not observed at 0 = 8 . It
is interesting to note that the time-series of modal velocity for the second mode
at M = 0.65 were characterized by long periods of high vibration, whereas the
the modal velocity at M = 0.81 was characterized by many short periods of high
vibration.
Figure C.3 provides a graphical comparison of the ensemble-averaged integral
time scale for both modes at both angles of attack investigated as a function
of Mach number. The following may be observed. First, the time-scale for the
bending mode at 0 = 13 was equal to or higher than 0 = 8 when M < 0.90.
It may be concluded that an increase in angle of attack resulted in an increase
in the characteristic time scale of the fluid-structure interactions exciting the first
mode. The variation with Mach number for the first mode was similar, but not
identical between both angles of attack investigated.
The variation in integral time-scale for the second mode with Mach number
and angle of attack is shown in figure C.3 (b). In general, the ensemble-averaged
203
time-scales for the second mode were shorter than those observed for the first
mode. With the exception of 0.65 M 0.80, the integral time scales had
similar magnitudes between both angles of attack investigated. An increase in the
ensemble-RMS may be observed for 0 = 13 relative to 0 = 8 .
C.4 Conclusions
The fluctuations in the modal velocity envelope were investigated by considering the characteristic integral time scale of the vibration. This time scale was
defined using the autocorrelation coefficient of the fluctuations in the modal velocity envelope. This time scale can provide additional insight into the characteristics
of the blade vibration.
The integral time scale calculated from 0.6 second segments of vibration data
were not statistically converged. The ensemble-averaged integral time scales increased with increasing Mach number for the first two modes at 0 = 8 . A local
maxima was observed for the first mode at M = 0.95 and 0 = 8 . This implied
that the duration of the characteristic pulses and bursts were highest at these
conditions. This observation was consistent with the time-series data presented
in chapter 4. A local maxima and minima of the integral time scale was observed
for the second mode at 0 = 13 and at M = 0.65 and M = 0.75 respectively.
This was consistent with the time-series data, which indicated a vibration pattern
at M = 0.65 characterized by long periods of high vibration interspersed among
short periods of low vibration. Additionally, the time-series at M = 0.81 indicated
that the vibration could be described as a series of high amplitude, short duration
periods of vibration.
204
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