Detection of Cracks in Mistuned Bladed Disks Using Reduced-Order Models and Vibration Data

Abstract

A novel methodology to detect the presence of a crack and to predict the nonlinear forced response of mistuned turbine engine rotors with a cracked blade and mistuning is developed. The combined effects of the crack and mistuning are modeled. First, a hybrid-interface method based on component mode synthesis is employed to develop reduced-order models (ROMs) of the tuned system with a cracked blade. Constraint modes are added to model the displacements due to the intermittent contact between the crack surfaces. The degrees of freedom (DOFs) on the crack surfaces are retained as active DOFs so that the physical forces due to the contact/interaction (in the three-dimensional space) can be accurately modeled. Next, the presence of mistuning in the tuned system with a cracked blade is modeled. Component mode mistuning is used to account for mistuning present in the uncracked blades while the cracked blade is considered as a reference (with no mistuning). Next, the resulting (reduced-order) nonlinear equations of motion are solved by applying an alternating frequency/time-domain method. Using these efficient ROMs in a forced response analysis, it is found that the new modeling approach provides significant computational cost savings, while ensuring good accuracy relative to full-order finite element analyses. Furthermore, the effects of the cracked blade on the mistuned system are investigated and used to detect statistically the presence of a crack and to identify which blade of a full bladed disk is cracked. In particular, it is shown that cracks can be distinguished from mistuning.