Geometrical Variability Modelling of Axial Compressor Blisk Aerofoils and Evaluation of Impact on the Forced Response Problem

The manufacturing process always produces onto the components a certain amount of geometrical uncertainty. This results inevitably in the introduction of a certain amount of variability within the manufactured parts. Even if the differences are small, all the resulting geometries will differ from each other. The present work focuses on the effect of the manufacturing geometrical variability on the high pressure compressor of a turbofan engine for civil aviation. The deviations of the geometry over the axial compressor blades are studied and modelled for the representation in the computational models. Such variability is of particular interest for the forced response problem, where small deviations of the geometry from the ideal nominal model can imply significant differences in the vibrational responses.

The information regarding the geometrical mistuning is extracted from a set of manufactured components surface scans of a blade integrated disk (blisk) rotor. The measured geometries are analyzed over a large amount of set radial sections, defining a set of opportune parameters to represent the deviations from the nominal design. A spline fit of the parameters over the radial sections allows the creation of a set of variables describing the geometry. The dimension of the variables domain is reduced using the principal component analysis approach, this allows to obtain an optimal subset of geometrical modes as linear combination of the above mentioned parameters. The reconstruction of the modelled geometries is performed for the implementation in complex CFD and FEM solvers. This is done via the application of the modelled delta nominal-to-measure geometrical offset to the hot geometry of the desired test case. The generated model allows a stochastic representation of the variability, providing an optimal set of variables to represent it. Moreover the approach as defined allows to apply the modelled variability to different blades, e.g. different stators or rotors, utilizing the nominal geometry as input. The aeroelastic analyses considering geometry based mistuning is carried on a test-rig case, focusing on how such variability can affect the modal forcing generated on the blades.

A validated CFD model is used to extract the force generated by the unsteady pressure field over the selected vibrational mode shapes of the rotor blades. The blade mode shapes are extracted form a FEM model of the whole blisk and the blades displacements are mapped over the CFD model nodes. The uncertainty quantification of the geometrical variability effect on the modal forcing is performed utilizing Monte Carlo methods. A reduced model for the CFD solution is employed, utilizing a single passage multi blade row which assumes a time-space periodicity solving the governing equations in the frequency domain. This allows for conducting an uncertainty quantification considering the large domain of the variables used to describe the geometries compared to the computational resources needed for the single solution. The unsteady modal forcing is studied as amplitude and phase shift for the different engine orders (frequencies arising from the engine working condition as higher harmonics of the shaft speed). In particular the scatter of the main engine orders forcing amplitudes for the manufactured blades can be compared with the nominal responses to predict the possible amplification due to the geometrical variability. Finally the results are compared to a larger computational model to assess the influence of multiple variable blades in the assembly.