Session: 27-04 Methods and Modeling in Rotordynamics

Paper Number: 129422

129422 - Insight Into the Rotor Dynamics Consortium's History, Vision, and Ongoing Technical Projects 

The Engine-Aero industry has used MSC Nastran for propulsion loads and dynamics for more than 40 years.  Over that time-frame, many collaborative efforts have taken place to position MSC Nastran to satisfy the structural dynamics analysis requirements when designing a new engine and installing it on an airplane.  During the development of the Boeing 777 airplane in the mid 1990s it was recognized that improvements to the methods used to simulate the rotor dynamics of the engine needed to be improved to support related design challenges facing both Boeing and the engine companies.  In the late 1990s, a NASA/Boeing/MSC Software (now part of Hexagon AB) rotor dynamic consortium was formed.   This effort lasted for a decade (~1998 to 2008) and resulted in numerous significant rotor dynamics simulation capability improvements driven by Boeing, the jet engine manufacturers and turbo-machinery companies.

Development driven by the consortium lead to advancements in MSC Nastran that increased the damping options for rotors, introduced the nonlinear bearing elements, enabled the generation of Campbell diagrams, and updated equations of motion to include damping and circulation terms, and unbalance loading for frequency response and nonlinear transient rotor dynamics.  The subsequent years post the consortium saw the introduction of features like complex eigenvalue extraction methods, axisymmetric harmonic elements, concentrated masses in axisymmetric harmonic calculations, and the integration of 3-D elements for fixed and rotating reference frame analysis.  

Now it’s 2023 and the Engine-Aero industry again is expressing the need to push additional development into MSC/Nastran rotor dynamic capabilities. This is supported by Boeing, and the jet engine OEMs, including General Electric, Safran Aircraft Engines, Pratt and Whitney, and Rolls-Royce.  The Rotor Dynamics Consortium aims to define, drive, and standardize requirements to build models to address demanding rotor dynamics modeling and simulation needs. 

In this paper we will discuss what constitutes the consortium, the participating companies, subject matter, and the timeline to complete some of the ongoing initiatives.  It will also include technical details with ongoing activities (but is not excluded to): Advanced non-linear harmonic response; Support for 1D, axisymmetric and 3D Rotors; Synchronous analysis with multiple rotors; Consistent super elements and model reduction techniques; Internal rotor damping; and the solution procedure to best capture the effects of internal rotor damping for complex eigenvalue analysis (Campbell diagram) and frequency response analysis. 

Presenting Author: Donald Powell The Boeing Company

Presenting Author Biography: Don Powell, a Technical Fellow, is an expert in airplane structures, solid mechanics, and computer aided engineering. He specializes in the finite element (FE) method: generation of component FE models, the propulsion FE integrated model, processes used in the development of external flight loads and the application thereof, the extraction of internal loads, the development of dynamic modal solutions, and the Fan Blade Out transient dynamic analysis

Authors:

Donald Powell The Boeing Company
Hemant Patel Hexagon MI