Papers by Author: Muzio M. Gola

Abstract: Fretting fatigue is a complex phenomenon that occurs at component interfaces undergoing low amplitude oscillation and high contact pressure. In turbomachinery fretting occurs also at the blade tip interfaces where shrouds are machined with the aim to reduce the blade resonant vibration amplitude. The aim of this study is to investigate the damage by fretting on CMSX4 superalloy interfaces with and without plasma sprayed T800 coating. The contact pair is a hemispherical surface on a flat surface. The hysteresis cycles, namely the contact force against the relative displacement, have been measured through the experiment. The worn surfaces have been characterized by three-dimensional optical interferometry and SEM analysis. After 3×106 and 10×106 fretting cycles the surface without coating shows surface cracks and large change in the contact parameters.

Abstract: Stresses due to resonant vibrations induce fatigue damage in turbomachinery blades jeopardizing their structural integrity. Damping plays a fundamental role in passive control of resonant stresses. In the present work the effect of ‘crowning’ of dovetail joints on blade-root friction damping is for the first time investigated. In detail, the damping of a simplified blade is measured under varying centrifugal load for two different joint geometries: a customary dovetail attachment and a ‘crowned’ one. A theoretical model is developed to quantify the damping generated at the contact surfaces. Experimental results and analytical predictions are compared.

Abstract: Forced vibrations can lead to an irreparable damage of a blade array. Devices called “underplatform damper” that dissipate the vibration energy are employed in order to reduce blade vibration amplitude. The present paper deals with the design of the underplatform damper. A numerical code to calculate the forced response of a blade array with dampers has been previously purposely developed. A method is here proposed for the estimation of the unknown contact parameters demanded by the code. The computation results are here validated by means of comparison with experimental results on a static test rig. Three dampers with different shape are tested.