Flow-Induced Vibratory Stress Prediction on Small Turbofan Engine Compressor Vanes Using Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis

Abstract

In this work, we evaluate an approach to flow-induced vibratory stress prediction on the high pressure compressor (HPC) stator vanes of a small turbofan engine, where strain gauge test data is available. The approach is based on fully-coupled fluid-structure interaction analysis in the time domain. In our evaluation, we consider the vibratory stress prediction accuracy as well as the computational cost. For the fully-coupled fluid-structure interaction analysis in the time domain, we use a commercial software package, ANSYS Workbench. The package offers a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver, CFX, as well as a structural finite element solver, ANSYS, in an integrated user interface with coupling between the two solvers. Using the package, we conduct coupled unsteady CFD analysis and transient dynamic analysis at the resonance speed to predict the flow-induces vibratory stresses on the HPC stator vane. Overall, the results show that that the FSI analysis tool can potentially be used for flow-induced vibratory stress prediction on compressor stator vanes as part of the design process.