Investigating CURVIC coupling behavior by utilizing two- and three-dimensional boundary and finite element methods

Abstract

This work investigates the behavior of CURVIC ® (CURVIC is a trademark of The Gleason Works, 1000 University Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14603, USA) couplings through two- and three-dimensional boundary and finite element models. The CURVICs are used to couple multiple rotors in an aircraft engine compressor, and are subjected to rotational loading. The models generated include a geometrically complex three-dimensional linear elastic body with curved surfaces, and are analyzed with the BEASY ® (BEASY is a registered trademark of Computational Mechanics BEASY Ltd, Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton S04 2AA, England) boundary element and ANSYS ® (ANSYS is a registered trademark of Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 65, Houston, PA 15342, USA) finite element software packages. The following comparisons are made between BEASY and ANSYS: Three-dimensional modeling capabilities, the effort required to generate the models, the accuracy of results and the ability to adequately post-process the results into meaningful data.