Dynamic analysis of practical blades with shear center effect

Shear center effects on the natural frequencies and mode shapes of rotating and non-rotating practical blades are considered. An 18 degrees of freedom thick beam finite element is developed. Bending and shear force displacements and slopes, and torsional displacements are taken as degrees of freedom at both ends of the element. Total blade deflection slopes are considered as composed of bending and shear force deflection slopes in calculations of blade strain and kinetic energy. This element is compared with the existing thin and thick beam finite elements, and theoretical models. Results obtained for the vibration characteristics of rotating and non-rotating non-uniform aerofoil cross-sectioned blades are compared with the available calculated and experimental values. In all cases considered the element exhibits good convergence characteristics and produces accurate results.     

Torsional vibrations of non-uniform rotating blades with attachment flexibility

The torsional vibrations of non-uniform pretwisted rotating blades are studied by using finite element methods based on both the Rayleigh-Ritz and Galerkin formulations. The apparent differences between the matrices obtained from these formulations are explained and, as obtained by using three different orders of elements, results are presented for blades with flexibly attached roots and for a non-uniform blade representative of a bearingless rotor. A parametric study is carried out to resolve a controversy regarding the relative importance of certain terms in the equations of motion of pretwisted rotating blades. In Appendix I, an exact solution is presented for the torsional vibrations of flexibly attached rotating blades with piecewise constant inertia and elastic properties, which serves as a benchmark solution for the finite element results.     

Finite element dynamic analysis of practical bladed discs

The dynamic characteristics of one blade, two discs and one shrouded, bladed disc, having 87 blades, are predicted by the application of the finite element method of analysis. The discs are modelled by using both annular and sector elements. The blades are modelled by means of shell elements. The shrouds are represented by both lumped masses and straight beam elements. The predicted frequencies are compared with experimental results.     

Vibration frequency of a curved blade with weighted edge

The natural vibration frequencies and mode shapes of a curved cylindrical blade with a weighted edge are investigated. A finite element method is used, in which curved cylindrical shell finite elements are utilized to model the blade. The weighted edge is modelled as a beam with its stiffness and mass added into the stiffness and mass of the blade. Vibration frequencies and mode shapes for blades with different boundary conditions and with different radii of curvature are obtained. Finite element results are compared with experimental results.     

Axisymmetric laser welding of ceramics: comparison of experimental and finite element results

In this paper, we compare experimental data for a laser spot weld on a ceramic to the solution from an adaptive finite element model of the system. Our focus is on validating the finite element model, which necessarily includes numerous simplifications. We assume an axisymmetric geometry and flow profile, with a flat free surface. Buoyancy and surface tension drive the liquid motion in the molten ceramic pool beneath the laser, which is calculated using the axisymmetric forms of the continuity, momentum and energy equations. Latent heat, temperature-dependent material properties and radiation effects are all included in the formulation. These equations are solved with standard finite element techniques utilizing mesh relocation with a movement indicator based on solution gradients. Comparision with experimental data indicates that the numerical techniques used successfully predicted the depth and diameter of the actual ceramic weld pool.     

Damping of flexural vibrations in turbofan blades using the acoustic black hole effect

The results of the experimental study into the damping of flexural vibrations in turbofan blades with trailing edges tapered according to a power-law profile are reported. Trailing edges of power-law profile (wedges), with small pieces of attached absorbing layers, materialise one-dimensional acoustic black holes for flexural waves that can absorb a large proportion of the incident flexural wave energy. The experiments were carried out on four model blades made of aluminium. Two of them were twisted, so that a more realistic fan blade could be considered. All model blades, the ones with tapered trailing edges and the ones of traditional form, were excited by an electromagnetic shaker, and the corresponding frequency response functions have been measured. The results show that the resonant peaks are reduced substantially once a power-law tapering is introduced to the blade. An initial study into the aerodynamic implications of this method has been carried out as well, using measurements in a closed circuit wind tunnel. In particular, the effects of the trailing edge of power-law profile on the airflow-excited vibrations of the fan blades have been investigated. It has been demonstrated that trailing edges of power-law profile with appropriate damping layers are efficient in reduction of the airflow-excited vibrations of the fan blades. The obtained results demonstrate that power-law tapering of trailing edges of turbofan blades can be a viable method of reduction of blade vibrations.     

Helicopter noise in hover: Computational modelling and experimental validation

The aeroacoustic characteristics of a helicopter rotor are calculated by a new method, to assess its applicability in assessing rotor performance in hovering. Direct solution of the Euler equations in a noninertial coordinate system is used to calculate the near-field flow around the spinning rotor. The far-field noise field is calculated by the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FW–H) method using permeable control surfaces that include the blade. For a multiblade rotor, the signal obtained is duplicated and shifted in phase for each successive blade. By that means, the spectral characteristics of the far-field noise may be obtained. To determine the integral aerodynamic characteristics of the rotor, software is written to calculate the thrust and torque characteristics from the near-field flow solution. The results of numerical simulation are compared with experimental acoustic and aerodynamic data for a large-scale model of a helicopter main rotor in an open test facility. Two- and four-blade configurations of the rotor are considered, in different hover conditions. The proposed method satisfactorily predicts the aerodynamic characteristics of the blades in such conditions and gives good estimates for the first harmonics of the noise. That permits the practical use of the proposed method, not only for hovering but also for forward flight.     

Theory of tokamak equilibria with central current density reversal

It is found that, with a model current profile, the Grad-Shafranov equation can be reduced to the Helmholtz equation, which can describe a variety of equilibrium configurations. With the eigenvalue problem solved in the toroidal coordinate system, an analytical solution to the Grad-Shafranov equation is found. It is demonstrated that current reversal equilibrium configurations exist with finite radial gradient of plasma pressure and continuous current density, and that current density reversal is accompanied by pressure gradient reversal.     

A simplified finite element method for studying acoustic characteristics inside a car cavity

A simplified finite element method has been developed for analyzing the acoustic resonances of a prismatic car cavity. Use is made of the non-variant geometric and material properties of such a cavity in one direction (across the width of the car) and the solution of the full three-dimensional problem is related very simply to the solution of a single two-dimensional problem, with a consequent reduction of computing effort. Some experimental results obtained for a half-size model of a car cavity are compared with the finite element results. The accuracy of the finite element solution is assessed by analyzing a rectangular cavity and a cylindrical cavity, for which analytical solutions are already available.     

Finite element modelling of dense and porous piezoceramic disc hydrophones

The acoustic characteristics of dense and porous piezoceramic disc hydrophones have been studied by finite element modelling (FEM). The FEM results are validated initially by an analytical model for a simple disc of dense piezoceramic material and then it is extended to a porous piezoceramic disc replicating a foam-reticulated sample. Axisymmetric model was used for dense piezoceramic hydrophone due its regular geometric shape. 3-dimensional model was used for the porous piezoceramics, since the unit cell model is inadequate to fully represent transducers of finite lateral dimensions. The porous PZT discs have been synthesised by foam-reticulation technique. The electrical impedance and the receiving sensitivity of the hydrophones in water are evaluated in the frequency range 10-100 kHz. The model results are compared with the experimental data. The receiving sensitivity of piezocomposite hydrophones is found to be reasonably constant over the frequency range studied. The sharp resonance peaks observed for the dense piezoceramic hydrophone has broadened to a large extent for porous piezoceramic hydrophones, indicating higher losses. The flat frequency response suggests that the 3-3 piezocomposites are useful for wide-band hydrophone applications.     

一类各项异性半线性椭圆方程自然边界元与有限元耦合法

将冯康和余德浩提出的自然边界归化方法用于研究一类半线性椭圆方程外区域问题，提出一种自然边界元与有限元的耦合算法、针对某一类半线性椭圆方程，应用变分原理，研究其弱解性及Galerkin逼近，得到有限元解的误差估计及收敛阶O(h^n)，最后给出相应数值例子。     

A Layer-Integrated Model of Solute Transport in Heterogeneous Media

This study presents a numerical solution to the three-dimensional solute transport in heterogeneous media by using a layer-integrated approach. Omitting vertical spatial variation of soil and hydraulic properties within each layer, a three-dimensional solute transport can be simplified as a quasi-three-dimensional solute transport which couples a horizontal two-dimensional simulation and a vertical one-dimensional computation. The finite analytic numerical method was used to discretize the derived two-dimensional governing equation. A quadratic function was used to approximate the vertical one-dimensional concentration distribution in the layer to ensure the continuity of concentration and flux at the interface between the adjacent layers. By integration over each layer, a set of system of equations can be generated for a single column of vertical cells and solved numerically to give the vertical solute concentration profile. The solute concentration field was then obtained by solving all columns of vertical cells to achieve convergence with the iterative solution procedure. The proposed model was verified through examples from the published literatures including four verifications in terms of analytical and experimental cases. Comparison of simulation results indicates that the proposed model satisfies the solute concentration profiles obtained from experiments in time and space.     

A spectral finite element for analysis of wave propagation in uniform composite tubes

A spectral finite element model (SFEM) for analysis of coupled broadband wave propagation in composite tubular structure is presented. Wave motions in terms of three translational and three rotational degrees of freedom at tube cross-section are considered based on first order shear flexible cylindrical bending, torsion and secondary warping. Solutions are obtained in wavenumber space by solving the coupled wave equation in 3-D. An efficient and fully automated computational strategy is developed to obtain the wavenumbers of coupled wave modes, spectral element shape function, strain-displacement matrix and the exact dynamic stiffness matrix. The formulation emphasizes on a compact matrix methodology to handle large-scale computational model of built-up network of such cylindrical waveguides. Thickness and frequency limits for application of the element is discussed. Performance of the element is compared with analytical solution based on membrane shell kinematics. A map of the distribution of vibrational modes in wavelength and time scales is presented. Effect of fiber angle on natural frequencies, phase and group dispersions are also discussed. Numerical simulations show the ease with which dynamic responses can be obtained efficiently. Parametric studies on a clamped-free graphite-epoxy composite tube under short-impulse load are carried out to obtain the effect of various composite configurations and tube geometries on the response.     

Adaptive sparse polynomial chaos expansion based on least angle regression

Polynomial chaos (PC) expansions are used in stochastic finite element analysis to represent the random model response by a set of coefficients in a suitable (so-called polynomial chaos) basis. The number of terms to be computed grows dramatically with the size of the input random vector, which makes the computational cost of classical solution schemes (may it be intrusive (i.e. of Galerkin type) or non intrusive) unaffordable when the deterministic finite element model is expensive to evaluate.To address such problems, the paper describes a non intrusive method that builds a sparse PC expansion. First, an original strategy for truncating the PC expansions, based on hyperbolic index sets, is proposed. Then an adaptive algorithm based on least angle regression (LAR) is devised for automatically detecting the significant coefficients of the PC expansion. Beside the sparsity of the basis, the experimental design used at each step of the algorithm is systematically complemented in order to avoid the overfitting phenomenon. The accuracy of the PC metamodel is checked using an estimate inspired by statistical learning theory, namely the corrected leave-one-out error. As a consequence, a rather small number of PC terms are eventually retained (sparse representation), which may be obtained at a reduced computational cost compared to the classical “full” PC approximation. The convergence of the algorithm is shown on an analytical function. Then the method is illustrated on three stochastic finite element problems. The first model features 10 input random variables, whereas the two others involve an input random field, which is discretized into 38 and 30 ? 500 random variables, respectively.     

圆柱和直桨叶突然启动瞬态流动的数值研究

采用基于动网格方法的有限体积法对圆柱和直桨叶突然启动引起的二维非定常不可压粘性流进行了数值模拟,给出了计算方法.通过计算得到了Re=5000和9500时圆柱突然启动后的流场随时间演化的非定常过程.将计算结果与实验结果进行了对比,两者吻合较好;采用大涡模拟对高雷诺数下的直桨叶突然旋转启动的流场进行了计算,得到了完成启动后叶片内部瞬态流场的分布结果.     

Experimental analysis of transverse vibration in thermally stressed rotating discs

Details and results are presented of an experimental analysis of the natural frequencies of free transverse vibration of two annular discs subjected to the combined action of centrifugal and thermal stressing. One disc is of constant thickness form, whilst the other is of linearly varying thickness form. The results obtained experimentally are subsequently compared with those as predicted by a finite element technique previously described by the first two authors. In general the comparisons are found to be favourable, when account is taken of the sources of error in the experimental analysis.     

The element level time domain (ELTD) method for the analysis of nano-optical systems: I. Nondispersive media

We study a 3-dimensional, dual-field, fully explicit method for the solution of Maxwell's equations in the time domain on unstructured, tetrahedral grids. The algorithm uses the element level time domain (ELTD) discretization of the electric and magnetic vector wave equations. In particular, the suitability of the method for the numerical analysis of nanometer structured systems in the optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum is investigated. The details of the theory and its implementation as a computer code are introduced and its convergence behavior as well as conditions for stable time domain integration is examined. Here, we restrict ourselves to non-dispersive dielectric material properties since dielectric dispersion will be treated in a subsequent paper. Analytically solvable problems are analyzed in order to benchmark the method. Eventually, a dielectric microlens is considered to demonstrate the potential of the method. A flexible method of 2nd order accuracy is obtained that is applicable to a wide range of nano-optical configurations and can be a serious competitor to more conventional finite difference time domain schemes which operate only on hexahedral grids. The ELTD scheme can resolve geometries with a wide span of characteristic length scales and with the appropriate level of detail, using small tetrahedra where delicate, physically relevant details must be modeled.     

弧长法在斜直井内管柱非线性屈曲分析中的应用

对于斜直井内底部-段管柱的后屈曲问题,基于受径向约束管柱的微分求积(DQ,Differential Quadrature)单元,构建了弧长迭代法.给出详细的迭代步骤和迭代初值的确定方法,对不同端部侧向约束条件下的管柱非线性屈曲进行迭代计算.并与现有文献中的近似解析解、实验结果和纯载荷增量迭代法的数值计算结果进行比较.结果显示,本文方法克服了有限单元法在处理管柱自重时的困难,同时能自动调节增量步长,跟踪管柱非线性后屈曲平衡路径的全过程.计算效率高、收敛性好、易于实施,可以用来分析斜直井内管柱的非线性屈曲问题.     

On the use of a uniformly valid analytical cascade response function for fan broadband noise predictions

The present paper extends an existing analytical model of the aeroacoustic response of a rectilinear cascade of flat-plate blades to three-dimensional incident vortical gusts, to the prediction of the noise generated by a three-dimensional annular blade-row. The extended formulation is meant to be implemented in a fan broadband noise prediction tool. The intended applications include the modern turbofan engines, for which analytical modelling is believed to be a good alternative to more expensive numerical techniques. The prediction noise model resorts to a strip theory approach based on a three-dimensional rectilinear cascade model. The latter is based on the Wiener-Hopf technique, and yields the pressure field in the blade passage and the unsteady blade loading. The analytical pressure solution is derived by making an extensive use of the residue theorem. The obtained unsteady blade loading distribution over the blades is then used as a dipole source distribution in an acoustic analogy applied in the annular rigid duct with uniform mean flow. The new achievements are then tested on three-dimensional annular-benchmark configurations and compared with three-dimensional lifting-surface models and three-dimensional Euler linearized codes available in the literature. The accuracy of the model is shown for high hub-to-tip ratio cases. When used as such in a true rectilinear-cascade configuration, it also reproduces the exact radiated field that can be derived directly. For low hub-to-tip ratio configurations, the model departs from three-dimensional computations, both regarding the blade loading and the acoustic radiation. A correction is proposed to account for the actual annular dispersion relation in the rectilinear-cascade response function. The results suggest that the proposed correction is necessary to get closer to the underlying physics of the annular-space wave equation, but that it is yet not sufficient to fully reproduce three-dimensional results.     

Effect of ACLD treatment configuration on damping performance of a flexible beam

A clamped–free beam with partial active constrained layer damping (ACLD) treatment is modelled by using the finite element method. The Golla–Hughes–McTavish (GEM) method is employed to account for the frequency-dependent characteristic of the viscoelastic material (VEM). As the resultant finite element model contains too many degrees of freedom due to the introduction of dissipative coordinates, a model reduction is performed to bring the system back to its original size. Finally, optimal output feedback gains are designed based on the reduced models. Numerical simulations are performed to study the effect of different ACLD treatment configurations, with various element numbers, spacing and locations, on the damping performance of a flexible beam. Results are presented for damping ratios of the first two vibration modes. It is found that to enhance the second mode damping, without deteriorating the first mode damping, splitting a single ACLD element into two and placing them at appropriate positions of the beam could be a possible solution.