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.