A finite element analysis for the vibration modes of a bladed disc

The coupled vibration modes of a rotating blade-disc system are calculated by a finite element method. It is assumed that a large number of identical blades are present, such that the resulting blade loadings on the disc can be considered continuously distributed around the rim of the disc. The disc may have arbitrary profile, and the blades may be tapered and twisted, thus closely representing practical axial flow turbomachine configurations. The effects of rotation, thermal stress, and transverse shear and rotatory inertia in discs of moderately thick profile are readily incorporated into the finite element model. Calculated values of frequencies are compared with experimental data obtained on non-rotating models, and the convergence of the solution is examined by comparison with exact solutions, which can be obtained for configurations of simple geometry. Excellent agreement with experimental data is obtained when using remarkably few elements in the mathematical model, and convergence of the solution is extremely rapid.