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Completed TRL 6 (started at 3, targeting 6)
An innovative concept using a tuned mass absorber for resonant response reduction of turbine blades that is integrally fabricated into the blades using additive manufactured has been developed. Avoiding high resonant response and resulting high cycle fatigue failure is a major concern of the $100B worldwide turbine industry, which encompasses power generation, jet engines and rocket engine turbomachinery. Blade failure is potentially catastrophic, and although preventative measures using dampers do exist, these solutions are extremely expensive to develop and are not always effective. In addition, many of the existing techniques do not work for newer integrally bladed disks (or blisks), where there is no inherent damping in the assembly. The proposed concept, in which a tuned mass absorber re-arranges the structural dynamics and moves energy from the blade to the absorber, is designed specifically for blisks, and is intentionally linear, enabling accurate response prediction during design. Single blade prototypes have been analyzed, fabricated, and tested, and different absorber concepts have shown a reduction in response of up to 60%. After an extensive commercialization and prior art search, MSFC determined the innovation merited the generation and submission of a patent application in August ’21. The goal of this request is to fabricate a 20-bladed blisk which would be spun at operational speeds with substantially higher and more realistic pressure loads in a special spin facility at the Ohio State Gas Turbine Lab. Blue Origin has stated they will provide the blisk design, ensuring its applicability in industry. Successful completion of this program would raise the TRL from 3/4 to 6/7, and based upon discussions with General Electric Aviation and other companies, will significantly improve the viability for adoption of the concept not only in rocket engines but other industrial applications as well.
Our objective is to increase the TRL from 3/4 to 6/7 of the Turbine Blade TMA by fabricating and spin-testing a realistic blisk, facilitating its adoption by industry. This addresses a long-standing problem, resonant response of blades and other turbomachine hardware, a major design, cost, and schedule driver in development and operation. This issue is encountered in a number of taxonomy categories: TX01.1.3 Cryogenic propulsion systems, TX01.3.2,3 Turbine/Rocket Based Combined Cycle, TX01.3.5 Turbine Based Jet Engines, TX01.4.3 NTP, TX12.4.1 Manufacturing Processes, and TX12.5.1 Loads & Vibration. It is pulled by capability gap STMD-AMSM-029, Additive Manufacturing in Propulsion, although it is also pushed by a critical need in the taxonomy areas to reduce resonant response and resulting failure of these structures. It takes advantage of the increase in design space offered by AM to place a TMA completely within the blade, offering a disruptive solution previously not possible.
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