Analysis on Flutter Characteristics of Transonic Compressor Blade Row by a Fluid-Structure Coupled Method

A time domain numerical approach is carried out to enhance the understanding of three dimensional blade row aeroelastic characteristics under the parallel computation. The vibration energy of unsteady aerodynamic force on the entire blade row is investigated using numerical solution of 3-D Navier-Stokes equations, coupled with structure finite element models for the blades to identify modal shapes and the structural deformations simultaneously. Interactions between fluid and structure are dealt with in a coupled manner, based on the interface information exchange until convergence in each time step. With this approach good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data is observed. The flutter mechanism is analyzed according to deformation of the blades. The effect of inter-blade phase angle (IBPA) is included in the analysis by releasing the hypothesis of constant phase angle between adjacent blades in the traveling wave model. The results illustrate fully three dimensional unsteady nonlinear behaviors, such as limit-cycle oscillation. It is shown that all blades flutter at the same mode and frequency, but not at the same amplitude and IBPA. The analysis of the influence of different tip clearance gaps on the flutter characteristics of the blade row is also performed.