Presentation at the International Workshop Science of Wear held at the Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. The workshop serves to survey the state-of-the-art in the field of wear research and to map out likely developments in the near future.

Title:
Numerical methods for the simulation of deformations and stresses in turbine blade fir-tree connections

Abstract:
The rotating components in a gas turbine are a challenge for both design and manufacturing. Especially turbine blades lead the way in terms of future technology. Improvements of these components may result in a lower weight, an increased turbine performance, a longer life, and lower operating costs. For aero engines, such improvements have a positive impact on the entire aircraft. Among the most critical parts of the turbine are the fir-tree connections of turbine blade and turbine disk. The loads in these connections strongly influence the living of blade and disk. In this work, different numerical methods for the simulation of deformations and stresses in turbine blade fir-tree connections are examined. The main focus is on the Method of Dimensionality Reduction (MDR), the Boundary Element Method (BEM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM). Generally, fir-tree connections require a computationally expensive finite element setup. Their complex geometry exceeds the limitations of the faster numerical techniques which are used with great success within the framework of the half-space approximation. Ways to extend the range of application of the MDR and the BEM to the particular problem of the highly undulating surfaces of the fir-tree connection will be shown and discussed.