DYNAMIC LOADS ACTING ON ENGINE FRAME

ELEMENTS AFTER FAN BLADE OUT EVENT STUDY

I.I. Ivanov*, B.S. Blinnik*
*Central Institute of Aviation Motors
Keywords: fan blade out event, dynamic loads, load reduction device, dynamic turbofan
engine model.

Abstract leading to the catastrophic consequences

(engine mounts rupture, case fragments hit into
Loads acting on gas turbine jet force
combustion chamber, beginning of a fire,
elements significantly increase after fan blade
bearings jam).
out (FBO) event due to appearing unbalance. A
A load reduction device (LRD, see fig 2) is
load reduction device (LRD) is introduced to
introduced to fan supports of turbofan’s last
fan shaft supports for the purpose of
models to avoid mentioned unallowable effects.
unallowable effects avoidance. LRD breaks
This device breaks down under specified loads
down under specified loads. LRD actuation
resulting in the change of engine strength frame
causes rotor self-centering and loads acting on
and decreasing for supports’ stiffness. Fan rotor
engine frame reducing. The special dynamic
critical velocity usually becomes lower than its
model is required for calculating engine frame
operating rotating frequency and rotor passes
loads after FBO event. During the research
from subcritical to supercritical range after LRD
work such model of turbofan was developed
actuation, causing rotor self-centering and loads
taking into consideration accounts of stiffness
acting on engine frame reducing and
and inertial properties of engine rotors and
redistribution.
casings, engine rotors velocities decreasing
The model imitating dynamic altering of
after fuel turning off and contact interactions
forces and displacements in typical turbofan
between rotors and stators. The effect of LRD
engine design after FBO event is described in
introduction in turbofan design and the
the research work. The model takes into account
influence of other design parameters on engine
stiffness and inertial properties of engine rotors,
dynamic loads are analyzed.
casings and mounts, asymmetry of engine
fixation relative its axis, engine rotors
1 Introduction deceleration after fuel turning off, contact
interactions of rotor and stator in LPC by means
Fan blades are subjected to different of blades and also a clearance overlapping
damages caused by operational loads (static, between LP and HP rotors. The nonlinear
dynamic) and hits of foreign bodies in the transient problem is solved in the industrial
turbine flow. These factors can result onto fan analysis computer program NASTRAN.
blade full or partial breakage. Loads acting on
gas turbine jet engine force elements (bearing
supports, frames, mounts, see fig 1) 2 Model description
significantly increase in comparison with Existing methods for analysis of gas turbine
regular ones after FBO event due to the jet dynamic behavior after FBO event are based
appearing unbalance. The unbalanced on full 3D finite element (FE) simulation [1, 2].
centrifugal force caused by fan blade breakage When using these methods any change in engine
is typically about 1,000,000 N at the maximum design results in the considerable rebuilding of
operational LP rotor speed. Standards of FE model. Therefore full 3D FE modeling is
airworthiness demand FBO event not to be quite inconvenient for analysis of different

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 I.I. Ivanov, B.S. Blinnik

Figure 1. Example of turbofan engine strength circuit.

1 – fan, 2 – fan supports, 3 – inlet gearbox and high pressure compressor (HPC) support, 4 – fan casing, 5 – booster, 6 –
intermediate casing, 7 –HPC stator, 8 – combustor casing, 9 – high pressure (HP) rotor, 10 – high pressure turbine (HPT)
stator, 11 – low pressure turbine (LPT) stator, 12 – LPT rotor, 13 – forward mount, 14 – LPT support, 15 – rear mount.

Figure 2. Example of the load reduction device.

1 – bearing №1, 2 – bearing №2, 3 – fan shaft, 4 – forward fan support, 5 – rear fan support, A – LRD.

Figure 3. The simplified turbofan frame circuit.

1 – fan, 2 – fan supports, 3 – fan casing, 4 – LP shaft, 5 – intermediate casing, 6 – booster, 7 – HPC support flexible
element and damper, 8 – HP rotor, 9 – HPT support flexible element and damper, 10 – LPT support, 11 – forward mount,
12 – backward mount, 13 – pylon, 14 – LPT support flexible element and damper, 15 – HPC casing, 16 – combustor
casing, 17 – HPT casing, 18 – LPT casing, 19 – fan shaft interaction place, 20 – thrust reversal, aggregations.
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 DYNAMIC LOADS ACTING ON ENGINE FRAME ELEMENTS AFTER FAN BLADE OUT EVENT STUDY

parameters influence on engine dynamic considerable demands for computational time.

behavior after FBO event. Therefore method of Guyan reduction [3] is
The model proposed in the current research used here. This method allows calculating
is relatively simple because it takes into account reduced stiffness and mass matrixes of casings
only considerable properties of engine. The based on full 3D FE models. All stiffness and
simplified circuit of the turbofan engine is inertial casings properties are condensed to
presented at fig 3. degrees of freedom of condensation nodes.
Assumptions: These nodes are situated either on the engine
- unbalanced force is applied instantly axis on corresponding flanges planes or at the
in the initial modeling interval time engine mounts. The reduced matrixes are
moment calculated once based on Guyan method
- no plastic deformations derivations and then are included in full engine
- pylon is constrained in places of its dynamic FE model to be used in transient
junctions with airplane wing nonlinear analysis at each time step. Thereby
(airplane flexibilities aren’t taken this method supplies account of stiffness and
into account) mass casing properties without significant
- LP rotor radial displacements are computational time wastes.
limited by means of low pressure Thereby 3D casings reduced stiffness and
compressor (LPC) blades and HP mass matrixes are assembled with
rotor in places with small clearance corresponding beams matrixes, spring and mass
between shafts elements into resulting whole engine stiffness
- possible squeezing of HPC, HPT and mass matrixes respectively. Dynamic
and LPT support dampers and problem is solved iteratively at each time step
appropriate stiffness change are with account of linear elastic, inertial, damping,
taken into account gyroscopic and nonlinear contact forces.
- friction between rotor and stator is
taken into account only in rotors
deceleration law and is eliminated 3 Contact interactions
from dynamic model Special NLRGAP elements (fig 4) are used
- LRD is breaks down at the FBO for modeling contact interactions:
event moment - between rotor and stator in HPC
The most of engine frame units are modeled - between shafts near HPC and
in the research using beam finite elements. HPT supports
These units are: LP and HP shafts, fan casing, - in HPC, HPT and LPT damper
booster casing, pylon, HPC, combustor, HPT supports to take into account possible
and LPT casings. Some elements, such as fan damper squeezing and support stiffness
supports, flexible elements of HPC, HPT and change
LPT supports are modeled as a simple springs. This element type has inner (A) and outer
Thrust reversal and aggregations are taken into (B) nodes corresponding to rotor and stator (or
account as mass elements with supply of full LP and HP rotor in the case of shafts
6x6 mass matrixes. Also such mass elements are interaction) respectively and situated in
used to correct whole engine model mass coinciding geometrical points of the engine
properties to match source data. model. The radial clearance is specified. If
The complex 3D casings (intermediate relative nodes displacement overcomes radial
casing and LPT support) can’t be modeled as clearance, the NLRGAP element produces in
beams or as springs. These casings have a lot of general nonlinear elastic force depending on the
flanges and any load applied to one flange radial penetration.
influences on displacements and forces at all
others. Full 3D FE models of casings aren’t
used in the transient process analysis because of
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 I.I. Ivanov, B.S. Blinnik

Figure 5. The example of single blade elastic

characteristic.
P – elastic contact force, d – penetration.

Figure 4. NLRGAP element

r – shaft radius, A – inner node, B – outer node, k – blade centrifugal force at the maximum
contact stiffness, Δ – clearance between rotor and stator. operation speed. There are two stages in the
process: transient – after instant applying of the
In the case of rotor-stator interaction by unbalanced fan blade centrifugal force, and
means of blades the nonlinear elastic contact stationary. We can see from the figure that LRD
force law is dependent on corresponding stage introduction reduces maximum forward mount
blade properties and is computed using 3D FE force in ~4 times, and maximum force at steady
nonlinear static analysis. The example of vibration mode on maximum operating rotation
nonlinear single blade elastic characteristic is frequency – in ~2,5 times. Other turbofan frame
presented at fig 5. All nonzero contact forces of elements loads are changed similar way with
the current stage blades are summarized through LRD introduction.
the circle resulting in whole stage nonlinear Let’s consider LRD introduction influence
contact characteristic. on the maximum forward mount force at steady
In the case of shafts interaction or damper vibration mode. The full rotation frequency
squeezing the elastic contact force law is range (from autorotation angular speed to
assumed to be linear. Contact region doesn’t maximum operating speed) is analyzed. The
contain any flexible bodies and the contact corresponding force dependence on the rotation
flexibility tends to zero. The value of the frequency is presented at the fig 7. Here and
appropriate contact stiffness ought to be chosen further rotation frequency is measured in
based on considerations of contact modeling fractions of the maximum operating rotating
accuracy and numerical convergence. Therefore frequency.
the chosen contact stiffness is not much higher System changes its characteristic from red
than a typical engine frame element stiffness to green one after LRD actuation. We can see
and usually is equal 1,0*107 N/mm. resonance maximums on both characteristics
Further modeling results of the turbofan (without LRD – on frequency 0,8, with LRD –
engine dynamics after FBO event are adduced. 0,45). It should be noted that these maximums
values may considerably differ from critical
rotor speed values because of contact
4 Analysis of LRD introduction influence on interactions.
turbofan strength circuit The engine is operating on the maximum
Forward mount force time dependences rotating frequency (matches 1,0 on the absciss
after FBO event at maximum operating rotating axis at fig 7) when FBO event happens. After
frequency are presented at fig 6. There cases of fuel turning off turbofan rotors decelerate,
LRD existence and absence in the 1st fan passing through resonances to autorotation
support are considered. Here and further forces region. Maximum forces are achieved not after
are measured in fractions of the unbalanced fan FBO but with resonances passing.

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 DYNAMIC LOADS ACTING ON ENGINE FRAME ELEMENTS AFTER FAN BLADE OUT EVENT STUDY

Figure 6. Forward mount force time dependence Figure 9. Turbofan engine forward mount force time
after FBO event. Rotors run at maximum operating dependences after FBO event.
rotating frequency.
Turbofan engine forward mount force time
dependences according accepted rotors
deceleration law after FBO event are presented
at fig 9. We can see that LRD introduction
doesn’t significantly change steady vibration
mode maximum force at autorotation frequency
and reduces maximum loads achieved on the
resonances passing in ~2,4 times.
Thereby it has been shown that LRD
Figure 7. The rotation frequency dependence of
introduction in 1st fan support considerably
maximum forward mount force on steady vibration mode
after FBO event. reduces maximum frame loads after FBO event.
The case of LRD absence in the 1st fan support
Basing on publication [1] data let’s take rotors is not considered below.
deceleration law as shown at fig 8. We assume
that fuel feed is turned off in 1 s after FBO
5 The investigation of some turbofan engine
event. Thereby we can stress three stages of the
parameters influence on frame loads after
process:
FBO event in the case of LRD existence in the
1. Operating at the maximum
1st fan support
rotating frequency during 1st second
after FBO event. After conclusion about LRD introduction
2. Rotors deceleration during 2nd effectiveness let’s answer two questions:
second till the autorotation frequency  how can we provide maximum
(is equal to 0,2 from maximum LRD introduction effectiveness?
operating rotating frequency).  how can we provide shafts
3. Autorotation mode operating till interactions absence on autorotation
landing. steady vibration mode?
The fan 2nd support stiffness dependence of
the maximum forward mount force after FBO
event is presented at fig 10. The nominal
stiffness is assumed to be equal to unity.
Computations shown that in the case of LRD
absence in the 1st fan support the maximum
force doesn’t significantly depend on 2nd
support stiffness.
Figure 8. Rotors operating frequency time
dependence after FBO event.

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 I.I. Ivanov, B.S. Blinnik

The dependence of maximum forward mount

force after FBO event on the 2nd fan support
stiffness for the case of doubled clearances is
presented at fig 13. We can see that there is a
region of relatively small forward mount forces
in the case of low stiffness values.

Figure 10. Maximum forward mount force

dependence on the fan 2nd support stiffness, in the
nominal stiffness fractions. There is the LRD in the 1st fan
support.

We can see from the figure that we can

achieve further turbofan engine frame loads Figure 11. Shaft interaction contact force time
reducing by means of either 2nd support stiffness dependences after FBO event. There is the LRD in the 1st
increase or significant decrease. But any 2nd support.
support stiffness change results in engine
resonance adjustment disturbance. Therefore it
may be reasonable to consider the additional
LRD introduction in the 2nd fan support. We
can’t allow full 2nd fan support disconnection
because it results in reducing of number of
regular LP rotor supports to 1 and considerable
loads would be past either through shaft
interaction places or through LPC blades.
Thereby it may be reasonable to introduce to the
Figure 12. Shaft interaction contact force time
2nd support a LRD supplying specified stiffness dependences after FBO event. There is the LRD in the 1st
reducing after FBO event. Examples of two support, radial shaft clearances are doubled.
LRD introduced see [4].
Now let’s consider shaft interaction contact
force time dependences near HPC and HPT
supports (see fig 11). We can see that shaft
interaction doesn’t stop on autorotation mode
that may results in their rupture. Computations
showed that full avoidance of shaft interaction
after FBO event is not possible. Let’s
investigate conditions for avoidance of
continuous shaft interaction on autorotation
mode. Contact forces time dependences are
presented at fig 12 for the case of doubled radial Figure 13. Forward mount maximum force
clearances. We can see that there is no shaft dependence on the 2nd fan support stiffness, in nominal
stiffness fractions. There is the LRD in the 1st support,
interaction on the autorotation steady vibration radial shaft clearances are doubled.
mode (see interval [7; 10]) in this case.
Thereby it’s reasonable for shaft interaction
avoidance on the autorotation mode to increase
shaft clearance near HPC and HPT supports.

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 DYNAMIC LOADS ACTING ON ENGINE FRAME ELEMENTS AFTER FAN BLADE OUT EVENT STUDY

6 Conclusions
The model for engine frame dynamic
displacements and forces computation in the
case of FBO event is adduced in the research
work. It has been shown that special breakable
elements introduction to 1st fan support results
in significant engine elements maximum loads
reducing. Additional analysis shown:
 it’s reasonable to increase shaft
clearances for shaft interaction
avoidance on the autorotation mode
 additional LRD can result into
supplementary engine frame loads
reducing

References
[1] Carney K.S., Lawrence C., Carney D.V. Aircraft
Engine Blade-Out Dynamics. 7th International LS-
DYNA Users Conference, Salzburg, Vol. 1, pp.17-26,
2009.
[2] Husband J.B. Developing an Efficient FEM
Structural Simulation of a Fan Blade Off Test in a
Turbofan Jet Engine. 1st edition, University of
Saskatchevan, 2001.
[3] Bathe K.-J. Finite Element Procedures. 1st edition,
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
[4] Ivanov I.I. On the choice of parameters of device to
reduce load on components of turbojet engine
pressure vessels after fan blade breakage.
Proceedings of higher educational institutions.
Machine building, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 3-11, 2001. (in
Russian).

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