An Assessment of Laboratory Techniques for Simulating Foreign Object Damage on a Leading Edge Geometry

Abstract

Foreign object damage (FOD) from particles ingested into jet engines can have a detrimental effect on the fatigue strength of fan and compressor airfoils. The damage caused by these particles often is in the form of a geometric discontinuity like a notch. However the presence of residual stresses and substructural damage in regions adjacent to the notch prohibit the use of simple notch analyses. In this investigation, three different (quasi-static, pendulum, and ballistic) techniques of imparting damage are studied with respect to the damage they create and the resultant high cycle fatigue (HCF) strength of a titanium simulated airfoil geometry. The ballistic technique is used as a baseline as it most closely simulates an object being ingested into an aircraft engine. In this case, steel spheres having diameters ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 mm are used as the impacting objects at velocities over a range from 40 to 520 m/s. For the quasi-static and pendulum cases, hardened steel indentors with radii similar to those used for the ballistic impacting were used. Step loading tests in tension at a frequency of 350 Hz are used to establish the fatigue limit stress corresponding to 10(exp 7) cycles. The role of residual stresses is identified through the use of samples subjected to stress relief annealing after impact. Simple notch analysis is used to estimate the effect of the geometry of the notch. Comparisons between as-impacted and stress relieved specimens were used to help identify the affect of residual stresses.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADP018940

Entities

People

  • John J. Ruschau
  • Steven R. Thompson
  • Theodore Nicholas

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Diameters
  • Energy
  • Fan Blades
  • Foreign Object Damage
  • Gas Turbines
  • Geometry
  • Impact
  • Leading Edges
  • Plastic Deformation
  • Residual Stress
  • Stress Concentration
  • Stresses
  • Turbines
  • Universities

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Materials Science (Mechanical Engineering).
  • Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Structures.