Nonlinear Vibration Analysis of Turbine Bladed Disks With Midspan Dampers

Friction dampers are one of the most common secondary structures utilized to alleviate excessive vibration amplitudes in turbomachinery applications. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the turbine bladed disks coupled with one of the special damper designs, the so-called Midspan Dampers (MSDs) that is commonly used in steam turbines of Baker Hughes Company, is thoroughly studied. Friction between the blade and the damper is modeled through a large number of contact nodes by using two-dimensional contact elements with a variable normal load. In the solution procedure, the coupled static/dynamic Harmonic Balance approach is utilized for the first time in the assessment of the dissipation capability of MSDs, computationally shown by predicting the forced response levels of the system at different resonances. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the nonlinear dynamic response is non-unique and it may vary considerably even if all the user-controlled inputs are kept identical. This phenomenon is a novel observation for MSDs, and it is explained by an uncertainty present in the contact forces. Contact conditions corresponding to multiple responses are also investigated to unveil the different kinematics of the damper under the same nominal conditions.