Plastic Effects on High Cycle Fatigue at the Edge of Contact of Turbine Blade Fixtures

Slender turbine blades are susceptible to excitation. Resulting vibrations stress the blade's fixture to the rotor or stator. In this paper, high cycle fatigue at the edge of contact (EOC) between blade and rotor/stator of such fixtures is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Plasticity in the contact zone and its effects on, e.g., contact tractions, fatigue determinative quantities, and fatigue itself are shown to be of considerable relevance. The accuracy of the finite element analysis (FEA) is demonstrated by comparing the predicted utilizations and slip region widths with data gained from tests. For the evaluation of EOC fatigue, tests on simple notched specimens provide the limit data. Predictions on the utilization are made for the EOC of a dovetail setup. Tests with this setup provide the experimental fatigue limit to be compared to. The comparisons carried out show a good agreement between the experimental results and the plasticity-based calculations of the demonstrated approach.