This study aims to define the possibilistic interpretation of mistuning and examine the way of determining the worst case situations and assessing reliability value to that case by using possibilistic methods. Furthermore, in this study, benefits of using possibilistic interpretation of mistuning in comparison to probabilistic interpretation of mistuning are investigated. For the possibilistic analysis of mistuned structures, uncertain mistuning parameters are modeled as fuzzy variables possessing possibility distributions. In this study, alpha-cut representations of fuzzy numbers are used which makes fuzzy variables to be represented by interval numbers at each and every confidence level. The solution of fuzzy equations of motion is governed by fuzzy algebra methods. The bounds of the solution of the fuzzy equation of motion, i.e. fuzzy vibration responses of the mistuned structure, are determined by the extension principle of fuzzy functions. The performance of the method for possibilistic interpretation of mistuning is investigated by comparing it to the probabilistic methods both computational and accuracy wise. For the comparison study, two different optimization tools &ndash / genetic algorithm as the global optimization tool and constrained nonlinear minimization method as the gradient based optimization tool- are utilized in possibilistic analysis and they are compared to solutions of probabilistic methods resulted from Monte-Carlo method. The performances of all of the methods are tested on both a cyclically symmetric lumped parameter model and a realistic reduced order finite element model.

No description available.

Steam turbine rotor is a very complicated assembly, typically consists of several rotor rows. Due to design limitations and increasing demands on the efficiency of the steam turbines, it is practically impossible to avoid all of the resonant states. The significant vibrations can occur, for example, due to passing resonance state during turbine start up or run out. In the worst case the turbine operates state is close to the resonance state of the rotor row. This leads to the significant oscillation of the bladed disk, and may results in the blade (or blade to disk joints) high cycle fatigue. These parts are highly loaded components and any cracks are unacceptable. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to damp vibration by using, for example, passive damping elements. The damping element analyzed in this thesis is a strap with an isosceles trapezoidal cross section, which is placed in the circumferential dovetail groove in the blade segmental shrouding. The sliding between the contact surfaces leads to the dissipation of energy which causes decreasing of undesirable vibrations. The main aim is to design the optimal dimensions of the strap cross-section with a view to the most effective damping of vibration for a particular turbine operating state. Considered bladed disk has 54 blades which are coupled in 18 packets by segmental shrouding. The damping element is paced in circumferential dovetail groove created in the shrouding. This type of damping element is suitable especially for damping vibrations in the axial direction and only with the mode shape with the nodal diameters. The modal properties of the bladed disk are influenced by the sliding distance. Since the friction force depends on centrifugal force acting on the damping element and on the angle of the side walls of the strap and groove, the sliding distance can be influenced by the damping element dimensions. During the optimization process the best possible size of middle width, height and angle of damping element cross-section is searched. The strap weight, contact area size and flexural stiffness of damping element can be influenced by these parameters. Their change has also impact on the size of the contact pressure and thus on the size of relative motion as well. As stated previously, the damping efficiency is influenced by the relative motion between the damping element and shrouding. Numerical simulation in time domain is very time-consuming, especially for systems containing nonlinearities. In order to verify dynamic behavior of the computational model with the passive friction element in numerical simulations, the simplified model is created. The model is created in the ANSYS environment. The main requirement imposed on this model is to have as small number of degrees of freedom as possible, so the time needed to perform the simulation is reduced to a minimum. To satisfy this requirement the simplified model is a cantilever beam with rectangular cross section. The dovetail groove is created in this model in longitudinal direction. In this groove is damping element. In addition to damping element dimensions optimization, the influence of each design variable on model dynamic behavior is studied. The results are verified experimentally. Experiment also shows other interesting results that confirm the damping element influence on the modal characteristics. The gained knowledge is used to optimize the dimensions of the damping element in the model of the bladed disk.

Because blades in jet engine compressors are subject to dynamic loads based on the engine's speed, it is essential that the blades are properly "tuned" to avoid resonance at those frequencies to ensure safe operation of the engine. The tuning process can be time consuming for designers because there are many parameters controlling the geometry of the blade and, therefore, its resonance frequencies. Humans cannot easily optimize design spaces consisting of multiple variables, but optimization algorithms can effectively optimize a design space with any number of design variables. Automated blade tuning can reduce design time while increasing the fidelity and robustness of the design. Using surrogate modeling techniques and gradient-free optimization algorithms, this thesis presents a method for automating the tuning process of an airfoil. Surrogate models are generated to relate airfoil geometry to the modal frequencies of the airfoil. These surrogates enable rapid exploration of the entire design space. The optimization algorithm uses a novel objective function that accounts for the contribution of every mode's value at a specific operating speed on a Campbell diagram. When the optimization converges on a solution, the new blade parameters are output to the designer for review. This optimization guarantees a feasible solution for tuning of a blade. With 21 geometric parameters controlling the shape of the blade, the geometry for an optimally tuned blade can be determined within 20 minutes.

Le désaccordage des roues aubagées est une thématique de recherche d’un intérêt tout particulier pour l’industrie aéronautique, en recherche constante d’outils de calcul toujours plus prédictifs et performants pour répondre aux exigences croissantes des organismes de certification. Si le phénomène est aujourd’hui relativement bien maîtrisé dans un cadre linéaire, la prise en compte des non-linéarités dans l’étude du désaccordage reste encore problématique, notamment en raison du manque de méthode adaptée pour mener ce type d’analyses sur des modèles industriels. L’objectif principal de ce travail de thèse est de proposer une nouvelle méthode de calcul permettant de déterminer efficacement la réponse forcée d’une roue aubagée désaccordée, en tenant compte de l’impact des non-linéarités sur la dynamique de la structure à l’échelle macroscopique. La méthode développée repose sur le concept de sous-structuration, et exploite la notion de mode complexe non-linéaire pour capturer les non-linéarités dans l’espace de réduction de chaque sous-structure. En adoptant une approche fréquentielle, les sous-structures sont représentées par des super-éléments non-linéaires, dont l’assemblage conduit au modèle réduit de la roue désaccordée. La résolution du système mathématique obtenu est ensuite réalisée numériquement par des techniques itératives. La méthode développée a pu être testée et validée sur différents systèmes soumis à des non-linéarités de frottement, allant du simple modèle phénoménologique à un modèle éléments finis de roue aubagée industrielle. Sur des modèles à paramètres concentrés de taille relativement faible, les performances très intéressantes de cette méthode permettent de conduire des études statistiques quantitatives sur l’impact du désaccordage en présence de non-linéarités. Les résultats obtenus suggèrent que le comportement du système non-linéaire face au désaccordage est susceptible d’être significativement différent du comportement de son homologue linéaire, d’où l’intérêt de mener ce type d’investigations. Les performances de cette méthode ont également pu être confirmées sur des modèles éléments finis de grande taille, en permettant de réaliser à un coût raisonnable des simulations de réponse forcée non-linéaire sur une roue industrielle désaccordée. / Mistuning of bladed disks has been a key topic of research for the aeronautics industry. To get accreditation for their engines, manufacturers must comply with evermore stringent requirements, and thus constantly seek for better simulation tools. Even though the phenomenon is well understood nowadays for linear systems, nonlinearities are still seldom taken into account when dealing with the mistuning of industrial structures, partly due to the lack of a dedicated method to tackle such a complex problematic. The main objective of this work is to develop a novel method allowing to compute efficiently the forced response of a mistuned bladed disk, while taking into account the impact of nonlinearities on the vibrations at a macroscopic scale. The method derived relies on a substructuring approach, and uses the concept of nonlinear complex modes to capture the nonlinearities in the reduction basis of each substructure. In the frequency domain, the substructures take the form of nonlinear superelements, which once assembled lead to the reduced-order model of the mistuned bladed disk. The resulting mathematical system is then solved by means of iterative solvers. This new method is tested and validated on different systems subjected to dry friction nonlinearities, from basic phenomenological models to large-scale finite element models of industrial structures. On lumped-parameter models, the performance of this method allows to investigate the statistical impact of mistuning in the presence of nonlinearities, by performing thousands of simulations. The results suggest that the behaviour of the nonlinear model can be significantly different from that of the linear one, hence the importance to carry out such investigations. The capabilities of the method have also been confirmed on large-scale models, by performing several forced response computations on a nonlinear and mistuned finite element model, at a reasonable cost

No description available.

Steam turbine rotor is a very complicated assembly, typically consists of several rotor rows. Due to design limitations and increasing demands on the efficiency of the steam turbines, it is practically impossible to avoid all of the resonant states. The significant vibrations can occur, for example, due to passing resonance state during turbine start up or run out. In the worst case the turbine operates state is close to the resonance state of the rotor row. This leads to the significant oscillation of the bladed disk, and may results in the blade (or blade to disk joints) high cycle fatigue. These parts are highly loaded components and any cracks are unacceptable. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to damp vibration by using, for example, passive damping elements. The damping element analyzed in this thesis is a strap with an isosceles trapezoidal cross section, which is placed in the circumferential dovetail groove in the blade segmental shrouding. The sliding between the contact surfaces leads to the dissipation of energy which causes decreasing of undesirable vibrations. The main aim is to design the optimal dimensions of the strap cross-section with a view to the most effective damping of vibration for a particular turbine operating state. Considered bladed disk has 54 blades which are coupled in 18 packets by segmental shrouding. The damping element is paced in circumferential dovetail groove created in the shrouding. This type of damping element is suitable especially for damping vibrations in the axial direction and only with the mode shape with the nodal diameters. The modal properties of the bladed disk are influenced by the sliding distance. Since the friction force depends on centrifugal force acting on the damping element and on the angle of the side walls of the strap and groove, the sliding distance can be influenced by the damping element dimensions. During the optimization process the best possible size of middle width, height and angle of damping element cross-section is searched. The strap weight, contact area size and flexural stiffness of damping element can be influenced by these parameters. Their change has also impact on the size of the contact pressure and thus on the size of relative motion as well. As stated previously, the damping efficiency is influenced by the relative motion between the damping element and shrouding. Numerical simulation in time domain is very time-consuming, especially for systems containing nonlinearities. In order to verify dynamic behavior of the computational model with the passive friction element in numerical simulations, the simplified model is created. The model is created in the ANSYS environment. The main requirement imposed on this model is to have as small number of degrees of freedom as possible, so the time needed to perform the simulation is reduced to a minimum. To satisfy this requirement the simplified model is a cantilever beam with rectangular cross section. The dovetail groove is created in this model in longitudinal direction. In this groove is damping element. In addition to damping element dimensions optimization, the influence of each design variable on model dynamic behavior is studied. The results are verified experimentally. Experiment also shows other interesting results that confirm the damping element influence on the modal characteristics. The gained knowledge is used to optimize the dimensions of the damping element in the model of the bladed disk.

No description available.

No description available.

Fluid inclusion and mineralogical features indicative of boiling have been characterized in 855 samples from epithermal precious metals deposits along the Veta Madre at Guanajuato, Mexico. Features associated with boiling that have been identified at Guanajuato include colloform texture silica, plumose texture silica, moss texture silica, ghost-sphere texture silica, lattice-bladed calcite, lattice-bladed calcite replaced by quartz and pseudo-acicular quartz after calcite and coexisting liquid-rich and vapor-rich fluid inclusions. Most samples were assayed for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, As and Sb, and were divided into high-grade and low-grade samples based on the gold and silver concentrations. For silver, the cutoff for high grade was 100 ppm Ag, and for gold the cutoff was 1 ppm Au. The feature that is most closely associated with high grades of both gold and silver is colloform texture silica, and this feature also shows the largest difference in grade between the presence or absence of that feature (178.8 ppm Ag versus 17.2 ppm Ag, and 1.1 ppm Au versus 0.2 ppm Au). For both Ag and Au, there is no significant difference in average grade as a function of whether or not coexisting liquid-rich and vapor-rich fluid inclusions are present. The textural and fluid inclusion data obtained in this study were analyzed using the binary classifier within SPSS Clementine. The models that correctly predicted high versus low grade samples most consistently (~70-75% of the tests) for both Ag and Au were the neural network, the C5 decision tree and Quest decision tree models. For both Au and Ag, the presence of colloform silica texture was the variable with the greatest importance, i.e., the variable that has the greatest predictive power. Boiling features are absent or rare in samples collected along a traverse perpendicular to the Veta Madre. This suggests that if an explorationist observes these features in samples collected during exploration that an environment favorable to precious metal mineralization is nearby. Similarly, good evidence for boiling is observed in the deepest levels of the Veta Madre that have been sampled in the mines and drill cores, suggesting that additional precious metal reserves are likely beneath the deepest levels sampled. / Master of Science