Forced Response Sensitivity of a Mistuned Rotor From an Embedded Compressor Stage

The frequency mistuning that occurs due to manufacturing variations and wear and tear of the blades has been shown to significantly affect the flutter and forced response behavior of a blade row. While tuned computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses are now an integral part of the design process, designers need a fast method to evaluate the localized high blade responses due to mistuning. In this research, steady and unsteady analyses are conducted on the second-stage rotor of an axial compressor, excited at the first torsion vibratory mode. A deterministic mistuning analysis is conducted using the numerical modal forces and the individual blade frequencies obtained experimentally by tip timing data. The mistuned blade responses are compared in the physical and traveling wave coordinates to the experimental data. The individual and combined impacts of frequency, aerodynamic, and forcing function perturbations on the predictions are assessed, highlighting the need to study mistuned systems probabilistically.