Abstract
The accurate prediction of dynamic characteristics of high speed rotors, such as gas turbines, is important to avoid the possibility of operating the machinery near the critical speeds or unstable speed regions. However, the dynamic analysis methods and softwares for gas turbines have been developed in the process of producing many gas turbines by manufacturers and most of them have seldom been disclosed to the public. Recently, commercial FEM softwares, such as SAMCEF, ANSYS and NASTRAN, started supporting some rotordynamics analysis modules based on 3-D finite elements. In this paper, the dynamic analysis method using commercial S/W, especially ANSYS, is attempted for the small-size gas turbine engine rotor, and the analysis capability and limitations of its rotordyamics module are evaluated for further improvement of the module. As the preliminary procedure, the rotordyamic analysis capability of ANSYS was tested and evaluated with the reference models of the well-known dynamics. The limitations in application of the rotordynamics module were then identified. Under the current capability and limitations of ANSYS, it is shown that Lee diagram, a new frequency-speed diagram enhanced with the concept of $H{\infty}$ in rotating machinery, can be indirectly obtained from FRFs computed from harmonic response analysis of ANSYS. Finally, it is demonstrated based on the modeling and analysis method developed in the process of the S/W verification that the conventional Campbell diagram, Lee diagram, mode shapes and critical speeds of the small-size gas turbine engine rotor can be computed using the ANSYS rotordynamics module.
