10th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO 2016)

Fatigue life estimation of Aircraft engine

compressor with suitable material selection
(Analytical approach for compressor lifetime)
(Vijayanandh. R[1], Raj Kumar. G [2], Senthil Kumar. M [3], Karthick. M[4], Ramganesh. T[5] )
[1] [2]

Assistant Professor, [3] Assistant Professor (SRG), [4] Under Graduate, [5] Project Engineer, CEAD
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Email: vijayanandh.raja@gmail.com, karthimurugesan1994@gmail.com

Abstract - In Aviation sector, fatigue life and its analysis of each

component is one of the prime factors of consideration due to the
catastrophic failures that can result from it. Most of the
components fail in high cycle fatigue regimes, but the
compressors fatigue life is intermediate between high cycle
fatigue and low cycle fatigue. Objective of this paper is to
estimate and compare the suitability of a centrifugal compressor
in a gas turbine engine with different materials are Titanium alloy
685, Aluminium alloy 2618 and Carpenter Invar 36 alloy by
calculating the displacement and fatigue life using analytical
method. The reference component of this paper is modeled by
using CATIA and simulation is carried through ANSYS with the
property of Aluminium alloy 2618, for the purpose of validating
the simulation and analytical results.
Keywords - Aluminium alloy, Compressor, Fatigue life, Nickel
alloy, and Titanium alloy.

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Gas Turbine Engine
Gas turbines have been widely used in the field of
aircraft engines as well as for land based applications
importantly for power generation applications. Gas turbine
materials have always played a primary role higher the
capability of the materials to withstand elevated
temperature service, more the engine efficiency; materials
with high elevated temperature strength to weight ratio help
in weight reduction. Many of the components in aero
engines are subjected to fatigue and/or creep-loading and
the choice material is then based on the capability of the
material to withstand such loads. The requirement of
compressor blade is high strength, resist centrifugal stress
and resist fatigue. The commonly used compressor
materials are titanium and nickel alloys.
B. Modeling
A 3D Impeller blade was modeled by using
CATIA V5, with the dimension of existing component from
the knowledge of literature survey [1]. Fig. 1 shows the
centrifugal compressor of gas turbine engine.

Fig. 1 Centrifugal compressor of gas turbine engine

II. FATIGUE
In materials science, fatigue is the continuous and
localized structural damage that occurs when a material is
subjected to cyclic loading conditions. The nominal
maximum stress values are less than the maximum normal
stress and may be below the starting point of permanent
deformation limit of the material. Fatigue occurs when a
material is subjected to continuous loading and unloading.
If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic
cracks will begin to form at the surface. Eventually a crack
will reach a critical size, and the structure will suddenly
fracture. The shape of the object formation will
significantly affect the fatigue life; square holes or sharp
corners will lead to elevated local stresses where fatigue
cracks can initiate. Round holes and smooth transitions or
fillets are therefore important to increase the fatigue
strength of the structure [2].
A) Fatigue Life
Fatigue Life (Nf) defines as the number of stress
cycles of a specified character that a specimen sustains
before failure of a specified nature occurs [3].
B) Factors that Affect Fatigue-Life
1) Cyclic stress state: Depending on the complexity of the
geometry and the loading, one or more properties of the
stress state need to be considered, such as stress amplitude,

ISBN : 978-1-4673-7805-5

258

10th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO 2016)

mean stress, biaxiality, in-phase or out-of-phase shear

stress, and load sequence.
2) Geometry: Notches and variation in cross section
throughout a part lead to stress concentrations where
fatigue cracks initiate.
3) Surface Quality: Surface roughness cause microscopic
stress concentrations that lower the fatigue strength.
Compressive residual stresses can be introduced in the
surface by e.g. shot peening to increase fatigue life.
4) Material Type: Fatigue life, as well as the behavior
during cyclic loading, varies widely for different materials,
e.g. composites and polymers differ markedly from metals.
5) Residual Stresses: Welding, cutting, casting, and other
manufacturing processes involving heat or deformation can
produce high levels of tensile residual stress, which
decreases the fatigue strength.
6) Size and Distribution of Internal Defects: Casting
defects such as gas porosity, non-metallic inclusions and
shrinkage voids can significantly reduce fatigue strength.
7) Direction of Loading: For non-isotropic materials,
fatigue strength depends on the direction of the principal
stress.
8) Grain Size: For most metals, smaller grains yield longer
fatigue lives, however, the presence of surface defects or
scratches will have a greater influence than in a coarse
grained alloy.
9) Environment: Environmental conditions can cause
erosion, corrosion, or gas-phase embrittlement, which all
affect fatigue life. Corrosion fatigue is a problem
encountered in many aggressive environments.
10)Temperature: Extreme high or low temperature can
decrease fatigue strength [4,5].
C) Methods for Fatigue analysis

Where, ,
and are represents the Plastic
component of the cyclic strain amplitude, Fatigue ductility
coefficient, Number of cycles to failure, Fatigue ductility
exponent.
The Strain-Life Curve can be formed by summing the
elastic and plastic components.

3) Hysteresis Curve Equation

Massing's Hypothesis states that the stabilized
hysteresis loop may be obtained by doubling the stress and
strain values from the cyclic stress-strain curve.
The use of Massing's hypothesis allows the stabilized
hysteresis loop to be estimated only for materials that
exhibit symmetric behavior in tension and compression.

4) Morrow Mean Stress Correction Equation

Morrow was the first to propose a modification to
the baseline strain-life curve to account for the effect of
mean stress. His approach was to alter the value of the
fatigue strength coefficient in the elastic component of the
stress-strain relationship [5].
Where, - is the mean stress
In this equation, tensile mean stresses are
positive ( > 0), and compressive means are negative ( < 0).
In terms of the strain-life relationship, the Morrow Mean
Stress Correction can be expressed by:

5) Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) Mean Stress Equation

1) Basquin Equation
In 1910, Basquin observed that Stress-Life data
could be modeled using a power relationship, which results
in a straight line on a log-log plot. This observation
corresponds to elastic material behavior in the Strain-Life
approach. The Basquin equation can be expressed in terms
of true elastic strain amplitude as [4]:

Where, , , , and are represents the Elastic

component of the cyclic strain amplitude, Cyclic stress
amplitude, Fatigue strength coefficient, Number of cycles
to failure and Fatigue strength exponent.

2) Coffin and Manson Equation

In the 1950's Coffin and Manson independently
found that plastic Strain-Life data could also be modeled
using a power relationship:

A different method for modifying the strain-life

curve to account for mean stress was proposed by Smith,
Watson, and Topper. Their approach uses the Basquin
relation relating the maximum stress S max of a fullyreversed cycle to fatigue life.
Multiplying the strain-life equation by this term
gives the Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) Mean Stress
Correction:
The SWT equation predicts that no fatigue damage
occurs when the maximum stress is zero or negative (i.e.,
compressive), which is not always true.

6) Cyclic Stress-Strain Curve Equation

The cyclic stress-strain curve defines the
relationship between stress and strain under cyclic loading
conditions. However, the cyclic stress-strain curve can be

ISBN : 978-1-4673-7805-5

259

10th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO 2016)

directly compared with the monotonic stress-strain curve to

determine the effects of cyclic loading.

iii) Aluminium Alloy 2618

Manson Coffin Eqn. (12) is,

Like the monotonic stress-strain curve, the cyclic

stress-strain curve is comprised of both elastic and plastic
strains. From equation (3), the expression for the Cyclic
Stress-Strain Curve is identical to the monotonic stressstrain relationship, except that the power law constants are
different,
Where,, are represents the cyclic strength coefficient
and cyclic strain hardening exponent.

Input Data
Ultimate Tensile
390 MPa
Strength
Youngs
70 GPa
Modulus (E)
21 %
Reduction Area
To obtain number of fatigue cycle use
equation(12) and substitute above input data. By using trial
and error method obtained.
IV. NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

III. FATIGUE LIFE ESTIMATION OF VARIOUS

MATERIALS USING ANALYTICAL METHOD
i) Titanium Alloy 685
Manson Coffin Eqn. is,

Where, UTS, E, , , and RA are represents the ultimate

tensile strength, Youngs Modulus, total mechanical strain,
number of fatigue cycle, ductility and area reduction
respectively [6] .

The numerical simulation has been done by ANSYS

16.2. The maximum rotational speed of the compressor
blade disc is 50500 rpm. Totally three simulations are
carried out for the various alloys with the help of their input
data's are taken from the material properties [8]. The given
material properties are ultimate tensile strength, young's
modulus and poison's ratio etc. The meshed model of the
compressor blade of the gas turbine engine is shown in Fig.
2, Fig. 3, 4, 5 explains about the stress and strain
distribution over the centrifugal compressor for various
alloys which was mentioned earlier.

Input Data
Ultimate Tensile
1030 MPa
Strength
Youngs
125 GPa
Modulus (E)
Reduction Area

20 %
Fig. 2 Meshed Model

To obtain number of fatigue cycle use equation

(12) and substitute above input data. By using trial and
error method obtained.
ii) Carpenter Invar 36 Alloy [7]

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 3, 4 and 5 shows the contour plots of
equivalent total strain of the titanium alloy 685, carpenter
invar 36 alloy and aluminium alloy 2618. The fatigue life
of various compressor materials is calculated from the
numerical results. Also the numerical results are compared
with analytical method. From comparison, carpenter invar
36 alloys having high fatigue life than the titanium alloy
685 and aluminium alloy 2618 [9].

Manson Coffin Eqn. (12) is,

Input Data
Ultimate Tensile
621 MPa
Strength
Youngs Modulus
148 GPa
(E)
60 %
Reduction Area

a. Titanium Alloy 685

To obtain number of fatigue cycle use equation

(12) and substitute above input data. By using trial and
error method obtained.
ISBN : 978-1-4673-7805-5

260

10th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO 2016)

To obtain number of fatigue cycle use equation

(12) and substitute above input data. By using trial and
error method obtained.
c. Aluminium Alloy 2618

Fig. 3 Equivalent total strain of Titanium alloy 685

Input Data
Ultimate Tensile
1030 MPa
Strength
Youngs
125 GPa
Modulus (E)
Reduction Area
Strain

Fig. 5 Equivalent total strain of aluminium alloy 2618

Input Data
Ultimate Tensile
390 MPa
Strength
Youngs Modulus
70 GPa
(E)
21 %
Reduction Area

20 %
0.0068698

To obtain number of fatigue cycle use equation

(12) and substitute above input data. By using trial and
error method obtained.

Strain

0.0062996

To obtain number of fatigue cycle use equation

(12) and substitute above input data. By using trial and
error method obtained.

b. Carpenter Invar 36 Alloy

VI. CONCLUSION

Fig. 4 Equivalent total strain of Carpenter invar 36 alloy

Input Data
Ultimate Tensile
621 MPa
Strength
Youngs Modulus
148 GPa
(E)
60 %
Reduction Area
Strain

0.0032581

Estimation of aircraft engine and its component

life is very complex issue which involves many factors.
The main consideration of this paper is fatigue life
estimation of aircraft engine centrifugal compressor. The
fatigue life of a centrifugal compressor used in a gas
turbine engine is estimated for three materials such as
Titanium alloy 685, Aluminium alloy 2618 and Carpenter
Invar 36 alloy with the help of Numerical analysis as well
as analytical analysis. By comparing the results of these
materials, Carpenter Invar 36 alloy has high fatigue life
than the Titanium Alloy 685 and Aluminium alloy 2618.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] MAKSIMOVIC, S:
Fatigue Life Analysis of Aircraft
Structural Components, Scientific Technical Review, ISSN
1820-0206, 2005, Vol. LV, No. 1, pp. 15-22.
[2] Jack D. Mattingly, William H. Heiser, David T. Pratt, Aircraft
Engine Design, Second Edition, AIAA, Inc., Education Series,
1801, Alexander Bell
Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4344.
[3] H Cohen et al., Gas Turbine Theory1996, 4th Edition,
Longman Group Limited, England.

ISBN : 978-1-4673-7805-5

261

10th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO 2016)

[4] BANNANTINE, A J, COMER, J, HANDROCK, J:

Fundamentals of Material Fatigue Analysis, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 1990.

[7] ANTHONY E. ARMENAKAR: Advanced Mechanics of

Materials and Applied Elasticity.
[8] www.matweb.com , Ansys documentation.

[5] Strain Posavljak, Katarina Maksimovic: Initial Fatigue Life

Estimation in Aero Engine Discs, Scientific Technical Review,
2011, Vol. 61, No. 1.

[9] Dungey. C, Bowen. P: The effect of combined cycle fatigue

upon the fatigue performance of Ti- 6Al-4V fan blade
material, Elsevier, Journal of
Materials Process.

[6] K. H .LIIDTKE, Practical Guide to Finite Elements - A Solid

Mechanics Approach STEVEN MLEPI, Process Centrifugal
Compressor.

ISBN : 978-1-4673-7805-5

262