Accepted Manuscript

Design and testing of composite compressor blades with focus on the vibration
behaviour

T. Wollmann, N. Modler, M. Dannemann, A. Langkamp, S. Nitschke, A.

Filippatos

PII: S1359-835X(16)30191-9
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2016.06.012
Reference: JCOMA 4338

To appear in: Composites: Part A

Received Date: 15 January 2016

Revised Date: 13 May 2016
Accepted Date: 18 June 2016

Please cite this article as: Wollmann, T., Modler, N., Dannemann, M., Langkamp, A., Nitschke, S., Filippatos, A.,
Design and testing of composite compressor blades with focus on the vibration behaviour, Composites: Part A
(2016), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2016.06.012

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 Design and testing of composite compressor blades with focus on
the vibration behaviour

T. Wollmanna,∗, N. Modlera , M. Dannemanna , A. Langkampa , S. Nitschkea , A. Filippatosa

a Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK), Technische Universität Dresden, Holbeinstr.
3, 01307, Dresden, Germany

Abstract

Increasing demands on the performance of rotating components as well as on the noise reduction
in jet engines lead to higher dynamic requirements. Composite materials can contribute to a
reduction of the vibration amplitudes due to their inherent advantageous damping behaviour and
their high specific stiffness. A numerical prediction of the vibration behaviour is necessary for an
efficient use of composite materials in rotors, especially since the modal parameters such as the
eigenfrequency and the modal damping are influenced by the fibre orientation. For this
investigation, a composite compressor blade was designed with a focus on its vibration behaviour.
The modal parameters were numerically predicted and experimentally validated. The damping of
composites was taken into account using the strain energy method. Within this method the
modal damping parameters of the compressor blade were calculated based on direction-dependent
material properties of single unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy layers.
Keywords: A. Internal friction/damping, B. Vibration, C. Numerical analysis, D. Resin transfer
moulding (RTM).

1. Introduction

Increasing the economic and ecological efficiency as well as the reliability of aircraft is one of the
most important goals in aviation today [1]. The increasing demands on the performance of
rotating components and on the noise reduction in aero engines as well as in stationary steam and
gas turbines are leading to higher dynamic requirements. Composite materials can contribute to a
reduction of the vibration amplitudes due to their inherent advantageous damping behaviour and
their high specific stiffness.

1.1. Motivation

The application of composite materials for blades in wind turbines and fan blades in aero engines
demonstrated the potential of these materials for rotating components [2]. Experimental works on
simple geometries and numerical investigations on pre-twisted composite blades have shown the

∗ Correspondingauthor
Email address: tino.wollmann@tu-dresden.de (T. Wollmann)

Preprint submitted to Elsevier June 23, 2016

effect of fibre angle on the eigenfrequencies [3, 4]. Additional works on the modal damping of
composites demonstrated their direction-dependent properties [5, 6, 7]. Based on this knowledge,
it is possible to design compressor blades and adjust their eigenfrequencies, modeshapes and
modal loss factors to the given requirements.

1.2. State of the art

The use of composites as carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) in fan and propeller blades has
been extensively investigated. A variety of patents and publications exist, showing different
designs of the airfoil, the platform and the root [8, 9]. The basic idea is to reach a high stiffness
and strength to weight ratio while using high modulus and high strength fibres [10].
Direction-dependent stiffnesses of composites influence the vibrational behaviour, which has been
extensively investigated both experimentally as well as numerically on simple geometries as
straight and curved beams [11]. The damping properties also show a direction-dependent
behaviour with a maximum of the damping at an orientation of 15◦ to 45◦ to the fibre
direction [6, 12, 13]. As a result, the eigenfrequencies, modeshapes and the damping is strongly
dependent on the fibre angle, but for orthotropic composite blades also on the pre-twisted angle of
the blade and the rotational speed [4]. The successful damping design of a composite propeller
blade has furthermore demonstrated the potential for improvements of the dynamic performances
of composite structures [14].
The calculation of the modal loss factors of composite structures can be performed using the
concept of strain energy as proposed e. g. by [5, 7, 15, 16, 17]. Within this concept, the
anisotropic stiffnesses and material damping values can be considered. Using a macro adapted
and implemented in ANSYS, parameter studies on the influence of composite-specific parameters
on the eigenfrequency and damping behaviour of lightweight structures was performed [18].

1.3. Aim and outline of the paper

The aim of the paper is to provide a method for the design of composite compressor blades and to
propose a manufacturing technology for producing prototypes for experimental evaluations.
Furthermore, the paper is proposing a numerical method and an experimental set-up for the
evaluation of composite compressor blades with a focus on the vibration behaviour.
The approach for the selection of a composite compressor blade design originating from the airfoil
and root of a monolithic reference blade geometry is initially presented in Section 2. Furthermore,
the manufacturing of prototype blades, the analysis of geometric variations across the airfoil as
well as the rotational testing of the manufactured blades is described.
A numerical investigation based on a finite element model and an additional extension for the
consideration of the modal loss factor is used for the prediction of the vibration behaviour, which
is described in Section 3. The experimental set-up for the validation of the numerical prediction as
well as the comparison of both experimental and numerical results is presented in Section 4 and 5.

2
2. Design of a composite compressor blade

For the design of the investigated blade, a representative airfoil and root geometry of a monolithic
compressor blade was used. Since the design of a composite compressor blade is not a simple
material substitution, different aspects had to be taken into account. The air flow channel limiting
compressor blade platform was removed for a load path aligned design, which made it necessary
to design a transition region between airfoil and root. This modification of the design requires a
new approach for the limitation of the flow channel, which is not included within this work as well
as the requirements concerning gas loads or foreign object damage. A comparable stress effort fE
under centrifugal loading of approximately 16 000 RPM as in the reference blade was chosen as
the main design criterion for the composite compressor blade. Therefore, the stress effort fE ,
which is proportional to the reciprocal of the reserve factor and in [19] described as stress
exposure, is within this work defined for composite materials of how far the stress state in a
laminate is from the fracture state. For isotropic materials, it is defined as the ratio of the current
stress state and the yield stress.

2.1. Design of blade geometry and composite architecture

A number of steps are necessary to select the design of a composite compressor blade as well as
the layup of the composite. The complexity of the last step can increase depending on additional
requirements of the compressor stage as e.g. impact damage. It is additionally possible to use
different failure criteria as the Failure Mode Concept (FMC) [20]. The following five steps were
performed during the design of the presented composite compressor blade under rotational load:

1. Geometry modification for composite-based design,

2. Discretisation of the geometry with a mapped 8-node hexahedral mesh,
3. Numerical stress and deformation analysis with isotropic material for a load path aligned
preselection,
4. Numerical stress and deformation as well as vibration analysis with orthotropic materials for
an appropriate composite-based design and
5. Numerical failure analysis according to the Failure Mode Concept.

For the selection of a preferred composite blade design, the termination and restart at each step
can be performed. Results from previous versions are implemented into step one to constantly
improve the design. For an improvement of the composite architecture, the composite layup is
adjusted in step four and analysed according to the stress effort in the different fibre directions
fEX/Y /Z . Whereas, the resulting stress effort fEF M C contains the combination of two fibre failure
modes (tension and compression) and three matrix failure modes (tension, compression and shear)
including the material inherent probabilistic mixed mode behaviour in a series spring
formulation [20]. A selection of performed improvements steps is shown in Table 1. Two

3
unsuitable design steps (A + B) as well as the final design demonstrate the semi-automatic
improvement process for the selection of the blade geometry. In this process, the geometry
modification is performed manually and the preparation and execution of the numerical models
are done partial automatic using macros. In step one, the composite geometry is presented in grey
and the geometry of the reference blade as a comparison in blue. The results of the numerical
studies including the stress effort under centrifugal loading are demonstrated in the following
steps. The stress effort for monolithic materials fEISO of the reference blade under centrifugal
loading as a benchmark was 0.58.
As a result, a composite compressor blade design was selected which did not show failure at the
maximum rotational speed. The stress effort of 0.6 lies in the same range as the stress effort of the
monolithic reference blade. The weight reduction of the blade at this point is 73 % but with the
reduction of the platform and no consideration of gas loads as well as foreign object damage.
Following the use of an annulus filler or another design is required for the limitation of the flow
channel as well as features for foreign object damage prevention, which consequently will reduce
the weight savings. However, the overall weight reduction which is especially important for aero
engines will additionally result from secondary weight reduction. Lighter disks, smaller bearings
up to a weight reduction of the whole engine and subsequently of the aircraft structure are
aftereffects when reducing the blade weight.

2.2. Manufacturing of the composite compressor blade

For the chosen blade, high tenacity (HT) carbon fibres were used with an RTM 6 epoxy matrix
and a fibre volume content of 60 %. The cutting plan was generated according to the blade
geometry under consideration of the layer thickness. Due to the change of blade thickness, the
contours of the single composite layers vary for each layer as shown in Figure 1 (left). This for
blades typical layer structure is necessary to reach nearly constant fibre volume content from
blade root to blade tip. The composite layup in Figure 1 (right) consists of ten layers in the blade
tip region [±45/0/90/02 ]S and additional 0◦ -layers of unidirectional fabric towards the root to
compensate the change in blade thickness. The layup was chosen in consideration of the
centrifugal loading as well as the geometric untwist of three-dimensional airfoils. Therefore, the
0◦ -layers carry the centrifugal load and provide a high bending stiffness. The shear stress and the
untwist of the blade is reduced by one ±45◦ -layer of twill weave fabric, which is designed as a
torsion cover. With the 90◦ -layer of unidirectional fabric, the bend up of the blade profile is
prevented.
A resin transfer moulding (RTM) tool was constructed to manufacture the chosen composite
blade, based on the results obtained from the previously performed design process. The tool
comprises an extension of the blade geometry which is cut off the blade after the curing process to
ensure a straight fibre orientation on the tip and root of the blade. For the manufacturing of the
prototype blades the standard parameters for processing of the used epoxy resin were applied. A

4
vacuum pump, the closed RTM tool, a control of the heating system, a compressed air connection
and a pressure vessel were used for the manufacturing of the structure.

2.3. Quality assessment of the manufactured blades

An analysis of the blade geometry was performed to determine the geometrical variations after the
manufacturing of the prototypes. As shown in Figure 2 the manufactured blades were measured
using the digitizing system ATOS (Advanced Topometric Sensor) and compared to each other as
well as to the CAD model. Additionally, the measuring set-up was places on a turning table to
allow a full 360◦ measurement. The used ATOS IIe system is based on the triangulation principle
and projects different fringe pattern by means of a camera-projector system onto the object. Each
single 3D scanning of the entire test object generates up to 1.3 million data points with a
measuring area of 135 x 108 mm2 .
The thickness variation of the blades at a selected section is shown in Figure 3. A small area of
measuring points was therefore used from both sides of the blade to determine the thickness.
Since the thickness was automatically calculated from several points, the scatter within this small
area is shown for every determined thickness. The variation in the maximum thickness for the
nine measured prototypes, which were manufactured using the same parameters, is approximately
0.06 mm with the exception of one outlier. The prototypes vary at the same time around the CAD
model over the length of the blade. This demonstrates a small variation of 2.8 % in the maximum
blade thickness for the prototypes which could be reduced for an industrial applied process.

2.4. Rotational testing of the blade

Two manufactured blades were tested at a typical operational rotational speed of approximately
16 000 RPM under technical vacuum. The reliability of the blade for future experimental
vibration analysis under rotating conditions below this rotational speed was ensured in this way.
As shown in Figure 4, the blades were mounted onto the disc of the monolithic reference blade. In
the underground rotor test rig at the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer
Technology, the rotor was accelerated gradually up to the maximum speed and kept at constant
velocity for one minute at each step.
The blade was visually observed after the test and did not show any signs of failure. Additionally,
a computer tomographic scan was performed showing no signs of crack initiation or delamination,
as demonstrated in Figure 5 in three cross sections of the blade. The test has demonstrated that
the designed blades can withstand the required centrifugal forces without any damage.

3. Numerical prediction of the vibration behaviour

The calculation of complex-shaped structures like the investigated blade requires the use of
numerical simulation models like e. g. the finite element method. Using direction-dependent
material properties of a single unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy layer, the

5
eigenfrequencies, modeshapes and modal damping values of the composite compressor blade were
determined. The CFRP has modelled using following properties for the longitudinal modulus
Ek = 117.53 GPa, the transvers modulus E⊥ = 8.1 GPa, the shear modulus G# = 4.11 GPa, the
Poisson’s ratio νk⊥ = 0.3, the density % = 1.52 g/cm3 as well as the modal loss factor Dk = 0.15 %,
D⊥ = 0.73 % and D# = 0.83 % [6].

3.1. Model of the composite compressor blade

A simulation corresponding to the experimental procedure was performed for the investigated
carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy blades by means of a finite element model. A mapped
three-dimensional 8-node hexahedral mesh with fully integrated solid elements was used within
the commercial software Abaqus. Selected degrees-of-freedom were constrained in order to
simulate fixed boundary conditions at the root of the blade. The FMC failure criteria was
implemented into the analysis with a user-defined subroutine of the type UVARM. Furthermore, a
number of simplifications were taken into account during the design process of the numerical
model in order to reduce the computational time and provide good results for the consideration of
the modal loss factor [22]:

• The manufacturing imperfections such as deviations of the fibre orientation or local resin
pockets e. g. at ply drops where not modelled,

• The composite layup in areas with the same fibre orientation was homogenised to single
materials to recover the full stack elastic properties,

• The ±45◦ -layer of twill weave fabric is modelled as two unidirectional layer for the
calculation of the damping values with one solid element and composite option.

3.2. Extension of the model for the consideration of the modal loss factor

Currently commercially available software suites allow the consideration of damping effects by
means of stiffness or mass proportional coefficients. Anyway, these software suites suffer from a
lack of suitable material models including a material-adapted damping formulation. Thus, using
these programs, it is not possible to represent the anisotropic damping behaviour of multi-layered
composite structures.
One approach to include these anisotropic damping effects in a numerical model is the use of the
energy concept (e.g. [5, 7, 15, 16, 17]). This concept in terms of strain energy quantities was
introduced in [21]. The calculation of the modal loss factor d is done using the specific damping
capacity ψ, which is calculated using the dissipated energy ∆U and the total strain energy U

∆U
ψ = 2πd = . (1)
U

6
Based on [7], the calculation of the modal loss factor of anisotropic composite structures using a
finite element model is done using the contribution of the tensor components of the mth finite
element to the total strain energy

[m] 1 [m] [m] [m]

Uij = σ ε V (without Einstein summation convention). (2)
2 ij ij
Consequently, the modal loss factor dn of the nth mode shape of the blade can be calculated from
[m]
the components of the material damping values Dij in combination with the separate Uij
contributions to the total strain energy using the following relation

Ne P
N P
3 P
3  
P (k) [m](k)
Dij Uij
m=1 k=1 i=1 j=1 n
dn = Ne P
N P
3 P
3   , (3)
P [m](k)
Uij
m=1 k=1 i=1 j=1 n

where Ne is the number of finite elements, N is the number of single layers and the index k marks
the layer number within the mth finite element.
Following the design process, the damping calculation was implemented in Matlab as a
postprocessing feature based on a standard modal analysis. The directional-dependent material
damping values Dij , earlier described as Dk , D⊥ , D# , are input values within this routine. The
contributions to the total strain energy values are calculated using Abaqus. For performance
reasons the numerical integration (3) as well as the necessary program interfaces are implemented
in Matlab.

4. Experimental set-up

An experimental vibration analysis was performed to validate the numerically predicted modal
parameters. The eigenfrequencies, modeshapes and modal damping were investigated and
compared to the numerical results.
For the modal analysis a combined excitation-measurement system was introduced as shown in
Figure 6. Specifically for the excitation an electro dynamical shaker has been used with a mounted
steel impactor and a force sensor, see Figure 6. An optimised burst signal was sent to the shaker
causing a stroke of the impactor to the blade, reducing uncertainties and eliminating double hits.
A further selection criterion of this technique was the reproducibility of the excitation.
The resulting vibration response was recorded contactless with a Laser-Scanning-Vibrometer
(Polytec, Type PSV-400). The measuring concept is based on the principle of the laser
interferometry and the Doppler-effect. The resulting vibration signals were measured at a
frequency bandwidth between 10 Hz and 2 500 Hz with a frequency resolution of 0.625 Hz,
analogue filtered and cleansed in the signal conditioning unit by removing the trends in order to
reduce the systematic errors. As measured signals were superimposed by noise, subsequent
measurements were taken and magnitude averaging was implemented.

7
The −3 dB value as a basis for identification of the modal loss factor was obtained from the
experimental data. It is calculated from the acquired frequency spectrum based on the half-power
bandwidth method

f2 − f1
d= (4)
f0
where f1 and f2 are the frequencies having a −3 dB amplitude of the amplitude at the
eigenfrequency f0 .
A clamping device was used to fix the blade, as shown in Figure 7. The contact flanks of the
blades were pressed with a punch from below against the counterpart with the shape of the disk.
A force equivalent to the forces which occurs at a rotational speed of 16 000 RPM was used to
achieve the same contact pressure as during operational condition.

5. Comparison of numerical and experimental results

An experimental and numerical modal analysis was performed and compared. The experimental
modal analysis was performed using an electro dynamical shaker for the excitation of the blade
and a laser scanning vibrometer for the measurement of the dynamic response. This response was
measured at 55 uniformly distributed points at the surface of five tested blades. A full agreement
of the modeshapes has been observed as exemplary shown for the first bending modeshape in
Figure 8.
A maximum relative deviation of 10.5 % for the eigenfrequencies was determined as demonstrated
in Table 2. The numerical results show almost consistently higher eigenfrequencies. As
manufacturing imperfections were not considered, areas with the same fibre orientation were
homogenised and the ±45◦ -layer of twill weave fabric was modelled as two unidirectional layers,
the used material properties presented for the numerical model exceed those of the manufactured
prototypes. Nevertheless, this could be improved by introducing a fitting process of the finite
element model until the results from experimental and numerical modal analysis converge [22, 23].
The comparison of the numerical and experimental results of the modal loss factor is shown in
Figure 9. The numerical results represent the modal loss factor of the composite blade only taking
the material damping into account. The measured modal loss factor of the blade includes
additional damping caused by friction in the clamping area as well as air damping. As air
damping only has a minor influence on the overall damping when testing structures with a small
exposed surface area as shown in [24] as well as at low vibration amplitudes as shown
in [25, 26, 27], the difference in the results can mainly be explained by friction in the clamping
area. This friction has a significant impact on the measured damping properties, as investigated
by many researchers (e.g. [28, 29]). Nevertheless, these effects can only be further reduced
through structural adhesive bonding or avoided if measurements are performed under free-free
conditions in vacuum. With respect to the practical relevance of the presented study, an

8
application oriented set-up was chosen. With a view to future works on the vibration analysis of
rotating blades, the friction in the clamping area has to be considered in the numerical model for
a correct evaluation of the overall damping behaviour.

6. Conclusion & Outlook

The design of a composite compressor blade originating from the airfoil and root geometry of a
monolithic reference blade was described. The design process was demonstrated on a
representative blade for a rotational speed of approximately 16 000 RPM. Furthermore, the
manufacturing of the chosen blade, the rotational testing and an examination of the geometric
variations of the prototypes was briefly demonstrated. The manufactured prototypes show
variations of up to 0.06 mm in the maximum blade thickness. A numerical model for the
determination of the vibrational behaviour and an additional extension for the consideration of
the modal loss factor were introduced. The predicted eigenfrequencies and modeshapes show a
good accordance to the results of the experimental modal analysis which was also presented
within this work.
In future works, the presented composite compressor blade as well as other blade configurations
will be used for an experimental evaluation of the vibration behaviour under rotating conditions.
For a correct evaluation of the overall damping behaviour, the influence of friction has to be
additionally taken into account. Furthermore, an investigation of the blade behaviour during
foreign object damage as well as tip rub is necessary and will also be the focus in future works.

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11
 Symmetry plane
0° 90°
0°
0°
90°
0°
±45°

Figure 1: Contours of the single layers after placing half the layers into the aluminium mould (left) and the
composite layup (right).

Sensor head 0.15

Suction side mm Pressure side
Blade
0.08
Reference 0.04
point
0.00
-0.04
-0.08
-0.12
Clamping -0.15

Figure 2: The applied Advanced Topometric Sensor measurement system (left), the measurement set-up of the
CFRP-blade (centre) and a comparison of two manufactured blades where a deviation of approximately 0.1 mm can
be identified (right).

2.4
mm 4.30
2 mm

1.8
3.00
Blade thickness

1.6
1.4 2.25
CFRP Blade 1
1.2 CFRP Blade 2
CFRP Blade 3 1.50
1 CFRP Blade 4
CFRP Blade 5
CFRP Blade 6
0.8 CFRP Blade 7
0.75
CFRP Blade 8
0.6 CFRP Blade 9
CFRP Blade CAD 0.00
0.4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 mm 50
X direction

Figure 3: Blade thicknesses of the prototypes from ATOS data (left) and investigated section of the blade (right).

12
 Suspension

Blade

Disk

Figure 4: Two composite compressor blades mounted on a disc for rotational testing.

60 mm

4 mm
4 mm
150 mm

4 mm

Figure 5: Manufactured prototype of the composite compressor blade (left) and computer tomographic scan in
different heights (right) where no damage initiation is visible.

PC-Unit

Laser scanning Impactor &

vibrometer force sensor
Blade

Junction Box
Shaker
Vibrometer
Controller PSV
Vibration isolation table
Data Central
System
Shaker amplifier

Figure 6: Experimental set-up for the modal analysis of the composite compressor blade. The impact excitation
was realised with an electro-dynamical shaker and a steel impactor.

13
 Blade

Contact
flank

Punch

Figure 7: Clamping device for the vibration analysis with two contact flanks and the pressure punch.

f = 274 Hz f = 261 Hz Deflection

Max

Min

Figure 8: First numerically predicted bending mode (left) and first experimentally determined bending mode
(right), where a good accordance can be observed.

14
 0.04
Experimental results
0.035 Numerical results

0.03
Modal loss factor

0.025

0.02

0.015

0.01

0.005

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Hz 3500
Frequency

Figure 9: Comparison between the experimentally identified and numerically calculated modal loss factor.

15
Version Step 1 Step 2 + 3 Step 4 Step 5
Termination due to
large geometric devi-
A
ations from reference
blade
Termination due to
stress concentration
B →
at transition radius to
front edge
fEISO = 0.69

Final → → →

fEISO = 0.61 fEX = 0.32 fEF M C = 0.60

Table 1: Exemplary steps for the selection of the composite blade geometry.

16
f Modeshape Experimental (Hz) Numerical (Hz) Rel. deviation (%)
1 Bending 270 274 1.4

2 Bending 930 938 0.9

3 Torsion 1 249 1 381 10.5

4 Mixed 2 179 2 123 -2.6

5 Bending 2 901 2 944 1.5

6 Torsion 3 194 3 411 6.8

Table 2: Comparison between the experimentally determined and the numerically calculated eigenfrequencies.

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