P. Wawrzynek, B. Carter, Fracture Analysis Consultants, Inc., Ithaca, NY; R. Pettit, Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford, CT
Rotating aircraft engine components are subject to transient combine high cycle and low cycle fatigue loading (HCF/LCF) as resonances are crossed during throttle excursions. Current design practice is to assume a component's fatigue life has been expended once a crack is large enough to grow under such conditions. However, such an assumption may be unrealistically conservative in a prognosis framework were a high fidelity prediction of the actual useful life is required. This paper describes a simulation capability that has been developed to model fatigue crack growth under HCF/LCF conditions. It combines the FRANC3D/NG program to adaptively modify finite element meshes to simulate crack growth and the VICTER program to perform reduced order vibratory analyses of components with cracks.
Summary: A new capability for simulating crack growth in rotating engine components subjected to both high and low cycle fatigue loads.