A stability analysis is developed to assess the stresses and dynamic characteristics of the wound composite material axial impeller under centrifugal force loading conditions. This procedure is based on finite element analysis (commercial software ABAQUS) results. A low-cost, light-weight, high-performance composite turbomachinery impeller with a uniquely designed blade patterns is evaluated. Understanding the stress–strain behaviour of fibre-reinforced composite laminates as it relates to ultimate failure and the ability to predict ultimate strength is critical in the design of safe and lightweight impellers. To determine failures, the maximum stress failure criterion is used. In order to avoid operating at resonance, which can make impellers suffer a significant reduction in the design life, the designer must calculate the natural frequency and modal shape of the impeller to analyse the dynamic characteristics. The results show that using composite Kevlar fibre/epoxy matrix enables the impeller to run at a rotating speed 2228 rad/s and withstand the stresses, no critical speed will be matched during start-up and shut-down, and that mass imbalances of the impeller shall not pose a critical problem.
Dynamic Characteristics of Specialty Composite Structures with Embedded Damping Layers