Forced Vibration of Mistuned Bladed Discs in Last Stage LP Steam Turbine
During the exploitation of a commercial LP steam turbine, self-excitation occurred in the last stage of slender blades, inducing high vibration amplitudes. These problems were solved by changing the geometry of certain blades (feathering) and arranging them in a specific order (alternating mistuning). This paper presents free and forced vibrations of various mistuned steam turbine bladed discs. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of the steam turbine bladed discs were calculated using FEM models. Two different approaches to mistuning were applied: either the blade geometry or the Young’s Modulus were changed. Next, the results were compared. This showed that blade geometry mistuning gave the best results for long blades in the case of higher mistuning. The forced vibration analysis showed that the maximal blade stress location differed, depending on the kind of mistuning. The application feathering and alternating mistuning showed lower stress levels than the tip-timing measured standard mistuning pattern.