Mixed-mode crack growth simulation in aviation engine compressor disk

This study focuses on a mixed mode crack growth analysis of an aviation gas turbine engine (GTE) compressor disk based on simulation principles. The operation damages occur via inclined surface cracks in a “dovetail type” disk-and-blade attachment. Based on the sizes and configuration of this attachment, three geometries for simulation models of the GTE compressor disk are proposed. The biaxial loading conditions of the simulation models are determined and numerically verified to reproduce the stress-strain state in critical zones of the compressor disk during operation. To determine the elastic-plastic fracture mechanical parameters, a 3D full-size finite element method (FEM) analysis is conducted for the GTE compressor disk and simulation models, based on operating loading conditions. As a result, the distributions of the new mixed-mode fracture resistance parameters in the form of equivalent elastic and plastic stress intensity factors along the crack front in the disk-and-blade dovetail-type attachment are applied to the experimental uniaxial and biaxial data for crack growth rate interpretation. The possibility of using the proposed simulation principles for an assessment of the structural integrity of GTE rotating disks is discussed.