The 57th JUACEP Seminer

Lecture summary In this talk, Prof. Meguid presented some of his recent research on the structural integrity of aviation gas turbine engines. These include studies concerned with blade disc interface stresses, thermomechanical failures in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), instability challenges in aerial refueling and multifunctional nanocomposites. This was followed by an extended coverage of single and multiple blade shedding that could lead to catastrophic failures. These failures typically result from the severe operating conditions of the engine, poor blade design/manufacture maintenance, blade vibration, and foreign object damage. In spite of the strict design and certification requirements that are imposed on engine manufacturers by aviation authorities to ensure the safety of the engine, passengers and plane, uncontained blade shedding remains unresolved, as evidenced by the recent blade shedding incidents. He addressed three related topics: (i) identifying kinematic trajectory of the released blades both numerically using nonlinear finite element simulations and experimentally using a newly designed and instrumented scaled down test rig.. (ii) Determining the energy absorption and containment capabilities of a number of alternative materials. (iii) His novel bilayer containment ring design accounting for the interaction between the released blade and the trailing blades in a fan disk.

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