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Water droplet erosion of aeroengine fan blades: the importance of form

Water droplet erosion of aeroengine fan blades: the importance of form
Water droplet erosion of aeroengine fan blades: the importance of form

The radius of typical water droplet, which an aeroengine encounters in-service, and the radius of curvature of a typical fan blade leading-edge are approximately the same; this is unlike previously investigated contexts, where the typical droplet radius is at least an order of magnitude smaller. The consequences of this have been explored theoretically but never experimentally. In this study, an established technique was used to generate high-speed impingements (210 m s−1 to 250 m s−1) of water on planar and curved (in one plane) samples of a comparatively well-understood material (polymethylmethacrylate). A novel, direct, characterisation methodology (using ultra-high-speed imaging) was employed to accurately describe each impingement. The form of damage changed significantly when a curved sample was subjected to a high-speed impingement; the circular damage pattern observed on planar samples changed to an oval. This is qualitatively consistent with the theoretical predictions and constitutes another step forward in the understanding of the WDE of aeroengine fan blades.

Fan blades, Liquid impingement, Ultra-high-speed imaging, Water droplet erosion
0043-1648
507-517
Burson-Thomas, Charles B.
2bacf260-3637-4943-9816-3d8f18c24eb7
Wellman, Richard
933354f5-e4ff-448e-b6b5-4caef14187a4
Harvey, Terry J.
3b94322b-18da-4de8-b1af-56d202677e04
Wood, Robert J.K.
d9523d31-41a8-459a-8831-70e29ffe8a73
Burson-Thomas, Charles B.
2bacf260-3637-4943-9816-3d8f18c24eb7
Wellman, Richard
933354f5-e4ff-448e-b6b5-4caef14187a4
Harvey, Terry J.
3b94322b-18da-4de8-b1af-56d202677e04
Wood, Robert J.K.
d9523d31-41a8-459a-8831-70e29ffe8a73

Burson-Thomas, Charles B., Wellman, Richard, Harvey, Terry J. and Wood, Robert J.K. (2019) Water droplet erosion of aeroengine fan blades: the importance of form. Wear, 426-427 (Part A), 507-517. (doi:10.1016/j.wear.2018.12.030).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The radius of typical water droplet, which an aeroengine encounters in-service, and the radius of curvature of a typical fan blade leading-edge are approximately the same; this is unlike previously investigated contexts, where the typical droplet radius is at least an order of magnitude smaller. The consequences of this have been explored theoretically but never experimentally. In this study, an established technique was used to generate high-speed impingements (210 m s−1 to 250 m s−1) of water on planar and curved (in one plane) samples of a comparatively well-understood material (polymethylmethacrylate). A novel, direct, characterisation methodology (using ultra-high-speed imaging) was employed to accurately describe each impingement. The form of damage changed significantly when a curved sample was subjected to a high-speed impingement; the circular damage pattern observed on planar samples changed to an oval. This is qualitatively consistent with the theoretical predictions and constitutes another step forward in the understanding of the WDE of aeroengine fan blades.

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WEAR2019_0384 - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 12 December 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 April 2019
Published date: 30 April 2019
Keywords: Fan blades, Liquid impingement, Ultra-high-speed imaging, Water droplet erosion

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 433948
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433948
ISSN: 0043-1648
PURE UUID: 305f2b11-dd28-4ee7-bc03-c994bb7aec80
ORCID for Charles B. Burson-Thomas: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9308-4669
ORCID for Robert J.K. Wood: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0681-9239

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Sep 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:29

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Contributors

Author: Richard Wellman
Author: Terry J. Harvey

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