Journal of Sound and Vibration (1996) 196(5), 681–703

STUDIES ON THE DETERMINATION OF

NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF INDUSTRIAL
TURBINE BLADES†
M. M. B, V. R  C. S
Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 600036, India

(Received 4 May 1995, and in final form 28 February 1996)

A steam turbine blade is a very complex structure. It has geometric complexities such
as variation of twist, taper, width and thickness along its length. For most of the time, these
variations are not uniform. Apart from these geometric complexities, the blades are coupled
by means of lacing wire, lacing rod or a shroud. Blades are attached to a flexible disc which
contributes to the dynamic behavior of the blade. Root fixity also plays an important role
in this behavior. There is considerable variation in the frequencies of blades of newly
assembled turbines and in frequencies after some hours of running. Again because of
manufacturing tolerances, there can be some variation in the blade to blade frequencies.
The determination of natural frequencies of the blade is therefore a very critical job.
Problems associated with typical industrial turbine bladed discs of a 235 MW steam turbine
are highlighted in this paper.
7 1996 Academic Press Limited

1. INTRODUCTION
Ever increasing demands of high performance together with reliability of operation, long
life and light weight necessitate consistent development of almost every part of a steam
turbine. Blades form a vital part of a turbomachine. Apart from their shape and geometry,
on which the performance characteristics of the machine largely depend, their dynamic
strength is of considerable importance as far as the reliability of operation and the life of
the engine are concerned.
The main cause of failure of the blades in the lower temperature stages of a turbine is
fatigue. Blade failures due to fatigue are predominantly vibration related. The dynamic
loads on the blading can arise from many sources, the predominant one being the source
of operation on which the turbine is designed. When the rotor blade passes past the nozzle
of the stator, it experiences fluctuating lift and moments repeatedly at the nozzle passing
frequency. The blades are very flexible members in the sense that a significant number of
their natural frequencies can be in the region of the nozzle excitation frequencies. Although
a turbine is designed to avoid resonance at its steady operating speed, it experiences
resonance several times during the starting up and shutting down of the turbine. This may
give rise to shut down because of blade failure.
The vibration analysis of turbine blades has evolved from simple beam analysis to
sophisticated finite element techniques. In reference [1] complete theoretical and
experimental results of the vibration characteristics of twisted cantilever plates have been

†This paper was presented in brief at the 15th ASME Conference on Vibration and Noise, 1995, Boston,
U.S.A.
681
0022–460X/96/400681 + 23 $18.00/0 7 1996 Academic Press Limited
682 . .    .
given. Plates resembling gas turbine blades have been investigated by many different
analytical methods. The results obtained were compared with each other and with
experimental results. It has been shown that there is considerable disagreement among the
frequencies predicted by various finite element formulations, even though the blade
analyzed was rectangular in plan and with constant thickness. Bhat has used orthogonal
polynomials generated by a Gram–Schmidt process as admissible functions of the Ritz
method and has studied vibrations of rectangular plates [2].
In practice, the blades are coupled either by a shroud or by lacing wire or lacing rods.
Chapman and Wang [3] have carried out experimental investigations on the effect of
the lacing wire location on natural frequencies of a single blade. They also carried out
an analysis of laced blade assemblies. They found that the effect of lacing wire is to
stiffen up the blade and that, consequently, natural frequencies increase. Valero and
Bendiksen [4] have investigated mode localization phenomenon associated with mistuning
for shrouded blade assemblies. Wachter et al. [5] have dealt with the vibration
characteristics of a steam turbine low pressure (L.P.) stage, the blades of which are coupled
by lacing pins or lacing wire. Recently, Jaiswal and Bhave [6] have presented an
experimental method to determine the damping ratio for lacing wire/pin configurations
under rotating conditions. They found that the damping was a maximum in the case of
a blade with lacing wire (j = 1·72%) and was a minimum in the case of a free-standing
blade (j = 0·77%).
Normally, the blades are attached to the flexible disc. Therefore, the disc also contributes
to the dynamic behavior of the blades. The interaction between the disc and the blades
gives rise to disc–blade coupled vibrations and the analysis becomes complicated. To
analyze this problem one needs a large computer core and considerable time. To solve this
problem, Omprakash and Ramamurti used the principle of the cyclic symmetry for the
tuned system combined with the Rayleigh–Ritz method [8] and FEM [9].
In this paper, the work reported in the natural frequencies of steam turbine blades of
two different stages (fourth and fifth) of the L.P. side of a 235 MW steam turbine have
been determined. This turbine has a running speed of 3000 rpm and periodical shut-downs
of the plant have been reported because of mechanical failures in this turbine. Therefore
the aim of the work reported in this paper was to predict the natural frequencies of the
blades of these two stages as accurately as possible. The purpose of this was to enable the
power plants that have these blades to fix the limits of operation of the grid frequency.
First, natural frequencies are found by modelling the blade as a twisted cantilever plate
and taking into account all geometric complexities, such as the aerofoil section, the taper
and the twist. An effort has also been made to find the effect of lacing wire/lacing rods
on the natural frequencies. Later, a bladed disc model was analyzed to take into account
the effect of the disc on the natural frequencies. The coupling effect was also studied by
analyzing just two blade discs and then three blade discs. Frequencies are determined at
stationary as well as at different running speeds. At running speeds the effect of de-twisting
on natural frequencies was also found for the last stage L.P. turbine blade. FEM has been
used for the purpose of analysis.

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
A blade–disc combination is usually modelled by using the finite element method [10].
The use of shell elements [11] and of 3-D brick elements is very common. Obtaining
convergence in the case of a 3-D element is extremely difficult. In the present investigation
triangular shell elements with six degrees of freedom at each node were used to represent
the model.
       683
2.1.  
A triangular shell finite element is used in the analysis. In-plane displacements are
represented by a linear polynomial in plane co-ordinates x and y. Zienkiewicz [10] has
proposed a shape function to be used in conjunction with triangular elements for
out-of-plane displacements. The co-ordinate system used is shown in Figure 1. The normal
displacement, w, of the plate is expressed in terms of the area co-ordinates L1 , L2 and L3
in the form (a list of nomenclature is given in the Appendix)
w = b1 L1 + b2 L2 + b3 L3 + b4 (L22 L1 + 1/2L1 L2 L3 ) + · · · + b9 (L12 L3 + 1/2L1 L2 L3 ). (1)

Figure 1. The co-ordinate system; Zienkiewicz approach.

b2

tb

B2
Figure 2. The geometric parameters; blade.

T 1
Details of the blades
Stage 5 Stage 4
Length, L (mm) 950 500
Root width, B (mm) 220 95
Tip width, B (mm) 150 90
Root thickness, tb (mm) 40 20
Tip thickness, tb (mm) 10 8
Twist (°) 70 60
684 . .    .
This shape function violates the continuity of slope condition, and is therefore only an
approximate solution to the problem of minimizing the total potential energy. Although
monotonic convergence is not guaranteed for non-conformal elements for static problems,
this has been demonstrated to give results superior to those attainable with equivalent
conforming triangles.
The resulting triangular element will have six degrees of freedom at each node, three
for translation and three for rotation. Rotation about an axis normal to the plane of the
plate is introduced to take care of the different finite elements present in different planes.
The associated consistent mass and stiffness matrices are derived.

2.2.   

The potential energy U and kinetic energy T are given by

U = 12
g
vol
o Ts d(vol), T = 12
g
vol
rv̄ 2 d(vol). (2, 3)

For plate bending problems the strains are given by

01 01
op o
{o} = + g , (4)
of 0

where op and of are the strains due to the in-plane and bending displacements, respectively,
and og is the effect of the bending displacements on mid-surfaces strains; these are given
by
{op } = [ox , oy , gxy ]T = [1u/1x, 1v/1y, 1u/1y, + 1v/1x]T, (5)

$ % $0 1 0 10 1%
12w 12w 12w 12w 12w 1w 1w
T 2 2 T

{of } = − 2, − 2, − 2 , {og } = 1
, − 12 , .
1x 1y 1x1y 2
1x 2
1y 2 1x 1y

(6, 7)

2.2.1. Expressions for potential energy

The potential energy U is given by
U = P1 + P2 + P3 + P4 . (8)
P1 and P2 are the components due to in-plane and bending displacements. P1 , P2 and the
elastic stiffness matrix [kE ] are derived using standard procedure [13]. P3 is the additional
strain energy of the rotating plate, and is given by
P3 = A(h/2){sx (1w/1x)2 + sy (1w/1y)2 + 2txy (1w/1x)(1w/1y)] + [sx (vz2 + 2vz oxy )
+ sy (vz2 − 2vz oxy ) + 2txy (oy − ox )vz ]}, (9)
where
vz = (1/2)(1v/1x − 1u/1y), oxy = (1/2)(1v/1x + 1u/1y). (10)
sx , sy and txy are the steady in-plane normal and shear stresses. The terms within the first
rectangular bracket in equation (3) are due to bending action and second due to membrane
action. The terms involving vz are neglected in reference [13].
       685
The associated rotational stiffness matrix [kG ] is given by

[kG ] = h
gg [Gs]T[D0 ][Gs] d(area), (11)

where

K sy −txy 0 0 0 0 L
G −txy sx 0 0 0 0 G
G 0 0 (sx + sy ) −txy txy −(sx − sy ) G
[D0 ] = G G (12)
G 0 0 −txy 0 0 0
G
G 0 0 txy 0 0 0 G
k 0 0 −(sx − sy ) 0 0 0 l
and [Gs] is given by the relationship

F 1w/1y J
G −1w/1x G
G (1v/1x − 1u/1y)/2 G
g h = [Gs]{q}, (13)
1u/1x
G G
G 1v/1y G
f (1v/1x + 1u/1y)/2 j
in which

F u J
F G v G
G di J
G G w G
{q} = g dj h, {di} = g h. (14, 15)
G
f dk G
j G −(1w/1y) G
G 1w/1x G
f 1w/1z j
P4 is the strain energy due to transverse shear which has been neglected in the analysis.

2.2.2 Expressions for kinetic energy

The kinetic energy of the rotating plate is given by

T = 12
gvol
rv 2 d(vol), (16)

where v̄ is the absolute velocity of a point on the element and is given by

8 9
u̇ + V2 (zi + w) −V3 (yi + y + v)
v̄ = v̇ + V3 (xi + x + u) −V1 (zi + w) . (17)
ẇ + V1 (yi + y + v) −V2 (xi + x + u)

The use of equations (8) and (17) for the kinetic energy and applying Lagrange’s equation
over an element results in the equilibrium equation
mE q̈ + cE q̇ + [kE + kG + kR ]q = fE (V 2 ), (18)
686 . .    .
where mE is the element mass matrix, cE is the element Coriolis matrix, kE , kG and kR are
elastic, geometric and supplementary stiffness matrices, and f E is the elemental centrifugal
force vector. The matrix depends on the initial stress distribution and is obtained by an
iterative process. With the Coriolis matrix neglected, the equation of motion for free
vibration becomes
mE q̈ + [kE + kG + kR ]q = fE (V 2 ). (19)

2.3.  

For the purpose of extracting real eigenvalues and determining the associated
eigenvectors, the simultaneous iteration method was used [14]. Sixteen iterations were
carried out and four natural frequencies were determined. The study was confined only
to the first four frequencies, since the fourth frequency is itself high enough to avoid the
possibility of resonance during the operation of the turbine.

3. DETAILS OF NUMERICAL WORK

The analysis included rotor blades of two different low pressure stages (the fourth and
fifth stages) of a 235 MW steam turbine. For the blades the eigenpairs have been computed
for (i) a free-standing blade and (ii) blades with lacing rod/lacing wire arrangements.
The influence of running speed has been estimated for different speed steps. The
experimental values arrived at for stationary blades [15] were compared with the analytical
ones. Southwell coefficients [16] were derived to predict the natural frequencies at different
running speeds from the analytical values computed. Southwell coefficients are computed
from:
v 2 = v02 + SV 2, (20)
where v is the natural frequency at the running speed, v0 is the natural frequency at zero
speed, V is the running speed and S is the Southwell coefficient

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Analytical and experimental investigations have been carried out on a 235 MW steam
turbine in a nuclear power plant. This unit has been operating during the past ten years
with periodic shut downs due to mechanical failures. The turbine has five high pressure
(H.P.) and five L.P. stages. The last L.P. stage rotor disc has an inner diameter of 410 mm
and an outer diameter of 860 mm. The blade length is 950 mm. This stage has 78 runner
blades. All of the measurements were carried out at a site covering all the blades.
The geometric parameters of the blade are shown in Figure 2. The dimensions of the
blades analyzed are shown in Table 1. One repeatable structure of the bladed disc
subtending an angle 2u0 at the center of the disc is shown in Figure 3. The disc has inner
radius r0 and outer radius r1 . The blade tip radius is r2 . Both the disc and the blade are
of variable thickness. The blade has a twist represented by the angle f, and makes a stagger
angle c with the disc plane. In both cases analyzed here it was found that the twist angle
does not vary linearly along the length, as assumed in most work. This variation makes
the modelling job much more difficult. The dimensions of the discs are shown in Table 2.
The geometric details for the fourth and fifth stage blades are given in Tables 3 and 4,
respectively, and the variation of the thickness from the root to the tip and also from the
leading edge to the trailing edge for both of the blades is given in Tables 5 and 6
respectively.
       687
Z

r1 r2
r0
2θ0 ψ

Figure 3. The bladed disc

Initially, measurements were carried out on 78 L.P. fifth stage turbine blades by using
a dual channel FFT analyzer. An impact test method was used for this purpose. Two rows
of 111 blades of stage four and another two rows of 78 blades of stage five were used for
the measurement. During the measurements, some scatter was observed in blade to blade
frequencies. In the measurements the bands observed for the first three modes were
76–85 Hz, 125–140 Hz and 155–170 Hz. This scatter in frequencies is probably due to non-
uniformity in root fixity, and non uniformity in aerofoil cross-section.

4.1.   

In actual practice, the blade has an aerofoil cross-section, camber, longitudinal taper and
longitudinally varying thickness. The blades are modelled with all geometric complexities
taken into account.
There are 11 nodes along the length and seven along the breadth. The thicknesses are
measured perpendicular to the meridional surface at the respective sections. All of the
degrees of freedom at the fixed edge are restrained.
The frequencies and Southwell coefficients for the blades considered are shown in
Tables 7 and 8.

4.2.    / 

Normally, in turbines, the blades of the last two L.P. stages are coupled either by lacing
wire or by a zigzag arrangement of loosely inserted lacing rods, as shown in Figures 4 and
5. This type of arrangement, together with the boundary conditions prescribed for the
blade, has a considerable effect on the natural frequencies of the system when rotating.
It was the authors’ intention to investigate this effect.
For this purpose, three types of arrangement as shown in Figures 6–8 were considered.
Due to symmetry, only half of the lacing rod was considered at the ends for finite element

T 2
Details of the disc
Stage 5 Stage 4
Inner radius, r0 (mm) 405 405
Outer radius, r1 (mm) 860 845
Thickness at inner radius (mm) 360 220
Thickness at mid-radius (mm) 300 150
Thickness at outer radius (mm) 250 122
688 . .    .
modelling. Lacing rods and lacing wires were modeled as 3-D beam elements. Because the
rods are loosely inserted into the blades, no boundary conditions were applied at the ends
A and B when predicting natural frequencies at stationary condition. However, when
considering the rotating system, the following two types of boundary conditions can be
prescribed at the ends A and B of the lacing rod arrangement: (i) only circumferential
displacements are arrested at A and B, so that vi = 0; (ii) circumferential displacements
as well as rotations, about the other two axes, at the ends A and B are arrested, so that
vi = 0, uxi = 0 and uzi = 0. In the present study only the second boundary condition is
considered in all cases. The lacing effect on the frequencies and the Southwell coefficients
for the L.P. fourth as well as fifth stage turbine blades were investigated, and the results

T 3
L.P. fourth stage blade geometry
Radial Circumferential Axial
845·0000 12·5900 −47·6600
845·0000 −0·3000 −26·9000
845·0000 −6·4000 −8·0000
845·000 −5·3000 8·76000
845·0000 2·5000 23·700
845·0000 16·5800 36·9000
845·0000 38·3500 47·9100
896·1001 11·1730 −47·2140
896·1001 −1·9760 −25·6430
896·1001 −6·6730 −7·0900
896·1001 −3·9930 8·9690
896·1001 4·8360 23·0580
896·1001 18·3580 35·7860
896·1001 38·3120 47·1480
947·2000 8·9690 −46·3860
947·2000 −3·8340 −24·3710
947·2000 −7·0270 −6·3030
947·2000 −2·8430 8·9970
947·2000 6·9440 22·2320
947·2000 20·0500 34·4400
947·2000 38·4480 45·9500
998·3000 5·9790 −45·1740
998·3000 −5·8980 −23·0830
998·3000 −7·4610 −5·6190
998·3000 −1·8490 8·8450
998·3000 8·8240 21·2220
998·3000 21·6540 32·8600
998·3000 38·7580 44·3160
1049·3999 2·2030 −43·5780
1049·3999 −8·1440 −21·7790
1049·3999 −7·9750 −5·0450
1049·3999 −1·0110 8·5130
1049·3999 10·4760 20·0280
1049·3999 23·1700 31·0460
1049·3999 39·2420 42·2460
1100·5000 −2·3600 −41·6000
1100·5000 −10·5800 −20·4600
1100·5000 −8·5700 −4·5800
1100·5000 −0·3300 8·0000
1100·5000 11·9000 18·6500
       689
T 3—Continued

Radial Circumferential Axial

1100·5000 24·6000 29·0000
1100·5000 39·9000 39·7400
1151·6001 −7·7090 −39·2380
1151·6001 −13·2060 −19·1250
1151·6001 −9·2450 −4·2250
1151·6001 0·1950 7·3070
1151·6001 13·0960 17·0880
1151·6001 25·9420 26·7200
1151·6001 40·7320 36·7980
1202·7000 −13·8450 −36·4940
1202·7000 −16·0220 −17·7750
1202·7000 −10·0000 −3·9790
1202·7000 0·5640 6·4330
1202·7000 14·0640 15·3420
1202·7000 27·1980 24·2080
1202·7000 41·7380 33·4200
1264·0000 −22·2430 −32·6950
1264·0000 −19·6510 −16·1350
1264·0000 −11·7530 −3·8290
1264·0000 0·8000 5·1470
1264·0000 14·9240 13·0000
1264·0000 28·5880 20·8860
1264·0000 43·1740 28·7920
1264·0000 18·6500 5·1470
1264·0000 36·5000 5·1470
1264·0000 −17·0500 5·1470
1264·0000 −34·9000 5·1470
1304·8999 −28·4750 −29·8540
1304·8999 −22·2240 −15·0270
1304·8999 −11·7530 −3·8170
1304·8999 0·8320 4·1450
1304·8999 15·3160 11·2980
1304·8999 29·4460 18·4820
1304·8999 44·2720 25·3560
1356·0000 −36·9700 −25·9600
1356·0000 −25·6100 −13·6300
1356·0000 −12·7500 −3·9000
1356·0000 0·7320 2·7300
1356·0000 15·6000 9·0000
1356·0000 30·4400 15·2700
1356·0000 45·8000 20·6700

are presented in the following tables. Here the fourth stage blades were connected by lacing
wire and the fifth stage blades by lacing rods.

4.2.1. Cantilever blade

The FE discretization of a cantilever blade is shown in Figure 9. In Tables 9 and 10
are shown the lacing effect on the frequencies and the Southwell coefficients for the L.P.
fourth and fifth stage turbine blades. From Tables 7 and 9, as well as from Tables 8 and
10, it is observed that the lacing rod/wire does not alter the first two frequencies
appreciably, but the effect is more pronounced as the running speed continues to increase:
e.g., at 3000 rpm, the first frequency predicted in Table 7 is 210 Hz, which increases to
690 . .    .
401 Hz (Table 9) with the introduction of lacing wire. The first, second and third mode
shapes of the cantilever blade respectively are shown in Figures 10, 11 and 12. The first
two modes are flap-wise bending modes, while the third one is the edge-wise bending mode.

4.2.2. Coupled blade disc vibrations

In addition to geometric complexities, as stated earlier, the condition of fixity at one
end is not true in practice, as the blades are connected to a flexible disc. The disc also
contributes to the frequencies. The frequencies of the disc are controlled by the geometry
of the disc and the method of attachment to the drive shaft. Thus, for realistic analysis,
it becomes important to consider the non-uniformity in the disc, the blade with its

T 4
L.P. last stage geometry
Radial Circumferential Axial
860·000 232·000 18·000
860·000 188·000 55·100
860·000 157·000 92·500
860·000 164·000 167·500
860·000 150·000 130·000
860·000 185·000 204·900
860·000 230·000 242·000
906·800 216·700 20·000
906·800 185·000 56·670
906·800 157·500 93·330
906·800 151·700 130·000
906·800 166·700 166·700
906·800 196·700 203·300
906·800 245·000 240·000
996·800 216·700 26·640
996·800 180·000 60·730
996·800 161·700 94·830
996·800 156·700 129·000
996·800 172·500 163·000
996·800 201·700 197·100
996·800 246·700 231·200
1087·000 191·400 34·200
1087·000 150·000 65·400
1087·000 155·000 96·610
1087·000 155·000 127·800
1087·000 174·300 159·000
1087·000 205·700 201·700
1087·000 251·400 246·700
1177·000 180·000 36·000
1177·000 164·700 72·000
1177·000 155·300 100·000
1177·000 160·000 126·600
1177·000 180·000 154·600
1177·000 210·600 182·700
1177·000 253·300 210·600
1357·000 143·800 64·760
1357·000 143·800 86·670
1357·000 149·500 106·700
1357·000 162·900 127·100
1357·000 187·100 146·200
       691
T 4—Continued

Radial Circumferential Axial

1357·000 222·900 166·600
1357·000 257·100 189·500
1507·000 122·000 90·000
1507·000 140·000 103·000
1507·000 157·000 119·000
1507·000 182·000 132·000
1507·000 212·000 147·000
1507·000 236·000 161·000
1507·000 256·500 175·000
1577·000 119·000 96·800
1577·000 136·800 107·400
1577·000 161·000 120·000
1577·000 187·900 132·600
1577·000 214·700 144·200
1577·000 237·900 156·800
1577·000 256·800 168·400
1691·000 111·100 102·200
1691·000 136·700 111·100
1691·000 154·500 117·600
1691·000 191·100 131·100
1691·000 208·900 140·000
1691·000 232·200 150·000
1691·000 253·300 160·000
1689·830 142·500 123·600
1687·950 124·500 131·600
1691·880 242·500 145·000
1694·000 262·200 135·000
1692·970 173·500 107·600
1689·560 217·200 158·000
1787·000 102·200 105·500
1787·000 136·700 113·300
1787·000 171·100 122·200
1787·000 195·500 130·000
1787·000 220·000 138·900
1787·000 238·500 146·700
1787·000 252·200 155·500
1812·000 102·300 105·700
1812·000 140·000 113·700
1812·000 168·000 122·300
1812·000 200·000 130·300
1812·000 220·000 138·300
1812·000 237·100 146·800
1812·000 251·400 154·300

complexities and the lacing effect. Therefore, the analysis has been extended to the case
of one blade along with the disc subtending a sector measuring 2p/n (n is the number of
blades) at the center. The FE discretization of this bladed disc system is shown in Figure 13.
To account for flexibility in the blade–disc attachment, the common node between the
blade and the disc is assumed to have the same degrees of freedom for each, and the radial
displacements of all the nodes lying on the inner edge of the blade are arrested. The disc
is assumed to be clamped at the inner radius. The circumferential displacements also are
arrested on the two radial edges of the disc sector.
692 . .    .
T 5
Fourth stage blade element thickness (mm)
Leading edge :
Root 10·222 14·347 19·342 20·693 21·018 20·813
19·518 17·480 14·522 11·000 6·416 3·867
10·756 14·667 20·076 21·333 20·884 20·333
18·085 16·000 13·156 10·278 6·419 3·667
11·089 14·747 20·369 21·493 20·471 19·613
16·672 14·580 11·890 9·570 5·862 3·467
11·222 14·587 20·222 21·173 19·778 18·653
15·278 13·220 10·722 8·884 5·556 3·267
11·156 14·187 19·636 20·373 18·805 17·453
13·905 11·920 9·656 8·218 5·229 3·067
10·889 13·547 18·609 19·093 17·551 16·013
12·551 10·680 8·689 7·571 4·882 2·867
10·422 12·667 17·142 17·333 16·018 14·333
11·218 9·500 7·822 6·994 4·516 2·667
9·756 11·547 15·236 15·093 14·205 12·413
9·905 8·380 7·056 6·338 4·129 2·467
8·889 10·187 12·869 12·373 12·111 10·253
8·611 7·320 6·389 5·751 3·722 2·267
Tip 7·822 8·587 10·102 9·173 9·738 7·853
7·338 6·320 5·822 5·184 3·296 2·067

T 6
Last stage blade element thickness (mm)
Leading edge:
Root 7·710 11·230 17·790 21·400 29·460 30·000
27·830 27·260 17·830 13·630 8·900 5·000
8·890 13·400 18·930 22·800 28·390 30·000
27·270 24·500 15·590 12·200 7·780 5·000
9·530 14·260 20·000 23·000 28·450 29·000
25·400 20·200 13·190 11·500 6·830 5·000
9·270 14·100 19·550 23·600 27·940 26·800
22·280 17·700 13·000 11·300 7·430 5·200
10·300 13·500 18·780 21·600 25·100 22·500
19·920 15·500 12·380 10·000 7·560 4·900
9·000 14·400 19·000 19·500 20·600 17·600
15·100 10·880 9·310 7·150 5·960 3·570
8·130 13·400 17·930 16·800 16·570 13·700
10·490 8·200 6·700 5·500 4·400 3·000
8·560 11·600 14·230 12·600 12·460 10·800
10·000 10·300 7·530 7·700 5·020 4·340
8·150 8·130 9·400 7·300 8·490 7·000
9·230 7·500 8·130 5·900 5·740 3·860
Tip 6·520 5·900 5·640 4·760 5·200 4·760
5·200 4·760 4·100 3·700 3·730 2·900
       693
T 7
L.P. fourth stage free-standing blade; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies (Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 179 187 210 4·685 4·824
2 389 392 400 3·749 3·472
3 732 737 751 11·752 11·271
4 812 821 848 23·515 23·904

T 8
L.P. last stage free-standing blade; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies (Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 79·3 89·9 113 2·870 2·592
2 148 157 178 4·392 3·912
3 284 287 290 2·741 1·378
4 409 413 425 5·261 5·338

Figure 4. Lacing wire arrangement.

Figure 5. The lacing rod arrangement.

694 . .    .

A
Vi
θzi θxi

θxi
θzi B
Vi
Figure 6. One blade with a lacing rod.

A
Vi
θzi θxi

θxi
θzi B

Vi
Figure 7. Two blades with a lacing rod.

A
Vi
θzi θxi

θxi
θzi B
Vi
Figure 8. Three blades with a lacing rod.

Figure 9. A discretized model of the cantilever blade.

       695
T 9
Fourth stage cantilever blade with lacing wire; Southwell coefficients and computed
frequencies (Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 182 394 401 195·379 51·071
2 396 742 761 629·997 168·922
3 782 901 920 320·443 93·950
4 881 1150 1180 874·142 246·496

T 10
Last stage cantilever blade with lacing rods; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies
(Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 81·4 164 203 32·432 13·833
2 147 321 367 130·291 45·232
3 300 442 476 160·582 54·630
4 440 524 562 129·562 48·898

Figure 10. The cantilever blade: mode I.

Figure 11. The cantilever blade: mode II.

696 . .    .
To investigate in more detail the coupling effects due to the lacing rod/lacing wire, as
well as those due to the disc, the study was extended to analyze the two systems consisting
of two blades and two sectors of the disc and three blades and three sectors of the disc.
The FE discretizations of the two blade–disc system and the three bladed–disc system,
respectively, are shown in Figures 14 and 15.

Figure 12. The cantilever blade: mode III.

Figure 13. One blade–disc: discretized model.

Figure 14. Two blade–disc: discretized model.

       697

Figure 15. Three blade-disc: discretized model.

T 11
Fourth stage one blade disc with lacing wire; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies
(Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 176 350 361 146·438 39·738
2 352 615 648 406·914 118·400
3 600 769 785 370·178 102·490
4 788 929 960 387·355 120·262
T 12
Fourth stage two blade–discs with lacing wire; Southwell coefficients and computed
frequencies (Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 180 352 362 146·406 39·458
2 353 407 419 65·664 20·381
3 487 629 664 253·555 81·491
4 616 768 787 336·589 95·965
5 781 848 873 174·629 60·867
T 13
Fourth stage three blade discs with lacing wire; Southwell coefficients and computed
frequencies (Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 180 339 348 132·034 35·482
2 281 386 392 112·056 29·881
3 362 602 613 370·176 97·890
4 465 654 617 338·386 65·786
5 622 761 779 307·579 87·983
6 771 814 839 109·048 43·792
T 14
Last stage one blade–disc with lacing rod; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies
(Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 77·9 155 190 28·731 12·013
2 137 298 343 112·056 39·552
3 284 374 412 94·752 35·635
4 335 423 478 106·726 46·504
698 . .    .
T 15
Last stage two blade–discs with lacing rod; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies
(Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 79·9 151 182 26·267 10·696
2 139 204 232 35·672 13·801
3 189 294 329 81·144 29·008
4 283 303 339 18·752 13·933
5 293 339 376 46·515 22·211
6 316 410 445 109·190 39·268

T 16
Last stage three blade–discs with lacing rod; Southwell coefficients and computed frequencies
(Hz)
Mode N = 0rpm N = 1500rpm N = 3000rpm S1 S2
1 81·5 150 179 25·372 10·160
2 139 180 213 20·926 10·419
3 162 240 269 50·170 18·447
4 223 285 312 50·394 19·046
5 275 297 329 20·134 13·046
6 290 308 351 17·222 15·640

Figure 16. Two blade–disc: coupled mode (III mode).

Figure 17. Three blade–disc: coupled mode (III mode).

       699

Figure 18. Three blade–disc: coupled mode (IV mode).

400

350

300
mode 2
Frequency (Hz)

250

200

150
mode 1
100

50

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

Running speed (rpm)
Figure 19. A Campbell diagram: fifth stage R, CF–FS; (, CF–LR; Q, 1BD–LR; ×, 2BD–LR; W, 3BD–LR.

800

600
Frequency (Hz)

mode 2

400

mode 1

200

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

Running speed (rpm)

Figure 20. A Campbell diagram: fourth blade. Key as for Figure 19.
700 . .    .
In Tables 11–13 show the frequencies of the single blade–disc system, the two blade–disc
system and the three blade–disc system of the fourth stage, respectively. In Tables 14–16
are shown the frequencies of the single blade–disc system, the two blade–disc system and
the three blade–disc system of the fifth stage respectively. By comparing the frequencies
in Tables 12 and 13 with those in Table 11, it is clear that apart from the frequencies
predicted for the one blade–disc system in Table 11, some other frequencies, e.g., 487 Hz
in Table 12 and 281 and 465 Hz in Table 13, are introduced in between these frequencies.
A similar phenomenon can be observed by comparing the frequencies in Tables 15 and
16 with those in Table 14. These additional frequencies are the coupled modes. From this,
it is clear that even though a one blade–disc system predicts independent modes quite
accurately, it is not possible to predict the coupled modes from this system. The mode
shapes of the third modes of the two blade–disc system of the last stage are shown
in Figure 16. Figures 17 and 18 show the mode shapes of the third and fourth modes

T 17
Last stage; comparison of theoretical and experimental frequencies (Hz) for two different
boundary conditions
Case 1 Case 2
ZXXXXXXCXXXXXXV ZXXXXXXCXXXXXXV
Mode CF–LR 1BD 2BD 3BD CF–LR 1BD 2BD 3BD Experiment
1 78·2 75·4 78·9 80·7 81·4 77·9 79·9 81·5 80
2 146 137 138 139 147 137 139 139 134
3 — — 185 160 — — 189 162 165
4 — — — 218 — — — 223 225
5 — 274 281 274 — 284 283 275 265
Case 1; only circumferential displacements of lacing rod arrested; Case 2; circumferential displacements and
two rotations arrested.

T 18
Last stage three blade–discs with lacing rod; comparison of frequencies (Hz)
computed with lumped mass matrix and consistent mass matrix approaches
with experimental values at stationary condition
Mode Lumped mass Consistent mass Experimental
1 81 81·5 80
2 137 139 134
3 159 162 165
4 217 223 225
5 263 275 265

T 19
Last stage, one blade disc with lacing rod; effect of de-twisting on natural
frequencies at running speed 3000rpm
Mode Without de-twisting effect With de-twisting effect
1 190 194
2 343 317
3 412 390
4 478 486
       701
of the three blade–disc system of the last stage, respectively. From these mode shapes it
is clear that they are coupled modes between the blades.
Campbell diagrams of blades LP5 and LP4 are shown in Figures 19 and 20 respectively.
Each one shows a comparison of the natural frequencies of the free-standing blade, the
cantilever blade with lacing and blade–disc systems. From these diagrams it can be seen
that at zero running speed there is little variation in the natural frequencies predicted by
these models, but as the running speed continues to increase the natural frequencies
predicted by these models vary appreciably. From the Campbell diagram of LP5 it is
observed that the first bending frequency of the cantilever at 3000 rpm exactly matches
the fourth engine order. However, the frequency decreases when the blade–disc system is
taken into account. The frequency decreases further when the number of blades continues
to increase. As was found from the Campbell diagram for last stage blade, the first natural
frequency at a running speed of 3000 rpm, lies within 10% of the fourth engine order, and
hence it may be a likely cause of periodic mechanical failures.

4.3.         

As pointed out in section 4.2, the lacing arrangement has a tremendous effect on the
natural frequencies of the blade during rotation. In the preceding section 4.2 only the
second boundary condition was considered. In this section, a comparison is made among
the results obtained with the two boundary conditions of the lacing rod. The results
obtained for the cantilever blade and bladed disc systems of the fifth stage are presented
in Table 17. The results are validated through experimental results. Although there is no
appreciable change in the frequencies predicted by the two boundary conditions, the
frequencies predicted by boundary conditions (ii) specified in section 4.2 seem to be closer
to the experimentally measured frequencies. Blades having lacing wire were not considered
for this, because lacing wire passes through the middle of the width of the blade, and hence
only the boundary conditions (ii) specified in section 4.2 hold good.

4.4.        

A formulation by the lumped mass matrix approach results in a global diagonal matrix.
The change in natural frequencies, if any, was studied by using this approach. The natural
frequencies of the last stage three blade–disc model obtained by this approach are shown
in Table 18. There is no perceptible change in the values.

4.5.   -

Generally, the blades are pre-twisted to allow for the variation in tangential velocity
along its length, but during running, because of the centrifugal force, some de-twisting
takes place. The de-twisting effect on the natural frequencies of the last stage L.P. turbine
blade has been studied. The results for one blade–disc model are shown in Table 19.

5. CONCLUSIONS
A cantilever plate model (blade alone model) with all geometric complexities included
gives slightly higher natural frequencies, since the blade is assumed to be ideally fixed at
the root. A one blade–disc model predicts the natural frequencies more accurately, but it
cannot predict coupled modes. The coupled modes can be predicted more accurately with
models having more blades. Lacing wires and lacing rods increase the natural frequencies,
and the effect tends to become more predominant as the running speed increases. The
natural frequencies of the two blade–disc system at running speed are considerably reduced
as compared to those of the one blade–disc system, but this reduction in natural
702 . .    .
frequencies decreases for a three blade–disc system, and the values seem to converge at this
stage. The frequencies predicted by a lumped mass approach and a consistent mass approach
agree quite closely at lower modes but show some deviation at higher modes. De-twisting
has variable effects on the natural frequencies of the last stage L.P. blade.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Messrs. Nuclear Power Corporation,
Bombay, India, for having provided the data used in carrying out this investigation.

REFERENCES
1. NASA Reference Publication 1985 Joint research effort on vibrations of twisted plates.
2. R. B. B 1985 Journal of Sound and Vibration 102, 493–499. Natural frequencies of rectangular
plates using orthogonal polynomials in Rayleigh–Ritz method.
3. G. M. C and X. W 1989 ASME 12th Biennial Conference on Mechanical Vibration
and Noise, Canada, 207–213. Vibration analysis of laced blades.
4. N. A. V and O. O. B 1986 Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power
108, 293–299. Vibration characteristics of mistuned shrouded blade assemblies.
5. J. W, R. P and J. J 1984 ImechE (C316/84), 311–317. Some practical
aspects of the interpretation of coupled LP-stage vibration.
6. B. L. J and S. K. B 1994 Journal of Sound and Vibration 117, 111–120. Experimental
evaluation of damping in bladed disk model.
7. H. I ASME Paper 79-DET-90. Coupled vibration of blades in bending–bending–torsion
and disks in out-of-plane and in-plane motion.
8. V. O and V. R 1988 Journal of Sound and Vibration 125, 357–366. Natural
frequencies of bladed disks by a combined cyclic symmetry and Rayleigh–Ritz Method.
9. V. O and V. R 1990 Journal of Sound and Vibration 140, 413–435. Coupled
free vibration characteristics of rotating tuned bladed disk system.
10. O. C. Z 1977 The Finite Element Method. New York: McGraw–Hill.
11. S. R and M. K. D 1969 Transactions of CASI 2, 95–100. Vibration analysis of
pre-twisted cantilever plates.
12. S. T and S. W-K 1959 Theory of Plates and Shells. New York,
McGraw-Hill.
13. M. D and S. R 1971 International Journal of Numerical Method, in Engineering
3, 233–248. Vibration analysis of rotating cantilever plates.
14. V. R 1996 Computer Aided Mechanical Design and Analysis. Tata New Delhi:
McGraw-Hill.
15. V. R and S. S 1993 IIT Medras Department of Applied Mechanics Report
No. 46/93, Report on natural frequencies of turbine blades.
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free vibrations of an uniform circular disk clamped at its center and the effect of rotation.

APPENDIX: NOMENCLATURE
cE element Coriolis matrix
fE element force vector
h element thickness
kE element elastic stiffness matrix
kG element geometric stiffness matrix
kR element supplementary stiffness matrix
mE element mass matrix
q element nodal displacement vector
r0 disc inner radius
r1 disc outer radius
r2 blade tip radius
       703
t superscript, transpose of a matrix
tb thickness of the blade
u, v in-plane displacements of a point
u, v in-plane instantaneous velocities of a point
w bending displacement of a point
w bending instantaneous velocity of a point
A area of the element
B2 width of the blade
KG global geometric stiffness matrix
L length of the blade
L1 , L2 , L3 area co-ordinates
N rotational speed (rpm)
P1 , P2 , P3 , P4 the four components of strain energy
S Southwell coefficient
S1 Southwell coefficient at 1500 rpm
S2 Southwell coefficient at 3000 rpm
T total kinetic energy
U total potential energy
V velocity vector at a point
sx , sy initial normal stresses
txy initial shear stress
o strain vector
op strains due to in-plane displacements
of strains due to bending displacements
og effect of bending displacements on midsurface strains
ox , oy normal strains in x-, y-directions
oxy shear strain
di nodal displacement vector
V speed of rotation
V1 , V2 , V3 angular velocity components in x, y, z directions
c stagger angle
f twist angle
2u0 subtended angle of one substructure
v natural frequency
v0 first bending frequency at rest
CF–FS clamped–free, free-standing
CF–LR clamped–free, with lacing arrangement
1BD–LR one blade–disc, with lacing arrangement
2BD–LR two blade–discs, with lacing arrangement
3BD–LR three blade–discs, with lacing arrangement