A simple nondimensional model to describe the flutter onset of labyrinth seals is presented. The linearized mass and momentum integral equations for a control volume which represents the interfin seal cavity, retaining the circumferential unsteady flow perturbations created by the seal vibration, are used. First, the downstream fin is assumed to be choked, whereas in a second step the model is generalized for unchoked exit conditions. An analytical expression for the nondimensional work-per-cycle is derived. It is concluded that the stability of a two-fin seal depends on three nondimensional parameters, which allow explaining seal flutter behavior in a comprehensive fashion. These parameters account for the effect of the pressure ratio, the cavity geometry, the fin clearance, the nodal diameter (ND), the fluid swirl velocity, the vibration frequency, and the torsion center location in a compact and interrelated form. A number of conclusions have been drawn by means of a thorough examination of the work-per-cycle expression, also known as the stability parameter by other authors. It was found that the physics of the problem strongly depends on the nondimensional acoustic frequency. When the discharge time of the seal cavity is much greater than the acoustic propagation time, the damping of the system is very small and the amplitude of the response at the resonance conditions is very high. The model not only provides a unified framework for the stability criteria derived by Ehrich (1968, “Aeroelastic Instability in Labyrinth Seals,” ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 90(4), pp. 369–374) and Abbot (1981, “Advances in Labyrinth Seal Aeroelastic Instability Prediction and Prevention,” ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 103(2), pp. 308–312), but delivers an explicit expression for the work-per-cycle of a two-fin rotating seal. All the existing and well-established engineering trends are contained in the model, despite its simplicity. Finally, the effect of swirl in the fluid is included. It is found that the swirl of the fluid in the interfin cavity gives rise to a correction of the resonance frequency and shifts the stability region. The nondimensionalization of the governing equations is an essential part of the method and it groups physical effects in a very compact form. Part I of the paper details the derivation of the theoretical model and draws some preliminary conclusions. Part II of the corresponding paper analyzes in depth the implications of the model and outlines the extension to multiple cavity seals.

The problem of determining the maximum forced response vibration amplification that can be produced just by the addition of a small mistuning to a perfectly cyclical bladed disk still remains not completely clear. In this paper we apply a recently introduced perturbation methodology, the Asymptotic Mistuning Model (AMM), to determine which are the key ingredients of this amplification process, and to evaluate the maximum mistuning amplification factor that a given modal family with a particular distribution of tuned frequencies can exhibit. A more accurate upper bound for the maximum forced response amplification of a mistuned bladed disk is obtained from this description, and the results of the AMM are validated numerically using a simple mass-spring model. INTRODUCTIONThe term mistuning refers to the small differences among the (nominally designed to be identical) rotor blades in turbomachinery bladed disks. These small unavoidable imperfections typically result from the manufacturing process and wear, and break the cyclic symmetry of the structure, splitting the tuned eigenvalue pairs and preventing the existence of pure travellingwaves as natural vibration modes of the mistuned structure. This loss of cyclic symmetry has a dramatic effect in the forced response of the bladed disk: the resulting mistuned blade vibration patterns are no longer uniformly distributed circumferen-

International audienceThis work deals with the issue of damage growth in thin woven composite laminates subjected to tensile loading. The conducted tensile tests were monitored on-line with an infrared camera, and tested specimens were analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Combined with SEM micrographs, observation of heat source fields enabled us to assess the damage sequence. Transverse weft cracking was confirmed to be the main damage mode and fiber breakage was the final damage leading to failure. For cracks which induce little variation of specimen stiffness, the classic "Compliance method" could not be used to compute energy release rate. Hence, we present here a new procedure based on the estimation of heat source fields to calculate the energy release rate associated with transverse weft cracking. The results are then compared to those computed with a simple 3D inverse model of the heat diffusion problem and those presented in the literature

The computation of the final, friction saturated limit cycle oscillation amplitude of an aerodynamically unstable bladed-disk in a realistic configuration is a formidable numerical task. In spite of the large numerical cost and complexity of the simulations, the output of the system is not that complex: it typically consists of an aeroelastically unstable traveling wave (TW), which oscillates at the elastic modal frequency and exhibits a modulation in a much longer time scale. This slow time modulation over the purely elastic oscillation is due to both the small aerodynamic effects and the small nonlinear friction forces. The correct computation of these two small effects is crucial to determine the final amplitude of the flutter vibration, which basically results from its balance. In this work, we apply asymptotic techniques to consistently derive, from a bladed-disk model, a reduced order model that gives only the time evolution on the slow modulation, filtering out the fast elastic oscillation. This reduced model is numerically integrated with very low computational cost, and we quantitatively compare its results with those from the bladed-disk model. The analysis of the friction saturation of the flutter instability also allows us to conclude that: (i) the final states are always nonlinearly saturated TW; (ii) depending on the initial conditions, there are several different nonlinear TWs that can end up being a final state; and (iii) the possible final TWs are only the more flutter prone ones.

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