The work presented in this Licentiate of Engineering thesis has been conducted at the Division of Solid Mechanics, Linköping University. The research has been funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB through the research programme Turbines for Future Energy Systems (Turbiner för framtidens energisystem), the support of which is gratefully acknowledged.First of all, I would especially like to thank my main supervisor Associate Prof. Daniel Leidermark for always taking time for discussions; your support has been invaluable throughout the project.I would also like to acknowledge my research group, Lic.