Phenomenological modeling of abradable wear in turbomachines

Abradable materials are widely used as coatings within compressor and turbine stages of modern aircraft engines in order to reduce operating blade-tip/casing clearances and thus maximize energy efficiency. However, rubbing occurrences between blade tips and coating liners may lead to high blade vibratory levels and endanger their structural integrity through fatigue mechanisms. Accordingly, there is a need for a better comprehension of the physical phenomena at play and for an accurate modeling of the interaction, in order to predict potentially unsafe events. To this end, this work introduces a phenomenological model of the abradable coating removal based on phenomena reported in the literature and accounting for key frictional and wear mechanisms including plasticity at junctions, ploughing, micro-rupture and machining. It is implemented within an in-house software solution dedicated to the prediction of full three-dimensional blade/abradable coating interactions within an aircraft engine low pressure compressor. Two case studies are considered. The first one compares the results of an experimental abradable test rig and its simulation. The second one deals with the simulation of interactions in a complete low-pressure compressor. The consistency of the model with experimental observations is underlined, and the impact of material parameter variations on the interaction and wear behavior of the blade is discussed. It is found that even though wear patterns are remarkably robust, results are significantly influenced by abradable coating material properties. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.