Thermoelastic modeling and vibration of functionally graded thin-walled rotating blades

Thermoelastic modeling and vibration of turbomachinery thin-walled rotating blades made of functionally graded ceramic-metal based materials are studied. In this context, the case of pretwisted and tapered thin-walled beams, rotating with a constant angular velocity and exposed to a steady temperature field of a prescribed gradient through the blade wall thickness, is considered. The study is achieved by varying the volume fraction of the ceramic and metallic constituents with the help of a simple power law distribution and by accounting for the temperature-dependent material properties. The governing dynamic equations that are established are expressed in terms of one-dimensional displacement measures. Because of their general character, static and dynamic problems involving rotating blades operating in the conditions of a high-temperature environment can be solved. The numerical results highlight the effects of the volume fraction, temperature gradient, taper ratio, and pretwist on the bending-bending coupled/uncoupled free-vibration characteristics, and pertinent conclusions are outlined.