Experimental Verification of the Dynamic Model of Turbine Blades Coupled by a Sealing Strip

This paper presents the experimental-numerical comparison of a bladed system with flexible strip dampers. The experimental results constitute, to the authors’ knowledge, the first published experimental evidence on strip dampers. They explore the in-phase and out-of-phase mode of vibration of two blades coupled by a strip damper. The great influence the mode of vibration has on the strip behaviour and consequent effect on the blades’ response is highlighted, analyzed and successfully simulated numerically. Experiments are made possible by a purposely developed loading system based on compressed air. This non-contact system enables the experimenter to apply a realistic value of contact pressure on the strip without adding spurious stiffness to the system or modifying the contact conditions. The availability of experimental data obtained by imposing realistic contact conditions constitutes a true added value. It is here shown how the full stick linear FRFs (Frequency Response Functions), typically used to predict the response in case of limited excitation on blades coupled by rigid dampers, do not offer significant results in the case of flexible strip dampers.