THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF FRETTING‐INITIATED FATIGUE FAILURE OF AEROENGINE COMPRESSOR DISCS

— A finite element analysis and fatigue crack growth studies are made of dovetail joints in aeroengine compressor discs. Three aspects are examined: the first deals with the finite element stress analysis of the critical geometrical features and interface conditions of different dovetail configurations, thus enabling an assessment to be made of the critically loaded regions in the disc. The second deals with the prediction of the direction of potential fatigue cracks, which were allowed to initiate in the finite element model at the regions where fretting damage is most likely to occur, using an incremental crack tracking criterion. The third is concerned with the verification of the above modelling techniques with fatigue tests on a uniaxial back-to-back arrangement, which attempts to simulate the stress fields of a rotating disc.