Modal Analysis of a First Stage Blade in ALSTOM Gas Turbine and Comparison with Experimental Results

Failures of turbine blades are one of the most critical problems in power generating industry. Among the different failure mechanisms, resonant vibration of blades has a major role and therefore is the subject of many recent research works. Therefore, in this paper, modal analysis of a first stage blade in ALSTOM gas turbine is investigated and natural frequencies and vibration modes of blade are found in various conditions. For this purpose, a cloud-point model of a gas turbine blade has been created using 3D Laser Digitizer. Then the numerical calculation by finite element method using ANSYS software based on experimental test conditions is utilized and Experimental natural frequencies have been obtained. The results show acceptable agreement between the experimental and FEM results.