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Failure Analysis to Blades Of Steam Turbines At Normal Conditions Of

Operations And Resonance

Article in Advanced Materials Research · March 2014

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.891-892.54

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Advanced Materials Research Vols. 891-892 (2014) pp 54-59
© (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.891-892.54

Failure Analysis to Blades Of Steam Turbines At Normal Conditions Of

Operations And Resonance

A.L. Tejeda1,a, J.A. Rodríguez1,b *, J.M. Rodríguez2,c, J.C. García1,d,

M.A. Basurto-Pensado1,e
1
Centro de Investigación en Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas – Universidad Autónoma del Estado
de Morelos; Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C. P. 62209, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
2
Centro Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico; Interior Internado Palmira s/n, Col.
Palmira, C. P. 62490, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
a b c d
[email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected],
e
[email protected]

Keywords: Blade, Stage L-1, Steam Turbine, Fatigue, Resonance, Useful Life.

Abstract The need to provide quality services, accurate diagnosis, timely rehabilitation and
improvement in materials and operation of the turbines, have given way to scientific research crack
initiation and crack propagation, the impending fracture and estimating life of the turbine
components at normal conditions and resonance. The L-1 stage blades suffer high alternating
stresses, for its size, exposure to high temperatures, and mechanical loads under repetitive strain of
cyclic load. The last stages of blades are also subjected to severe centrifugal loads that, when
combined with the alternating loads, the stresses generated are responsible for fatigue failures. In
this work, the last stage L-1 blades of a steam turbine under cyclic load or fatigue were analyzed, in
firstly were observed and measured the crack initiation and crack propagation under normal
conditions operation and then in the conditions on resonance. The results show that in resonance
conditions the blade material fatigue strength is decreased. In the case of the presence of cracks in
the blades, its showed that the natural frequency is decreased.

Introduction
Thermoelectric plants produce electricity from the heat energy released by the combustion of
diesel, natural gas, fuel oil or coal[1]..The risks of failure in power generation are due in large part to
their working conditions. In the operation of turbines is important to know the behavior of all
components and processes in order to avoid such failures and consequently maximize the
availability and performance of equipment[2]. Steam turbines are not exempt from present problems
and break downs by design or operation, among the most notable find high levels of vibration,
excessive movement of the rotor, steam leaks, difficulty in timing seizure of the rotor[3].

The defects that cause failure in the steam turbines can be generated by the degradation over time
of turbine service, where the blades experience extreme conditions such as alternating loads due to
unstable flow of steam, running speed harmonics, imperfections in the minimum throat[4], among
others. The blades of the low pressure are the most important components of all types of turbine and
important in power generation[5]. Some failures like breakage, corrosions or deposits on the blades
lead to imbalance in the rotor, which generates high vibrations of turbine[6]. It was observed that
high vibrations generated high resonance stress concentration caused by natural frequencies and the
harmonic speed. [7]

Adequate diagnostics and timely rehabilitation have allowed studies of initiation and propagation
of crack[8], impending fracture and the estimation of the components of the steam turbine useful
life[9]. These advances have avoided the collapse of many turbines, but there is the question of how
avoid fracture by resonance, in addition to the already existing preventive and corrective

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 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 891-892 55

measures[10] in order to avert unnecessary maintenance. In this work, the blade which is mainly
exposed to centrifugal and axial forces of steam was studied[11], the first cause fatigue in the blades.

The inner forces in the end section of the blades are show in the end view of the outer end of the
blade, Figure 1, by the vertically and horizontally (that is, axially and tangentially) resolved shearing
forces Pv (Ft) and Pa (Fa) and by the bending moments which, resolved along the same “axes”, have
the magnitudes Mv and Mh[12].

Figure 1. Axial and tangential forces diagram

In a steam turbine, fatigue starts as it increases speed there is a tension-tension stressing type[13]
in the blades to stabilize them and balance them in operating speeds, the voltage increases
progressively favoring an elongation in the areas of greater concentration strength; that in the long
run it will be the cause of a possible cracking. Blades with crack modifies its natural frequency[14]
and change its dynamic behavior to enter into resonance; experiencing this phenomenon their
amplitudes of vibration multiply and generate greater propagation and the imminent split[15]. The
resonance is considered to be a cause of damage to steam turbine, and as a first step is investigated
its behavior of fatigue in the blades in normal operating conditions at 3600 rpm and resonance
conditions, in order to verify the proposed consideration[16].

Materials and devices

Table 1 shows the specification of materials, devices and equipment used.

Table 1. Specifications of materials, devices and equipment

Materials
Type Materials Type Materials
Specimen test Commercial steel Stage L-1 blades AISI 410 stainless
Devices and Equipment
Universal testing machines Shaker electronic device
Load capacity 250 kN Frequency range 7-120 Hz
Max. displacement 100 mm Waveform Sinusoidal
Frequency operation 0-50 Hz
Stressing type T-T, T-C, C-C
T-T=Tension-Tension, T-C=Tension-Compression, C-C=Compression-Compression

Methodology
Different studies of fatigue in commercial steel specimens were performed[17-18]. The centrifugal
forces were simulated in a universal testing machine.
The maximum load of fatigue, should be equal to the centrifugal forces, is given by the
expression:
Ft = m * r * ω2 (1)
56 11th International Fatigue Congress

Where:
m = (ρ*A*l) = Blade mass
r = (dm/2) = Center rotor radius to the center mass of the blade.

To set the resonance conditions must be:

W=Wn (2)

Where:
W = Operation frequency
Wn = Natural frequency of material

The natural frequencies were obtained considering the case of such a cantilever blade by
experimental[20], finite element method[21], and analytically[22]. To simulate the conditions of normal
operation and resonance, the blades of stage L-1 steam turbine were used[16]. Experimental tests of
cyclic load were performed and validated with at least 10 tests[17], using a shaker electronic device.
External excitation should not exceed the axial force of steam turbine blades, this axial force can be
determined by using the expression:

By aproximation, the axial forces is considered about 20% of the tangential force[22]:

Fa = 0.2 Ft (3)

Specimens for fatigue test. The commercial steel was cut in pieces of 380 mm length, sanded,
cleaned and delimited the edges to 40 mm, the rest of specimen is sectioned to each 50 mm for
deformation mesurement after test and the displacements were obtained from different zones of the
specimens. A part of specimens were cracked in transversal direction with 5 mm length crack at the
concentration stress zone to 150 mm from the blade root[23].

Fatigue equipment. Universal testing machine is calibrated based in the next configuration:
stressing type=T-T, maximum displacement= 100 mm, frequency=20 Hz in normal conditions
operation. The number of cycles can be obtained at any time.

Blades test. Three blades are embedded on the wall considered the case of such a cantilever blade
conditions, the first blade without any crack, the second blade with a crack of 15 mm length to 115
mm from the blade root, and de third blade with a crack of 15 mm length to 193 mm from the blade
root[15].

External excitation device. Shaker electronic device is designed for cyclic load aplication by
contact in specific points, to simulate normal conditions of operations and resonance.

Results
Calculations results of axial and centrifugal forces are shown in Table 2. The fatigue strength
obtained is shown in Table 3, using a load proportionality factor R = 0.8, with tension-tension
stressings type.
 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 891-892 57

Table 3. Fatigue strength Sf

(normal operation) MPa
Without
Specimen With Crack
Crack
Table 2. Axial and centrifugal forces 1 48.65 26.72
DATA: ω= 376.99 ra /s Ft = 210.53 kN 2 46.99 23.73
m= 1752 g r= 0.8455 m Fa = 42.11 kN 3 40.95 21.81
4 30.66 19.77
5 25.09 1 .45
6 25.05 17.36

Figure 2 shows the comparative analyses of fatigue strength under normal conditions of
operation without crack and with crack speciments respectively.

Without crack

With crack

Figure 2. Fatigue strength in normal condition of operation without

crack and with crack

A natural frequencies comparision of the blade is shown in Figure 3, in which can be observed as
the natural frequencies change when the blade present a crack. Figure 4 shown blades with crack.

Figure 3. Natural frequency of blade without and with

Figure 4. Blades with crack
crack

Displacement measurements in the blade without crack are presented in Figure 5, Figure 6 shown
displacement of the blade with crack 193 mm from the blade root.
58 11th International Fatigue Congress

Figure 5. Displacement in blade without

Figure 6. Displacement in blade with crack
crack

The cyclic load test was performed for uninterrupted 8 hours under resonance conditions, started
with a crack of 14.9225 mm length, and at the final period time, the crack increases to 15.1384 mm
length, giving a propagation of 0.2159 mm length.

Conclusions
Blades fatigue strength decreases under resonance conditions, since displacement amplitudes are
greater than under normal load conditions, which starts cracking and spreads until failure in less
time.

In order to guarantee designed useful life of blades, it must be monitored turbine functioning to
avoid working on resonance speed zones for long periods of time, considering that if crack
appears, vibrating modes would change and it raises the chance to get into resonance zones.

Results show that natural frequencies decrease and displacement amplitudes raise with cracking,
also cracking propagation requires less number of cycles and it reduces blade useful life under
resonance conditions, compared to normal operation status.

Acknowledgements
J.A. Rodríguez, espresses his gratitude to CONACYT for the project with title is: Experimental
and numerical study for evaluation of reliability and life estimation of turbine blades under
resonance conditions [In Spanish] with reference number: 156757.

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 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 891-892 59

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