Pre-optimization of asymmetrical underplatform dampers

The numerical coupled optimization of an underplatform damper is the exploration of its dynamics through a finite element model which includes both the damper and the blades. This is an effective approach if the initial damper mass and geometry have been previously selected (i.e. pre-optimized) in such a way that those parameter combinations leading to undesirable damper behavior are ruled out a-priori: - ensure that damper jamming is avoided by ruling out the undesirable combinations of platform and friction angles; - ensure that damper lift-off is avoided through an appropriate choice of the shape and position of the damper-platform flat contact surface and the position of the damper mass center; - set upper and lower limits to the value of damper-platform contact forces (as a multiple of the damper centrifugal force), the first being related to friction and wear problems, the second to the very existence of bilateral contacts. The above is strongly dependent on effective values of friction coefficients, which can vary by a factor of over two with temperature, frequency, contact pressure. The paper illustrates the pre-optimization procedure using, as an example, a rigid bar damper with a curved-flat cross section. In order to validate the method against experimental data, and to determine the necessary real contact parameters, the paper capitalizes on the already developed tools presented in previous ASME papers: the test rig developed at the AERMEC lab, the numerical model representing the damper dynamics and the automatic random sampling tuning procedure.