A Static/Dynamic Coupled Harmonic Balance Method for Dry Friction Systems Containing Rigid Body Modes

Abstract A harmonic balance method for underconstrained dry friction systems containing rigid body modes (HBM-RBM) is proposed. This method aims to overcome the encountered obstacle when applying the harmonic balance method to turbine blades damped by underplatform dampers (UPDs). The inspiration for HBM-RBM comes from the free interface modal synthesis method. The key innovation involves deriving the elastic inversion of the singular stiffness matrix through the elimination of rigid body modes. In this way, the general HBM framework can be adopted, and the frequency response of underconstrained dry friction systems can be solved in a static/dynamic coupled manner. The accuracy and efficiency are both verified on a lumped parameter model and a finite element model of turbines with UPDs from a real gas turbine. A comparative study between the HBM-RBM and the commonly adopted way of imposing artificial grounding springs (HBM-AGS) is conducted. Results demonstrate that the HBM-RBM holds a significant advantage over HBM-AGS, as it eliminates the need for artificial grounding springs (AGS) and avoids the necessity for numerous trial cases to determine AGS stiffness.