The effect of surface finish on the proper functioning of underplatform dampers

Underplatform dampers are used to limit the resonant vibration of turbine blades. In recent years, various strategies have been implemented to maximize their damping capability. Curved-flat dampers are preferred to ensure a predictable bilateral contact, while a pre-optimization procedure was developed to exclude all those cross-sectional shapes that will bring the damper to roll and thus limit the amount of dissipated energy. The pre-optimization bases its predictions on the assumption that the effective width of the flat contact interface corresponds to the nominal one. It is shown here that this hypothesis cannot be relied upon: the energy dissipated by two nominally identical dampers, machined according to the usual industrial standards, may differ by a factor up to three due to the morphology of the flat-to-flat contact interface. Five dampers have been tested on two dedicated test rigs, available in the AERMEC laboratory, specially designed to reveal the details of the damper behavior during operation. Their contact interfaces are scanned by means of a profilometer. In each case, the mechanics, the kinematics, and the effectiveness of the dampers in terms of cycle shape and dissipated energy are correlated to the morphology of the specific contact surface. To complete the picture, a state-of-the-art numerical simulation tool is used to show how this tribo-mechanic phenomenon, in turn, influences the damper effect on the dynamic response of the turbine.