Turbomachinery Structural FEA Best Practices
Overarching best practices for turbomachinery structural FEA — load definition, model fidelity, material properties, verification and reporting.
Load definition
Apply the centrifugal body load with the correct rotation axis, angular velocity and density. Verify the total centrifugal force against the analytical estimate. Map the CFD pressure conservatively (check force and moment). Apply the thermal field from a conjugate heat transfer analysis, not from assumed temperatures.
Model fidelity
Use a mesh fine enough to capture the stress at critical locations (root, bore, stress concentrations). Use cyclic symmetry for tuned analysis and full-wheel for mistuning. Include contact at blade roots and bore interfaces for accurate local stress. Use temperature-dependent material properties at the operating temperature.
Verification
Verify the centrifugal resultant, pressure resultant, reaction equilibrium, mesh convergence, modal frequencies and contact pressure. Each verification provides confidence before the results are used for assessment.
Common errors
- Wrong rotation axis (through the blade instead of the engine centreline)
- Room-temperature material properties used at high temperature
- CFD-to-FEA mapping that does not conserve force or moment
- Cyclic symmetry used for mistuning analysis (cyclic symmetry assumes identical sectors)
- Stress concentration features omitted from the model