KEYWORDS: Actuators, Composites, Sensors, Control systems, Fluctuations and noise, Polymers, Feedback control, Amplifiers, Digital electronics, Finite element methods
NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), in collaboration with GE Aviation, has begun the development of a smart
adaptive structure system with piezoelectric transducers to improve composite fan blade damping at resonances.
Traditional resonant damping approaches may not be realistic for rotating frame applications such as engine blades. The
limited space in which the blades reside in the engine makes it impossible to accommodate the circuit size required to
implement passive resonant damping. Thus, we have developed a novel digital shunt scheme to replace the conventional
electric passive shunt circuits. The digital shunt dissipates strain energy through the load capacitor on a power amplifier.
GE designed and fabricated a variety of polymer matrix fiber composite (PMFC) test specimens. We investigated the
optimal topology of PE sensors and actuators for each test specimen to discover the best PE transducer location for each
target mode. Also a variety of flexible patches, which can conform to the blade surface, have been tested to identify the
best performing piezoelectric patch. The active damping control achieved significant performance at target modes. This
work has been highlighted by successful spin testing up to 5,000 rpm of subscale GEnx composite blades in GRC's
Dynamic Spin Rig.
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