Apparatus and method for simulating lifetime of and/or stress experienced by a rotor blade and rotor disc fixture

摘要

An apparatus for simulating stresses experienced by a rotor blade root in a complementary disc fixture, especially in gas turbine engines. The apparatus comprises a mounting member (200) for receiving a blade specimen (100) having a root (110). The mounting member (200) has an aperture (210) for receiving the root of the blade specimen, and blade contacting regions (220) on either side of said aperture for holding said blade specimen in said aperture. The apparatus further comprises an actuator (390) for applying a tension load to said blade specimen. The blade contacting regions (220) are undercut such that there is a gap (240) between said blade contacting regions (220) and a main body (201) of said mounting member (200), whereby the blade contacting regions are able to deflect outward into said gap (240) when a tension load is applied to the blade specimen. In this way the behaviour of the disc fixture under operating conditions in a turbine engine is simulated. A test rig for applying twist and lean to a blade through a single actuator is also disclosed.