MODAL TESTING OF A BLADED DISK

Joseph J. Hollkamp and Robert W. Gordon

Air Force Research Laboratory
AFRUVASV
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-7006

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION

New damping concepts for jet engine blades must be

validated by experiment. Ideally, every blade on a bladed
disk should be damped in a spin test. It is economically
attractive to test only a few damped blades with the
remaining blades unaltered. But are the damping values
measured with a mix of blades equal to the values measured
if all the blades are damped? In a recent study, modal tests
were conducted on an 8-bladed model of a jet engine fan
with one damped blade to answer this question. The modal
tests were challenging because of the high sensitivity of the
model to mistuning and the existence of multiple, nearly
repeated modal frequencies. The test results were reported
in the literature. This paper presents details of the multiinput, multi-output test procedure and modal identification
not included in the previous publication.

Damping can substantially reduce the high cycle fatigue of

blades in military jet engines. New damping concepts must
be validated by experiment. Some degree of validation can
be gained by testing a single blade on the bench, but
eventually the concept must be evaluated under centrifugal
load. Spin tests are typically performed on a complete
bladed disk, but often it is not economical to fabricate a
complete set of damped blades. It is attractive to fabricate
and test a few damped blades on a disk with the remaining
blades unaltered. But are damping values measured on a
damped blade on a disk with a mix of blades equal to values
measured if all the blades are damped?

NOMENCLATURE

[A]

{F}
[H(O)]
[H(1 )]
[K]
[M]
{p}
{q}
[UN],[VN]
[Un],[Vn]
~
(LN]

[l:n]
cr;
[<I>]
(I);

estimate of state space plant matrix

input force vector
data matrix
time shifted data matrix
structural stiffness matrix
structural mass matrix
vector of modal coordinates
vector of generalized coordinates
matrices of left and right eigenvectors
truncated matrices of left and right eigenvectors
critical damping ratio
diagonal matrix of singular values
truncated diagonal matrix of singular values
singular value
mode shape matrix
natural frequency of the ith mode

A recent paper [1] by the authors describes experiments on

a generic bladed disk model with non-uniform damping. The
results suggest that it is possible to conduct a valid test with
a mix of blades, but only if the damped blades are
sufficiently mistuned to prevent coupled behavior with the
other blades. In other words, if blade-to-blade coupling
exists, the damping estimates of the mixed configuration will
not approach the values measured if all the blades were
damped.
Modal tests were conducted in the investigation. The modal
tests were particularly challenging because of closely
spaced modal frequencies and the sensitivity of the structure
to perturbations. The details of the modal tests are
noteworthy, however because of space limitations, they were
not included in [1]. In this paper, specifics of the modal tests
on the undamped model fan are presented.
1.1 Background
Ideally a bladed disk is a periodic system with the
substructures, the blades, all having identical natural
frequencies. However, there will be slight variations in the
blades.
These variations mistune the individual blade

826

natural frequencies and effect the system as a whole. Many

researchers have studied the sensitivity of these periodic
structures to mistuning [2-4]. In summary, they have found
that the eventual dynamic behavior of the bladed disk
depends on the degree of mistuning and coupling that exists
in the system. When the amount of mistuning is small or the
coupling is strong, the mode shapes involve all the blades.
As the mistuning is increased or the coupling weakens, the
mode shapes tend to have amplitude concentrated in a few
blades with the extreme case of each mode shape having
amplitude in only one blade. This phenomenon is known as
mode localization.

fabricated from low-alloy steel.

Figure 1.

The model is shown in

Mistuning effects and mode localization are important

phenomena to consider when planning and conducting
modal tests on a bladed disk. First, the sensitivity of the
structure to mistuning necessitates that the modal test be as
non-obtrusive as possible. Perturbations to the structure by
the measurement system or the excitation devices may
radically alter the system response. Second, the estimation
of the mode shapes must be accurate to determine the
degree of localization.
Repeated structures also have nearly repeated modal
frequencies. On a bladed disk with N blades, modes will
occur in families of N modes that are close to each other in
frequency. For instance, N global mode shapes exist in
which each blade vibrates in what appears locally as the
blade's first bending mode. The amplitude and phasing of
each blade relative to the others varies for each global mode
shape in the family. There are also modal families for the
second bending mode, the first torsion mode, and so on.
The occurrence of families of modes becomes a modal
identification challenge. Since the frequencies are nearly
repeated, the modal test must use multiple input locations to
resolve the modes.
This effectively eliminates many
excitation schemes and
requires
a sophisticated
identification algorithm. It also necessitates that the modal
test be conducted in stages, identifying a single family of
In this manner, the order of the
modes in each stage.
model used in the identification procedure can be limited to
manageable size.

Figure 1: The bladed disk experimental model.

3. TESTING PRELIMINARIES
Each modal family of the model fan consisted of 8 modes.
The modal families of interest in the damping investigation
51
[1) were the 2nd bending and the 2-stripe (1 chordwise
bending). The 2-stripe shape on a single blade is shown in
Fig. 2. A finite element model (FEM) of a cantilevered blade
was used to predict modal frequencies of 412 and 767 Hz,
respectively, for the second bending and 2-stripe modes.
The two modal families were expected to occur near these
frequencies since the hub was relatively stiff.

2. THE EXPERIMENTAL MODEL

A generic model of a first stage jet engine fan was designed

and fabricated for the experimental investigations. The
model was designed to capture the dynamic characteristics
of a real fan and yet be relatively simple and inexpensive to
analyze, fabricate and test. A design with 8 integral blades
was selected. Eight blades was enough to capture the
complexity of a repeated structure. More blades would have
made the modal identification more difficult without providing
any additional dynamic characteristics.
A detailed
discussion of the design process for the model can be found
in [1).
The model fan had an overall diameter of 18 inches The
blades were 6 inches long, 4.5 inches wide and 0.063 inches
thick. The cylindrical hub had a diameter of 6 inches and a
0.5-inch-thick wall. The blades were attached at a 45 angle
to the fan's axis of rotation. The blades and hub were

827

Figure 2: Flooded contour plot depicting the local 2-stripe

mode. The blade root is the right hand curved edge.
Since the model fan was very sensitive to mistuning, any
perturbations by the measurement and excitation systems
had to be minimized. For instance, the added mass of an
accelerometer would significantly alter the response. A laser
vibrometer was chosen as the response measurement
system. The laser was electronically steered to measure
each blade's response successively. The response was
measured at a single point on each blade at the tip near the

leading edge. The fan was cantilevered from a massive

fixture using a single center bolt and the laser was aligned
on this axis. Since the blades were angled at 45 degrees to
the axis, the laser line-of-sight was approximately 45
degrees off each blade's normal.
Attempts were made to excite the fan with traditional modal
input devices, i.e., a modal hammer and a magnetic driver,
but neither was adequate. They failed to energize the fan
enough to accurately measure cross blade response (i.e.,
the response on one blade when another blade is excited).
Piezoceramic strain actuators were then evaluated as input
devices. The actuators consisted of small sheets of lead
zirconate titanate (PZT) bonded to the root corner of the
backside of each blade. Each PZT sheet was 0.375" x
0.375" x 0.010". The actuators provide more than enough
input energy to excite the modes of interest.
Since the PZT actuators were bonded to each blade, they
perturbed the structure.
Modal hammer tests were
performed to quantify the perturbation. Each blade was
artificially localized, one at a time, by adding small tip
masses (-20g) to the other blades to 'detune' them. The
natural frequencies of each blade were measured with and
without a PZT sheet. The natural frequencies of all the
blades were perturbed by less than 0.08% and 0.12%,
respectively, for the 2nd bending and 2-stripe modes. In all
cases, the natural frequency of each blade increased by
approximately the same amount. The perturbation due to
the PZT strain actuators was considered minimal.
A fast sine sweep, or chirp, signal was used to excite the
model fan. The chirp swept a narrow frequency band that
included the modal family to be tested. The chirp provided a
relatively high input level to the fan and could be precisely
controlled in frequency so as not to excite modes outside the
band of interest. The chirp input, followed by a short period
of zeroed signal, was continuously repeated to produce a
periodic response. The chirp signal for the 2nd bending
mode family swept from 395 to 415 Hz in 0.5 seconds
followed by 1.5 seconds of zeroed signal. For the 2-stripe
family, the chirp signal swept from 755 to 780 Hz in 0.25
seconds followed by 0.75 seconds of zeroed signal. One
actuator was excited while the laser measured the response
time history of each blade, successively.
The eight
individual time responses were then synchronized and
treated as a single input, multiple output (SIMO) data record
as if they had been measured simultaneously. Eight SIMO
time records were measured in this manner, one for
excitation of each PZT actuator.

coupled, closely spaced modes is clearly evident in this

portion of the record.

Figure 3: Response of blade 1 during and

after excitation of blade 1.
A time domain method known as the Eigensystem
Realization Algorithm (ERA) [5] was chosen as the
identification procedure. Time domain algorithms generally
have a better frequency resolution than frequency domain
methods [6]. High frequency resolution was required to
identify the closely spaced modes of the model fan. ERA
was used to estimate modal parameters from the free
response portions of the eight SIMO time records. Mode
shapes, modal frequencies, damping factors, and modal
participation factors were identified from the data.
The
method is able to use multiple input free response records
and is able to resolve modes with repeated frequencies up to
the number of input records. A few details of the algorithm
are included here to clarify the processing of the modal data.
ERA operates on a data matrix formed from the free
response records. The size of the data matrix is an
important consideration in the identification process. The
number of columns determines the maximum number of
identified modes. The minimum number of columns required
is twice the number of expected modes. A practical number
for moderately noisy data is about ten times the number of
expected modes. This allows the algorithm to sort the noise
from the signal. Eight modes are expected in the 2-stripe
family, so eighty columns were used in the procedure. The
other dimension to consider is the number of rows. More
rows require more data to be used. Since ERA is essentially
a least squares method, more data generally increases
accuracy. Here we have closely spaced modes; large
amounts of data are necessary to separate the modes. (The
damping estimates are particularly sensitive to the amount of
data used.) Several trials using varying lengths of data were
conducted to find the appropriate amount of data. It was
found that the damping estimates became consistent after
using approximately 50 cycles (0.064 seconds) of data.
After building the data matrix, ERA factorizes it using
singular value decomposition (SVD)

4. THE MODAL RESULTS

Modal tests were conducted to identify the second bending

and the 2-stripe modal families. Damped and undamped
configurations were tested.
For brevity, only the 2-stripe
test in the undamped configuration will be discussed.
A single response record from the undamped, 2-stripe modal
test is presented in Figure 3. The response is for blade 1
with excitation on blade 1. In the first 0.25 seconds of the
record, the PZT actuator is driven by the chirp signal. In the
following 0.75 seconds, the response is free. Beating of the

828

(1)

where

(2)
The individual cr; are termed singular values.
The
decomposition of the original data matrix and a time shifted
version of the data matrix are combined to form an estimate
of a state space plant matrix

The subscripts of SVD factorization have changed from N to

n to denote a truncation in the number of singular values
retained,

[l:n]= diag(cr1,cr2, ... , crn)

(4)

The corresponding columns of [UN] and [VN] are also

truncated. The truncation is done to reduce the order of the
plant matrix from N to n. The eigenvalues of the plant matrix
determine the estimated natural frequencies and damping
factors. The eigenvectors will determine the mode shapes.
In terms of the modal identification, the singular value
truncation reduces the number of estimated modes. In
theory, it also reduces noise because it eliminates the
smallest singular values, which are presumed to be noise
related. However in practice, singular value decomposition
does not cleanly separate signal from noise. Often the
truncation point, or the number of retained singular values,
must be varied to obtain an accurate modal estimation.
The singular values of the data matrix are shown in Fig. 4.
There is a sudden drop after the sixteenth singular value,
indicating that there are principally eight modes in the data.
Theoretically, these eight modes could be identified when
the singular value decomposition is truncated at 16.

Figure 5: Modal frequencies of the 2-stripe family as a

function of the number of singular values retained
in the ERA solution.

60

30

20

10

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0.05
0.06
Modal Damping {% 0

0.07

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Figure 6: Damping values of the 2-stripe modes as a

function of the number of singular values retained
in the ERA solution.

10'

10_,0L -----'1'-0----'20---'-30--4-'-0----,5'-0-----'6'-0----'70----'80
Singular Valu No.

Figure 4: Singular values of the data matrix used by ERA to

identify the 2-stripe modes.
Modal frequency estimates between 758 and 772 Hz are
shown in Fig. 5 as the number of retained singular values
Eight modes are clearly
varies between 16 and 80.
identified. The estimated frequencies vary little, as do the
corresponding mode shapes. Apparently the frequency and
mode shape estimation are accurate and relatively
insensitive to the number of retained singular values. Note
that the separation between the highest and lowest
frequencies is about 10 Hz, a 1.3% variation. The damping
estimates for these same modes are shown in Fig. 6. These
estimates are very sensitive, but become consistent when
enough singular values are retained. The solution for 60
retained singular values was chosen as the overall modal
solution.

829

Each mode shape from ERA is a vector of complex values.

The complex values for the first and fourth modes in the 2stripe family are shown in Figure 7. Since the model fan is a
lightly damped system, we expect the modes to be nearly
real. The first mode has values mostly in phase with one
another, and hence appears to be close to a real mode. The
fourth mode, on the other hand, appears to have a truly
complex shape. The apparent complex nature of this mode
could be a result of the digital sampling of the time
responses. The response records were sampled at a rate of
8192 Hz and were then synchronized as if they had been
measured simultaneously. A synchronization error of one
time step translates into a phase error of 33 degrees at the
2-stripe mode frequencies. The complex phase angles of
An
the fourth mode are within this margin of error.
approximate real mode can be constructed using the
magnitudes of the complex values with a positive or negative
value assigned to each number depending on the phase.

901

270

270

901

270

270

Figure 9: The 1st and 4th mode shapes (complex valued) in

the 2-stripe family estimated from a data set with a higher
sample rate.

Figure 7: The 1st and 4th mode shapes (complex valued) in

the 2-stripe family.
The approximate real mode shapes for the 2-stripe family
are plotted in Figure 8. The radial line in the 12 o'clock
position represents the modal amplitude of blade 1. The
amplitudes of blades 2-8 are represented clockwise by the
other seven radial lines. The solid lines represent blades
vibrating in phase with one another. The dotted lines are
bl.ades vibrat!ng out of phase. The mode shapes shown in
F1gure 8 are Illustrative of the complicated modal behavior of
bladed disks in general.

A time response was reconstructed using the estimated

moda~ para~ete~s as an accuracy test. Small frequency or
dampmg est1mat1on errors will become apparent in this test.
Figure 10 shows the reconstructed signal using 2-stripe
modal parameters in comparison to a measured signal. The
reconstructed signal lacks the high frequency modes present
in the measured signal, but reasonably predicts the
response for over 500 cycles.

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Tlme(s)

Figure 10: A comparison of the measured response of blade

1 after excitation of blade 1 and the reconstructed response
using the estimated 2-stripe modal parameters.
Figure 8: The 2-stripe family of modes for the fan.
A second set of data was taken with a finer sample rate
(32,768 Hz vs 8192 Hz) to see if the apparent complex
nature of the mode shapes could be reduced. The error due
to synchronization of the time signals in this set resulted in a
phase error of 8 degrees. Figure 9 shows the first and
fourth (complex) mode shapes in the 2-stripe family from the
second data set. The mode shapes appear to be close to
real, well within the phase margin. The approximate real
mode shapes for all eight modes from these data are
virtually indistinguishable from the earlier experimental set.

830

A finite element model (FEM) of the fan was constructed to

verify the experimental results. The FEM was corrected
using test data to better match the actual distribution of
individual blade frequencies. Each blade was 'detuned' one
at a time by mass loading the other seven blades. Impact
hammer tests were then conducted to determine the
uncoupled frequencies of each of the 'detuned' blades. The
elastic modulus of each blade in the model was adjusted so
that individual 'detuned' blade frequencies from the FEM
matched the 'detuned' modal hammer test results. The
corrected FEM was analyzed to provide frequencies and
mode shapes for the undamped structure. The FEM mode
shape of the first mode in the 2-stripe family is shown in
Figure 11. The 2-stripe family of mode shapes is shown in
Figure 12. Comparing the FEM mode shapes in Figure 12
with th~ test re~ults in Figure 8 shows that the FEM captures
the maJor amplitudes seen in the test results. However, the
FEM fails to predict the low amplitudes of some of the
blades. The inability of the FEM to capture the minor

amplitudes suggests that the FEM underestimates the bladeto-blade coupling, implying that some of the coupling is not
Overall, the FEM results confirm that the
structural.
experimental results are reasonable.

In the phased sine testing approach, the structure is excited

with a force vector that has magnitude and phase such that
only one mode is excited. Examining Equation (6}, it can be
1
seen that if the modal force vector, [MT [ci>]T{F}, has only one
nonzero term, then only one mode will be excited. If the
force vector, {F}, is a multiple of the ith row of the inverse of
1
([MT [ci>]\ only the ith term of the resulting modal force
vector will be nonzero.
In a modal model, the modal participation factor matrix is
1
analogous to ([MT [ci>]\ Ideally, any mode of the model fan
could be excited independently by selecting the appropriate
force vector amplitudes and relative phases from the inverse
of the modal participation factor matrix identified by ERA.
The eight actuators on the blades could be driven
simultaneously with sinusoids at identical frequencies and
the selected amplitudes and phases. In our case, only four
amplifiers where available to drive the piezoelectric actuators
so the force vector could only be approximated. The
response will be contaminated by other modes when using
an approximate vector.
The approximate vector for the second 2-stripe mode had
the smallest calculated contamination, so we chose to excite
this mode. The laser vibrometer was used to measure the
amplitude of each blade while the phased sine input was
applied. Figure 13 shows the measured mode shape. The
ERA mode shape for the same mode is repeated in the
figure for comparison. The modal assurance criterion [7]
between the ERA and phase sine dwell results is 99.6%.
This excellent agreement indicates that the mode shapes
identified by ERA are accurate.

Figure 11: The finite element model results showing the 1st
mode shape of the 2-stripe family.

760.7 Hz

760.2 Hz

763.7 Hz

Q)(S)CJ
765.6 Hz

766.3 Hz

767.7 Hz

80(9
rouHz

761.4Hz 1;=0.01%

761.8Hz

~::0.0~.

MUHz

GW

ERA results

Figure 12: The 2-stripe family of modes from the finite

element model.

Phased sine testing was performed on the model fan to

further verify the accuracy of the predicted modal
parameters. The equations of motion for a lumped dynamic
system with negligible damping are
[M] { q} + [K] {q} = {F}

(5}

Substituting the modal coordinate transformation, {q} =

[CI>]{p}, into Equation (5} and simplifying yields uncoupled
modal equations

p; + w; p; = ([MT [ci>] {F}};

(6}

831

Phaaed sine results

Figure 13: Results from the phase sine dwell test in

comparison to the ERA results for the 2"d 2-stripe mode.
The phased sine force vector excites a single mode
regardless of the excitation frequency.
Therefore, a
frequency response function (FRF} for the single mode can
be estimated by sweeping the actuator excitation frequency
through the resonance. The approximate force vector for the
second 2-stripe mode was swept through the frequency
range of the 2-stripe family while the response of blade 1
was measured with the vibrometer. The modal frequency
and the damping were estimated from the FRF and are
shown in Figure 13. The damping from the half-power
bandwidth estimate is an upper bound. The error between
the frequency estimates is only 0.05%. The measured FRF
is shown in Figure 14. For comparison, a second sweep test

was performed over the same frequency range but with force
input only to blade 1. The FRF from this sweep, shown in
Figure 14, has multiple resonant peaks indicating
participation from other modes. This is proof that the phased
sine test approach works.

more sensitive to the order of the model and required a trend

analysis in ERA to achieve accurate results. Finite element
analysis and phased sine testing were conducted to verify
the identification results.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of
Barry Benedict of United Technologies Pratt and Whitney for
advice in defining model fan design requirements.

REFERENCES
[1] Gordon R.W., and Hollkamp J.J., "An Experimental
Investigation of Non-Uniform Damping in Bladed disk
Assemblies," AIAA-98-3747, 1998.
-25

[2] Srinivasan, A.V., "Vibrations of Bladed disk AssembliesA Selected Survey," J. of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress,
and Reliability in Design, Vol. 106, pp. 165-168, 1984.

-30

Fraqu~(Hz)

[3] Wei S.-T. and Pierre C., "Localization Phenomena in

Mistuned Assemblies with Cyclic Symmetry Part 1: Free
Vibrations," J.
of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress, and
Reliability in Design, Vol. 110, pp. 429-438., 1988.

Figure 14: Sine sweep results for the 2"d 2-stripe mode with
phased sine input to 4 blades and sine input to blade 1.

5. SUMMARY
Details of modal tests on an 8-bladed model of a jet engine
fan were presented. The tests were conducted to evaluate
whether it is appropriate to test a disk with a mix of damped
and undamped blades as an economic alternative to testing
a disk with a full set of damped blades. The results and
conclusions of the study were reported previously in the
literature. However, details on the modal tests were not
included. This paper presented those specifics.
The modal tests were significant for two reasons. First,
bladed disks are highly sensitive to mistuning of the blades.
Consequently, the modal tests had to be conducted in a nonobtrusive manner. Second, modes appear in families with
closely spaced natural frequencies. The testing procedure
and modal identification algorithm had to be able to resolve
the modes.
The test object was a model of an integrally bladed fan. A
small piezoelectric actuator was bonded to each of the
blades. A scanning laser vibrometer was used to measure
the response of the system.
The vibrometer was
electronically steered to measure the velocity of each blade
tip while each actuator was driven with a periodic chirp
signal. The measurements were repeated while driving each
actuator. The measurements were synchronized and a free
response portion extracted.
The free response was
processed using ERA to estimate frequencies, damping
factors, mode shapes and modal participation factors.
Results for the 2-stripe modal test of the nominal undamped
structure were presented. Natural frequencies and mode
shapes were easily identified for the eight modes in the 2stripe family even though the frequency variation from
highest to lowest mode is only 1.3%. Estimated frequencies
and mode shapes were relatively insensitive to the order of
the identified model. However, modal damping values were

832

[4] Wei S.-T. and Pierre C., "Localization Phenomena in

Mistuned Assemblies with Cyclic Symmetry Part II:
Forced Vibrations," J. of Vibration, Acoustics, Stress,
and Reliability in Design, Vol. 110, pp. 439-449.,1988.
[5] Juang J-N., and Pappa R. S., "An Eigensystem
Realization Algorithm for Modal Parameter Identification
and Model Reduction," J. of Guidance, Control, and
Dynamics, Vol. 8, pp. 620-627., 1985.
[6] Hollkamp J.J., "Parametric Identification of Discrete
Time Series Models for Structural Response Prediction,"
Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Notre Dame, 1989.
[7] Allemang R.J. and Brown D.L., "A Correlation
Coefficient for Modal Vector Analysis," Proceedings of
the 1st International Modal Analysis Conference,
Orlando FL, pp. 110-116.,1982.