Fatigue damage evaluation of compressor blade based on nonlinear ultrasonic nondestructive testing

Abstract

Nonlinear ultrasonic testing is highly sensitive to micro-defects and can be used to detect hidden damage and defects inside materials. At present, most tests are carried out on specimens, and there are few nonlinear ultrasonic tests for fatigue damage of compressor blades. A vibration fatigue test was carried out on compressor blade steel KMN, and blade specimens with different damage degrees were obtained. Then, the nonlinear coefficients of blade specimens were obtained by nonlinear ultrasonic testing. The results showed that the nonlinear coefficient increased with the increase in the number of fatigue cycles in the early stage of fatigue, and then the nonlinear coefficient decreased. The microstructures were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was proven that the nonlinear ultrasonic testing can be used for the detection of micro-cracks in the early stage of fatigue. Through the statistical analysis of the size of the micro-cracks inside the material, the empirical formula of the nonlinear coefficient β and the equivalent crack size were obtained. Combined with the β–S–N three-dimensional model, an evaluation method based on the nonlinear ultrasonic testing for the early fatigue damage of the blade was proposed.