Turbine Engine Reliability Analysis Tool

Broad-spectrum analysis engineering packages have shared a potentially crippling handicap: the inability to easily couple the results from multiple analyses under a user friendly graphical interface. This deficiency is significant because individual physical phenomena are often interdependent. The mechanical failure of a part or assembly is often a function of a variety of loading conditions, material formulations or forces acting on it. Coupling multiple analyses is considered difficult in practice. This Phase I will establish feasibility for the development of a future engineering analysis tool by developing graphically based software that is capable of being used for currently needed Air Force analysis. The Phase I product will allow for integration with MATLAB, Finite Element Analysis and developed engineering algorithms. Also the software shall have limited Bayesian analysis capabilities which could be expanded during Phase II. The graphically assisted tool will provide a "drag-and-drop" approach to building a logic diagram that defines model parameters and their interaction with physical models. VEXTEC will demonstrate that the developed software can be used to predict the fatigue reliability of a gas turbine blade due to HCF, while accounting for variability in the material properties, geometry and blade loading.