Holographic Interferometry has been successfully employed to characterize the materials and behavior of diverse types of structures under dynamic stress 1,2,3,4. Specialized variations of this technology have also been applied to define dynamic and vibration related structural behavior 5. Such applications of holographic technique offer some of the most effective methods of modal and dynamic analysis available. Real-time dynamic testing of the modal and mechanical behavior of jet engine turbine, rotor, vane, and compressor structures has always required advanced instrumentation for data collection in either simulated flight operation test or computer-based modeling and simulations. Advanced optical holography techniques are alternate methods which
result in actual full-field behavioral data in a noninvasive, noncontact environment 6. These methods offer significant insight in both the development and subsequent operational test and
modeling of advanced jet engine turbine and compressor rotor structures and their integration with total vehicle system dynamics. Structures and materials can be analyzed with very low amplitude excitation and the resultant data can be used to adjust the accuracy of mathematically derived structural and behavioral models.
Holographic Interferometry offers a powerful tool to aid in the developmental engineering of turbine rotor and compressor structures for high stress applications. Aircraft engine applications
in particular must consider operational environments where extremes in vibration and impulsive as well as continuous mechanical stress can affect both operation and structural stability. These
considerations present ideal requisites for analysis using advanced holographic methods in the initial design and test of turbine rotor components. Holographic techniques are nondestructive, real-time, and definitive in allowing the identification of vibrational modes, displacements, and motion geometries. Such information can be crucial to the determination of mechanical configurations and designs as well as critical operational parameters of turbine structural
components or unit turbine components fabricated from advanced and exotic new materials or using new fabrication methods. Anomalous behavioral characteristics can be directly related to hidden structural or mounting anomalies and defects.
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