A Comparison of Three Simulation Techniques for Modeling the Fan Blade–Composite Abradable Rub Strip Interaction in Turbofan Engines

Abstract

Turbofan engine models for foreign object impact simulations must include a representation of fan blade interactions with surrounding components of the engine, including rubbing against the abradable lining. In this study, three numerical techniques, namely, the finite element method (FEM), smoothed particles hydrodynamics (SPH), and the adaptive (hybrid) FEM/SPH approach (ADT), were evaluated for their applicability to modeling of the blade–abradable rub strip (ARS) interaction. Models developed using these methods in the commercial code LS-DYNA were compared in terms of their computational cost, robustness, sensitivity to mesh density, and certain physical and non-physical parameters. As a result, the applicability of the models to represent the blade-ARS interaction was ranked as follows (1—most applicable, 3—least applicable): 1—SPH, 2—FEM, and 3—ADT.