Mechanisms for Wide-Chord Fan Blade Flutter

Abstract

This paper describes a detailed wide-chord fan blade flutter analysis with emphasis on flutter bite. The same fan was used with three different intakes of increasing complexity to explain flutter mechanisms. Two types of flutter, namely, stall and acoustic flutters, were identified. The first intake is a uniform cylinder, in which there are no acoustic reflections. Only the stall flutter, which is driven by flow separation, can exist in this case. The second intake, based on the first one, has a “bump” feature to reflect the fan’s forward pressure wave at a known location so that detailed parametric studies can be undertaken. The analysis revealed a mechanism for acoustic flutter, which is driven by the phase of the reflected wave. The third intake has the typical geometric features of a flight intake. The results indicate that flutter bite occurs when both stall and acoustic flutters happen at the same speed. It is also found that blade stiffening has no effect on aero-acoustic flutter.