Video

Video by Oswaldo Delacruz

Keeping Turbine Blades in Tune

Air Force Research Laboratory

Nov. 30, 2016 | 4:53

The turbine blades in an aircraft engine are part of a dynamic system with a complex vibratory response. Sometimes individual blades will vibrate at different frequencies due to wear, damage, or repairs. These “mistuned” blades are susceptible to high cycle fatigue, which can lead to the loss of a blade, a rotor, an engine, and on rare, catastrophic occasions, even a plane.

With support from the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Blade Diagnostics Corporation developed a new way to detect mistuning, making aircraft safer even as it reduces maintenance costs. Today, the SmartBlend system has been integrated into the work flow at Tinker Air Force Base, and is also finding application in the power generation industry, which relies on turbine engines.

BDC’s technology is just one of many successful innovations enabled by the US Air Force’s SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.