Computational Techniques of Rotor Dynamics with the Finite Element Method

Rotor dynamics is both a classical and a modern branch of engineering science. The rotation of rigid bodies, mainly those with regular shapes such as cylinders and shafts, has been well understood for more than a century. However, analyzing the rotational behavior of flexible bodies, especially those with irregular shapes like propellers and blades, requires more modern tools such as finite elements, hence the title and focus of this book.

In the dozen years since the original publication, this book was used in teaching engineering students at universities and in consulting in the industry. During those activities, several topics were deemed to require further explanations. Students requested a deeper finite element technology foundation in certain places to make the book self‑contained in that regard also. Some desired more details about the computational and numerical solutions. These requests are answered in new sections of this edition. Practicing engineers asked for a detailed industrial application case study and such was added in a new chapter dealing with wind turbines.

This book is composed of two parts, the first focusing on the theoretical foundation of rotor dynamics and the second focusing on the engineering analysis of industrial structures. The theoretical foundation is built on physics, calculus, and finite element technology chapters. Computational and numerical techniques provide free vibration and response analyses solutions. The industrial engineering analysis part contains chapters analyzing jet‑engine turbine wheels, aircraft propellers, and wind turbine blades. This book concludes with a new industrial case study based on a recent modern wind turbine development project.

Arne Vollan studied aeronautical engineering at the Technical University of Trondheim (Norway) and Aachen (Germany) and holds the Diplom Ingenieur degree. He was employed by several aeronautical companies such as VFW‑Fokker (now Airbus), Helicopter Technik Muenchen, Dornier, Nationaal Lucht‑en Ruimtevaartlaboratorium, and Pilatus Aircraft as a dynamic and aeroelastic specialist. He was also a consultant and developed programs for the analysis of rotating structures like wind turbines and propellers. Since 2002, he has been working at AeroFEM GmbH in Switzerland on rotor dynamics and the aeroelasticity of aircraft and large wind turbines. He is still active in consulting, and the new industrial application case study presented in the last chapter is a result of that activity.

Louis Komzsik is a graduate of the Technical University of Budapest with an engineering degree and the Eotvos University of Sciences in Budapest with a mathematics degree, and he holds a Doctorate from the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary. He was employed by the Hungarian Shipyards from 1972 to 1980 and worked at the McDonnell‑Douglas Corporation in 1981 and 1982. He was the chief numerical analyst leading the development of NASTRAN atthe MacNeal‑Schwendler Corporation from 1983 to 2003 and served in a similar capacity at Siemens PLM Software in California from 2003 to 2016. Since his retirement from industry in 2017, he has been lecturing at The University of California in Irvine and at Obuda University in Budapest, Hungary, where he is presently Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics.