Modeling of Multiple Liner Containment Systems for High Speed Rotors

High speed composite rotors typically require containment structures to protect personnel and equipment from high energy rotor material and fragments that result from rotor burst events, which may occur during rotor overspeed. Loading to the containment structure during a burst event is a function of rotor design and containment geometry. A containment system proposed by The University of Texas at Austin Center for Electromechanics uses graphite-reinforced composite cylinders to dissipate radial kinetic energy from the rotor debris and reduce torque loads transmitted to the rotor housing and mounting hardware. Using an analogous mass-spring-damper system, a model was developed with bond graph techniques to estimate containment loads and response. The bond graphs, state equations and simulation results are compared with experimental results. The model is able to predict the general trends observed in experimental data and is used as a design tool for containment systems