Structure comprising a rotor and fixed perturbation sources and method for reducing vibrations in said structure

1. A method of reducing vibration in a structure including at least one rotor and at least one stator, the rotor and the stator configured to be subjected to a fluid flow, the structure including a set of fixed sources of disturbance liable to give rise to disturbances in the fluid flow that cause the rotor to vibrate, the method comprising:

during design of the structure, selecting a non-uniform angular distribution for the fixed sources of disturbance to reduce the amplitude of excitation seen by the rotor and corresponding to said disturbances at at least one excitation frequency that coincides substantially with a natural frequency of the rotor at a speed of rotation V thereof, as compared with a predetermined uniform angular distribution of the fixed sources of disturbance; and

verifying over an entire range of speeds of rotation at which the rotor is liable to rotate and including the speed of rotation V, that a maximum amplitude of a response of the rotor to the excitation when the fixed sources of disturbance are distributed in said selected angular distribution is less than a maximum amplitude when the fixed sources of disturbance are distributed in said predetermined angular distribution, said response of the rotor to the excitation when the fixed sources of disturbance are distributed in said selected angular distribution being obtained by:

determining a first signal whose Fourier transform corresponds to a frequency spectrum of the excitation when the fixed sources of disturbance are distributed in said predetermined angular distribution;

modifying the first signal into a second signal adapted to said selected angular distribution for the fixed sources of disturbance;

determining the frequency spectrum of the excitation by calculating the Fourier transform of the second signal; and

calculating the response of the rotor to the excitation based on the frequency spectrum of the excitation.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are identical; and at least one natural frequency of the rotor at the speed of rotation V is substantially equal to NV or a multiple of NV, where N is the number of fixed sources of disturbance in said set.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the first signal includes identical peaks that are regularly spaced apart, each peak being representative of a disturbance created by a fixed source of disturbance in the fluid flow, the spacing between two given consecutive peaks being representative of an angle defined by two consecutive sources of disturbance when the sources of disturbance are distributed in said uniform angular distribution, and the modifying operation includes adapting the spacings between the peaks to the angles of said selected angular distribution.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the set of fixed sources of disturbance is upstream from the rotor in the fluid flow.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the set of fixed sources of disturbance is downstream from the rotor in the fluid flow.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are substantially in a same radial position relative to a point in the fluid flow corresponding to a center of rotation of the rotor.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are stator blades.

8. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are selected from the group consisting of injectors of: a combustion chamber; elements for extracting cooling air; discharge valves; elements for re-injecting cooling air; sensors; and probes.

9. A method of designing a structure including at least one rotor and at least one stator, the rotor and the stator configured to be subjected to a fluid flow, the structure including a set of fixed sources of disturbance liable to give rise to disturbances in the fluid flow causing the rotor to vibrate, the method comprising:

determining an overall architecture for the structure; and

applying to said structure the method of reducing vibration according to claim 1 .

10. A method of designing and manufacturing a structure including at least one rotor and at least one stator, the rotor and the stator configured to be subjected to a fluid flow, the structure including a set of fixed sources of disturbance liable to give rise to disturbances in the fluid flow causing the rotor to vibrate, the method comprising:

determining an overall architecture for the structure;

applying to said structure the method of reducing vibration according to claim 1 ; and

manufacturing said structure.

11. A method according to claim 10 , wherein an angular distribution for the fixed sources of disturbance is selected to obtain a structure comprising:

at least one rotor;

at least one stator; and

at least one set comprising a number N of fixed sources of disturbance;

the rotor and the set of fixed sources of disturbance configured to have a fluid flow passing substantially perpendicularly therethrough, in which flow the set of sources of disturbance is liable to give rise to disturbances that are subsequently received by the rotor;

the set of sources of disturbance forming a set of N adjacent angles in a plane substantially perpendicular to the fluid flow, where a sum of said angles is equal to 360°, each angle being defined by two consecutive half-lines having a common point as their origin, which point corresponds, in the fluid flow, to a center of rotation of the rotor, the half-lines also passing through respective geometrical centers of two sources of disturbance;

wherein the structure the set of adjacent angles comprises at least one group of first angles that are greater than 360°/N, and at least one group of second angles that are less than 360°/N.

12. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the structure includes a turbomachine.

13. A structure comprising:

at least one rotor;

at least one stator; and

at least one set comprising a number N of fixed sources of disturbance;

the rotor and the set of fixed sources of disturbance configured to have a fluid flow passing substantially perpendicularly therethrough, in which flow the set of sources of disturbance is liable to give rise to disturbances that are subsequently received by the rotor;

the set of sources of disturbance forming a set of N adjacent angles in a plane substantially perpendicular to the fluid flow, where a sum of said angles is equal to 360°, each angle being defined by two consecutive half-lines having a common point as their origin, which point corresponds, in the fluid flow, to a center of rotation of the rotor, the half-lines also passing through respective geometrical centers of two sources of disturbance;

wherein in the structure the set of adjacent angles comprises at least one group of first angles that are greater than 360°/N, and at least one group of second angles that are less than 360°/N,

wherein the set of adjacent angles is constituted by:

a single group of adjacent first angles;

a first nominal angle or a first group of adjacent nominal angles, adjacent to said single group of adjacent first angles;

a single group of adjacent second angles that are adjacent to said first nominal angle or to said first group of adjacent nominal angles; and

a second nominal angle or a second group of adjacent nominal angles, adjacent to said single group of adjacent second angles.

14. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the set of adjacent angles includes at least one nominal angle that is equal to 360°/N.

15. A structure according to claim 14 , wherein the set of adjacent angles comprises a plurality of groups of adjacent first angles and a plurality of groups of adjacent second angles.

16. A structure according to claim 14 , wherein the set of adjacent angles comprises a single group of adjacent first angles and a single group of adjacent second angles.

17. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the set of adjacent angles is constituted by a single group of adjacent first angles and a single group of adjacent second angles.

18. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the set of adjacent angles is constituted by a plurality of groups of adjacent first angles and a plurality of groups of adjacent second angles, each group of adjacent second angles being adjacent to two groups of adjacent first angles.

19. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein all of the first angles in the set of adjacent angles are made larger by a same predetermined value, and all of the second angles in the set of adjacent angles are made smaller by said predetermined value.

20. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein at least two first angles and/or at least two second angles in the set of adjacent angles are different from each other.

21. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the set of adjacent angles comprises as many first angles as second angles.

22. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein each first angle and each second angle in the set of adjacent angles differs from 360°/N by no more than 10%.

23. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein each first angle and each second angle in the set of adjacent angles differs from 360°/N by no more than 5%.

24. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are in substantially a same radial position relative to an origin point.

25. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the set of fixed sources of disturbance is upstream from the rotor in the fluid flow.

26. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the set of fixed sources of disturbance is downstream from the rotor in the fluid flow.

27. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the structure includes a turbomachine.

28. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are stator blades.

29. A structure according to claim 13 , wherein the fixed sources of disturbance are selected from the group consisting of: injectors of a combustion chamber; elements for extracting cooling air; discharge valves; elements for re-injecting cooling air; sensors; and probes.

30. A structure comprising:

at least one rotor;

at least one stator; and

at least one set comprising a number N of fixed sources of disturbance;

the rotor and the set of fixed sources of disturbance configured to have a fluid flow passing substantially perpendicularly therethrough, in which flow the set of sources of disturbance is liable to give rise to disturbances that are subsequently received by the rotor;

the set of sources of disturbance forming a set of N adjacent angles in a plane substantially perpendicular to the fluid flow, where a sum of said angles is equal to 360°, each angle being defined by two consecutive half-lines having a common point as their origin, which point corresponds, in the fluid flow, to a center of rotation of the rotor, the half-lines also passing through respective geometrical centers of two sources of disturbance;

wherein in the structure the set of adjacent angles comprises at least one group of first angles that are greater than 360°/N, and at least one group of second angles that are less than 360°/N.

wherein the set of adjacent angles comprises a plurality of nominal angles or a plurality of groups of adjacent nominal angles, each nominal angle or group of adjacent nominal angles being adjacent both to a group of adjacent first angles and to a group of adjacent second angles.

31. A structure according to claim 30 , wherein the set of adjacent angles includes at least one nominal angle that is equal to 360°/N.

32. A structure according to claim 31 , wherein the set of adjacent angles comprises a single group of adjacent first angles and a single group of adjacent second angles.

33. A structure according to claim 31 , wherein the set of adjacent angles comprises a plurality of groups of adjacent first angles and a plurality of groups of adjacent second angles.

34. A structure according to claim 30 , wherein the set of adjacent angles is constituted by a single group of adjacent first angles and a single group of adjacent second angles.

35. A structure according to claim 30 , wherein the set of adjacent angles is constituted by a plurality of groups of adjacent first angles and a plurality of groups of adjacent second angles, each group of adjacent second angles being adjacent to two groups of adjacent first angles.