Method and apparatus for balancing a rotor

1. A turbomachinery rotor apparatus comprising:

a rotatable disk having an array of slots spaced around its periphery;

an array of blades installed in the slots, wherein at least one blade of the array of blades has an actual weight which is more or less than a nominal design value; and

a plurality of connection components installed in the disk, each connection component forming a portion of a mechanical joint between one of the blades and its respective slot, wherein the plurality of connection components comprises a plurality of dovetail keys, a plurality of retainers, and a plurality of springs, wherein the plurality of dovetail keys have a uniform set of exterior interface dimensions and a baseline weight, wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys has a weight equal to the baseline weight, and wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys has a weight greater than the baseline weight, and wherein each of the plurality of dovetail keys prevent a radial inward movement of each blade of the array of blades.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the disk and the connection components are configured such that one of the connection components can be installed or removed from the disk without removing any of the blades.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys includes weight-reduction features and at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys does not include weight-reduction features.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys is made from a first material having a first density and at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys is made from a second material having a second density greater than the first density.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each dovetail key is disposed between a dovetail and the spring, such that the spring applies a radially outward pressure to the blade through the dovetail key.

6. A fan rotor apparatus comprising:

a rotatable fan disk having a forward end and an aft end, and an array of dovetail slots spaced around its periphery;

an array of fan blades carried by the fan disk, where each fan blade includes an airfoil and a dovetail, wherein the dovetail is received in one of the dovetail slots, and wherein at least one blade of the array of blades has an actual weight which is more or less than a nominal design value; and

a plurality of connection components installed in the fan disk, each connection component forming a portion of a mechanical joint between each of the fan blades and its respective dovetail slot, wherein the plurality of connection components comprises a plurality of dovetail keys, a plurality of retainers, and a plurality of springs, wherein each of the plurality of dovetail keys is installed in one of the dovetail slots between the dovetail and the spring, each dovetail key filling a radial gap between one of the fan blades and its respective slot and preventing a radial inward movement of the fan blade, wherein the plurality of dovetail keys have a uniform set of exterior interface dimensions and a baseline weight, wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys has a weight equal to the baseline weight, and wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys has a weight greater than the baseline weight.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys includes weight-reduction features and at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys does not include weight-reduction features.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys is made from a first material having a first density and at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys is made from a second material having a second density greater than the first density.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the dovetail slots are configured such that at least one dovetail key of the plurality of dovetail keys can be installed or removed from the fan disk without removing any of the blades.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a spinner attached to the forward end of the fan disk.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising at least one trim bolt carried by the spinner.

12. A method of balancing a turbomachinery rotor, comprising:

inserting an array of blades into an array of slots formed in a rotatable disk, wherein at least one blade of the array of blades has an actual weight which is more or less than a nominal design value;

determining an imbalance of the assembled blades and disk; and

inserting a spacer into each of the slots, such that each spacer forms a portion of a mechanical joint between one of the blades and its respective slot, wherein the spacer has an elongated structure with forward and aft ends, and a flange disposed at the forward end, wherein the spacers each have an individual weight, and wherein the individual weights of the spacers are selected to correct at least a portion of the imbalance, and wherein all the spacers have uniform exterior interface dimensions, wherein the spacer prevents the respective fan blade from moving radially inward;

inserting a spring into each of the slots between the rotatable disk and the spacer so as to exert a radially outward pressure on each of the blades through the respective spacer.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein some of the spacers include weight-reduction features and others of the spacers do not include weight-reduction features.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein some of the spacers are made from a first material having a first density and others of the spacers are made from a second material having a second density.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the slots are configured such that the spacers can be installed or removed without removing any of the blades.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

mounting a spinner to the disk; and

installing at least one trim bolt into the spinner, wherein the at least one trim bolt is selected to correct at least a portion of any remaining imbalance.