Failure analysis of an aeroengine components

Components of an aircraft which met with an accident immediately after take off were forwarded to the laboratory for investigation. On strip examination, it was found that the damages to the engine were mainly confined to the compressor. Laboratory examination showed that the failure of the engine had occurred instantaneously and there were no evidences of progressive failure in any of the components. Analysis suggests that there was momentary instability in the engine which resulted in relative movement between the rotor and the stator. Evidences suggest that the movement was in both axial and lateral directions. The axial movement caused fracturing of all the compressor rotor blades of 2nd to 7th stage and damages to trailing edge of stator blades of all stages. The lateral movement caused impact of the 1st stage rotor blades with the casing resulting in fracture. A detailed analysis of the failure is presented in this report