Attenuation of the Tip-Clearance Flow in a Pump-Jet Propulsor by Thickening and Raking the Tips of Rotor Blades: A Numerical Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 102723
Author(s):  
Xue-Qin Ji ◽  
Xiao-Qian Dong ◽  
Chen-Jun Yang
2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Möller ◽  
Maximilian Jüngst ◽  
Felix Holzinger ◽  
Christoph Brandstetter ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer ◽  
...  

This paper presents a numerical study on blade vibration for the transonic compressor rig at the Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUD), Darmstadt, Germany. The vibration was experimentally observed for the second eigenmode of the rotor blades at nonsynchronous frequencies and is simulated for two rotational speeds using a time-linearized approach. The numerical simulation results are in close agreement with the experiment in both cases. The vibration phenomenon shows similarities to flutter. Numerical simulations and comparison with the experimental observations showed that vibrations occur near the compressor stability limit due to interaction of the blade movement with a pressure fluctuation pattern originating from the tip clearance flow. The tip clearance flow pattern travels in the backward direction, seen from the rotating frame of reference, and causes a forward traveling structural vibration pattern with the same phase difference between blades. When decreasing the rotor tip gap size, the mechanism causing the vibration is alleviated.


Author(s):  
Daniel Möller ◽  
Maximilian Jüngst ◽  
Felix Holzinger ◽  
Christoph Brandstetter ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer ◽  
...  

A flutter phenomenon was observed in a 1.5-stage configuration at the Darmstadt transonic compressor. This phenomenon is investigated numerically for different compressor speeds. The flutter occurs for the second eigenmode of the rotor blades and is caused by tip clearance flow which is able to pass through multiple rotor gaps at highly throttled operating points. The vibration pattern during flutter is accompanied by a pressure fluctuation pattern of the tip clearance flow which is interacting with the blade motion causing the aeroelastic instability. The velocity of the tip clearance flow fluctuation is about 50% of the blade tip speed for simulation and experiment and also matches the mean convective velocity inside the rotor gap. This is consistent for all compressor speeds. From this investigations, general guidelines are drawn which can be applied at an early stage during compressor design to evaluate the susceptibility to this kind of blade vibration.


Author(s):  
Yu-Tai Lee ◽  
Chunill Hah ◽  
James Loellbach

This paper summarizes a numerical investigation of the fundamental structure of the rotor tip-clearance vortex and its interaction with a passage trailing-edge vortex in a single-stage stator-rotor pump. The flow field of a highly-loaded rotor measured in a high Reynolds number pump facility (HIREP) is used for comparison. The numerical solution was obtained by solving the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The calculated results are visualized in order to understand the details of the tip-vortex structure. The study shows that the tip geometry should be accurately represented to predict the tip-vortex structure correctly.


Author(s):  
Jean Thomassin ◽  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
Njuki W. Mureithi

This paper investigates the role of tip clearance flow in the occurrence of non-synchronous vibrations (NSV) observed in the first axial rotor of a high-speed high-pressure compressor (HPC) in an aero-engine. NSV is an aero-elastic phenomenon where the rotor blades vibrate at non-integral multiples of the shaft rotational frequencies in operating regimes where classical flutter is not known to occur. A physical mechanism to explain the NSV phenomenon is proposed based on the blade tip trailing edge impinging jet like flow, and a novel theory based on the acoustic feedback in the jet potential core. The theory suggests that the critical jet velocity, which brings a jet impinging on a rigid structure to resonance, is reduced to the velocities observed in the blade tip secondary flow when the jet impinges on a flexible structure. The feedback mechanism is then an acoustic wave traveling backward in the jet potential core, and this is experimentally demonstrated. A model is proposed to predict the critical tip speed at which NSV can occur. The model also addresses several unexplained phenomena, or missing links, which are essential to connect tip clearance flow unsteadiness to NSV. These are the pressure level, the pitch-based reduced frequency, and the observed step changes in blade vibration and mode shape. The model is verified using two different rotors that exhibited NSV.


Author(s):  
P. C. Ivey ◽  
M. Swoboda

This paper describes work conducted as part of an experimental and numerical study of leakage effects by numerous Research and Industrial partners. For clarity it is presented in two parts. Part 1 presents measurements of tip-clearance flow for a 3rd stage rotor embedded in a four stage low-speed research compressor. The measurements are innovative and comprise measurements in the rotor relative frame of reference and 3D Laser time-of-flight Anemometry. Both techniques are relevant for improved understanding of multistage compressor flow dynamics and consequently, validated multistage CFD simulations. In part 2 of this paper (see Politis et al 1997b) it is shown that downstream of the rotor passage the location and size of a tip-clearance vortex, identified from both independent measurement techniques in Part 1, is in good agreement with 3D solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations modelling this compressor. These 3D numerical solutions reveal the tip-clearance flow structure using a multiblock grid technique.


Author(s):  
R Niehuis ◽  
A Bohne ◽  
A Hoynacki

In the past years, a three-stage axial compressor equipped with a modern controlled diffusion airfoil (CDA) blading has been investigated in much detail, applying state-of-the-art steady and unsteady measurement techniques, at RWTH Aachen University. The compressor under investigation exhibits design features of real industrial compressors. By performing high-resolution measurements both in space and time, a thorough insight into various flow phenomena in the compressor has been achieved, leading to a better understanding of various flow phenomena such as rotor—stator interaction, tip clearance flow and viscous flow effects in a multistage compressor environment. After a short summary of some performance characteristics at design and off-design, this paper focuses on the analysis of interaction phenomena present in the three-stage axial compressor. The interaction phenomena are described on a more global scale. In order to quantify the upstream and downstream influence of the three rotor blades, a suitable parameter is presented.


Author(s):  
Martin Drolet ◽  
Jean Thomassin ◽  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
Njuki W. Mureithi

This work investigates Non-Synchronous Vibrations (NSV) encountered in a turbine engine axial flow compressor using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. It has been proposed that the resonance of the tip clearance flow in compressor blades could be the physical mechanism behind NSV. This work’s emphasis is on being able to computationally capture this resonance and predict the critical NSV speed using CFD. This would considerably reduce the costs involved in future hardware design and testing. The model uses the same compressor blade geometry on which experimental validation of the proposed NSV theory was conducted. The flow interaction with blade vibratory motion is modeled using a moving mesh capability and a SAS-SST turbulence model is used for computation. A review of the proposed theory on NSV is done. The CFD model is first verified with experimental data and then characterized to ensure that the simulations are conducted at the proper NSV conditions, in order to assess the resonance of the tip clearance flow. Evidence of this resonance behavior is presented and critical NSV speeds are identified based on numerical results for two different inlet temperature cases and are validated against experimental data. Further study of the actual flow structure associated with NSV is done. Additional remarks on the numerical results are discussed. An iterative design methodology to account for NSV is also proposed based on the current numerical study.


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