A Study of the Effects of Tip Clearance in a Supersonic Turbine

2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 674-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Dorney ◽  
Lisa W. Griffin ◽  
Frank W. Huber
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Flow Fields ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Work Design ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Turbine Performance ◽  
Shock System ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Performance Gains ◽  
High Work

Flow unsteadiness is a major factor in turbine performance and durability. This is especially true if the turbine is a high work design, compact, transonic, supersonic, counterrotating, or uses a dense drive gas. The vast majority of modern rocket turbine designs fall into these categories. In this study a parallelized unsteady three-dimensional Navier–Stokes analysis has been used to study the effects of tip clearance on the transient and time-averaged flow fields in a supersonic turbine. The predicted results indicate improved performance in the simulation including tip clearance. The main sources of the performance gains were: (1) a weakened shock system in the case with tip clearance, and (2) the fact that the reductions in the shock losses were greater than the losses introduced by tip clearance. [S0889-504X(00)02404-1]

A Study of the Effects of Tip Clearance in a Supersonic Turbine

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Dorney ◽  
Lisa W. Griffin ◽  
Frank W. Huber
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Turbine Performance ◽  
Shock System ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Performance Gains ◽  
High Work

Flow unsteadiness is a major factor in turbine performance and durability. This is especially true if the turbine is a high work design, compact, transonic, supersonic, counter rotating, or uses a dense drive gas. The vast majority of modern rocket turbine designs fall into these categories. In this study a parallelized unsteady three-dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis has been used to study the effects of tip clearance on the transient and time-averaged flow fields in a supersonic turbine. The predicted results indicate improved performance in the simulation including tip clearance. The sources of the performance gains were: 1) reduced endwall secondary flows due to decreased blade loading near the tip, 2) a weakened shock system in the case with tip clearance, and 3) the fact that the reduction in the shock losses were greater than the losses introduced by tip clearance.

Three-Dimensional Flowfields Inside a Transonic Compressor With Swept Blades

1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Hah ◽  
A. J. Wennerstrom
Keyword(s):  
Turbulence Modeling ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Navier Stokes Equation ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Transonic Compressor ◽  
Improved Performance

The concept of swept blades for a transonic or supersonic compressor was reconsidered by Wennerstrom in the early 1980s. Several transonic rotors designed with swept blades have shown very good aerodynamic efficiency. The improved performance of the rotor is believed to be due to reduced shock strength near the shroud and better distribution of secondary flows. A three-dimensional flowfield inside a transonic rotor with swept blades is analyzed in detail experimentally and numerically. A Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation is solved for the flow inside the rotor. The numerical solution is based on a high-order upwinding relaxation scheme, and a two-equation turbulence model with a low Reynolds number modification is used for the turbulence modeling. To predict flows near the shroud properly, the tip-clearance flow also must be properly calculated. The numerical results at three different operating conditions agree well with the available experimental data and reveal various interesting aspects of shock structure inside the rotor.

scholarly journals Three-Dimensional Flowfields Inside a Transonic Compressor With Swept Blades

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Hah ◽  
A. J. Wennerstrom
Keyword(s):  
Turbulence Modeling ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Navier Stokes Equation ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Transonic Compressor ◽  
Improved Performance

The concept of swept blades for a transonic or supersonic compressor was reconsidered by Wennerstrom in the early 1980s. Several transonic rotors designed with swept blades have shown very good aerodynamic efficiency. The improved performance of the rotor is believed to be due to reduced shock strength near the shroud and better distribution of secondary flows. A three-dimensional flowfield inside a transonic rotor with swept blades is analyzed in detail experimentally and numerically. A Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equation is solved for the flow inside the rotor. The numerical solution is based on a high-order upwinding relaxation scheme, and a two-equation turbulence model with a low Reynolds number modification is used for the turbulence modeling. To properly predict flows near the shroud, the tip-clearance flow also must be properly calculated. The numerical results at three different operating conditions agree well with the available experimental data and reveal various interesting aspects of shock structure inside the rotor.

The Impact of Gas Modeling in the Numerical Analysis of a Multistage Gas Turbine

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Michele Marconcini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Massimiliano Maritano ◽  
Stefano Cecchi
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Ratio Distribution ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Turbine Performance ◽  
Wall Boundary Conditions ◽  
Heavy Duty Gas Turbine ◽  
The Impact

In this work a numerical investigation of a four stage heavy-duty gas turbine is presented. Fully three-dimensional, multistage, Navier-Stokes analyses are carried out to predict the overall turbine performance. Coolant injections, cavity purge flows, and leakage flows are included in the turbine modeling by means of suitable wall boundary conditions. The main objective is the evaluation of the impact of gas modeling on the prediction of the stage and turbine performance parameters. To this end, four different gas models were used: three models are based on the perfect gas assumption with different values of constant cp, and the fourth is a real gas model which accounts for thermodynamic gas properties variations with temperature and mean fuel∕air ratio distribution in the through-flow direction. For the real gas computations, a numerical model is used which is based on the use of gas property tables, and exploits a local fitting of gas data to compute thermodynamic properties. Experimental measurements are available for comparison purposes in terms of static pressure values at the inlet∕outlet of each row and total temperature at the turbine exit.

scholarly journals Heat Transfer on a Film-Cooled Rotating Blade

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay K. Garg
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Film Cooling Holes

A multi-block, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code has been used to compute heat transfer coefficient on the blade, hub and shroud for a rotating high-pressure turbine blade with 172 film-cooling holes in eight rows. Film cooling effectiveness is also computed on the adiabatic blade. Wilcox’s k-ω model is used for modeling the turbulence. Of the eight rows of holes, three are staggered on the shower-head with compound-angled holes. With so many holes on the blade it was somewhat of a challenge to get a good quality grid on and around the blade and in the tip clearance region. The final multi-block grid consists of 4784 elementary blocks which were merged into 276 super blocks. The viscous grid has over 2.2 million cells. Each hole exit, in its true oval shape, has 80 cells within it so that coolant velocity, temperature, k and ω distributions can be specified at these hole exits. It is found that for the given parameters, heat transfer coefficient on the cooled, isothermal blade is highest in the leading edge region and in the tip region. Also, the effectiveness over the cooled, adiabatic blade is the lowest in these regions. Results for an uncooled blade are also shown, providing a direct comparison with those for the cooled blade. Also, the heat transfer coefficient is much higher on the shroud as compared to that on the hub for both the cooled and the uncooled cases.

Effects of Tip Clearance on Hot Streak Migration in a High-Subsonic Single-Stage Turbine

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Dorney ◽  
Douglas L. Sondak
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Single Stage ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Radial Spreading ◽  
Rotor Surface ◽  
Hot Streak ◽  
Turbine Airfoils

Experimental data have shown that combustor temperature non-uniformities can lead to the excessive heating of first-stage rotor blades in turbines. This heating of the rotor blades can lead to thermal fatigue and degrade turbine performance. The results of recent studies have shown that variations in the circumferential location, or clocking, of the first-stage vane airfoils can be used to minimize the adverse effects of the hot streaks due to the hot fluid mixing with the cooler fluid contained in the vane wake. In addition, the effects of the hot streak/airfoil count ratio on the heating patterns of turbine airfoils have been quantified. In the present investigation, three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes simulations have been performed for a single-stage high-pressure turbine geometry operating in high subsonic flow to study the effects of tip clearance on hot streak migration. Baseline simulations were initially performed without hot streaks to compare with the experimental data. Two simulations were then performed with a superimposed combustor hot streak; in the first the tip clearance was set at the experimental value, while in the second the rotor was allowed to scrape along the outer case (i.e., the limit as the tip clearance goes to zero). The predicted results for the baseline simulations show good agreement with the available experimental data. The simulations with the hot streak indicate that the tip clearance increases the radial spreading of the hot fluid, and increases the integrated rotor surface temperature compared to the case without tip clearance.

scholarly journals Modeling of Tip Clearance Flows Through an Improved 3-D Pressure Correction Navier-Stokes Solver

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lymberopoulos ◽  
K. Giannakoglou ◽  
I. Nikolaou ◽  
K. D. Papailiou ◽  
A. Tourlidakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Pressure Correction ◽  
Compressor Rotor ◽  
Numerical Predictions ◽  
Correction Technique

Mechanical constraints dictate the existence of tip clearances in rotating cascades, resulting to a flow leakage through this clearance which considerably influences the efficiency and range of operation of the machine. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solvers are often used for the numerical study of compressor and turbine stages with tip-clearance. The quality of numerical predictions depends strongly on how accurately the blade tip region is modelled; in this respect the accurate modelling of tip region was one of the main goals of this work. In the present paper, a 3-D Navier-Stokes solver is suitably adapted so that the flat tip surface of a blade and its sharp edges could be accurately modelled, in order to improve the precision of the calculation in the tip region. The adapted code solves the fully elliptic, steady, Navier-Stokes equations through a space-marching algorithm and a pressure correction technique; the H-type topology is retained, even in cases with thick leading edges where a special treatment is introduced herein. The analysis is applied to two different cases, a linear cascade and a compressor rotor, and comparisons with experimental data are provided.

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