Influence of Loading Distribution on the Performance of Transonic High Pressure Turbine Blades

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Corriveau ◽  
S. A. Sjolander
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Pressure Losses ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number

Midspan measurements were made in a transonic wind tunnel for three high pressure turbine blade cascades at design incidence. The baseline profile is the midspan section of a high pressure turbine blade of fairly recent design. It is considered mid-loaded. To gain a better understanding of blade loading limits and the influence of loading distributions, the profile of the baseline airfoil was modified to create two new airfoils having aft-loaded and front-loaded pressure distributions. Tests were performed for exit Mach numbers between 0.6 and 1.2. In addition, measurements were made for an extended range of Reynolds numbers for constant Mach numbers of 0.6, 0.85, 0.95, and 1.05. At the design exit Mach number of 1.05, the aft-loaded airfoil showed a reduction of almost 20% in the total pressure losses compared with the baseline airfoil. However, it was also found that for Mach numbers higher than the design value the performance of the aft-loaded blade deteriorated rapidly. The front-loaded airfoil showed generally inferior performance compared with the baseline airfoil.

Influence of Loading Distribution on the Performance of Transonic HP Turbine Blades

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Corriveau ◽  
S. A. Sjolander
Keyword(s):  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Pressure Losses ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number ◽  
Transonic Wind Tunnel ◽  
Made In

Midspan measurements were made in a transonic wind tunnel for three HP turbine blade cascades at design incidence. The baseline profile is the midspan section of a HP turbine blade of fairly recent design. It is considered mid-loaded. To gain a better understanding of blade loading limits and the influence of loading distributions, the profile of the baseline airfoil was modified to create two new airfoils having aft-loaded and front-loaded pressure distributions. Tests were performed for exit Mach numbers between 0.6 and 1.2. In addition, measurements were made for an extended range of Reynolds numbers for constant Mach numbers of 0.6, 0.85, 0.95 and 1.05. At the design exit Mach number of 1.05, the aft-loaded airfoil showed a reduction of almost 20% in the total pressure losses compared with the baseline airfoil. However, it was also found that for Mach numbers higher than the design value the performance of the aft-loaded blade deteriorated rapidly. The front-loaded airfoil showed generally inferior performance compared with the baseline airfoil.

Influence of Loading Distribution on the Off-Design Performance of High-Pressure Turbine Blades

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Corriveau ◽  
S. A. Sjolander
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Design Flow ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Design Performance ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number

Linear cascade measurements for the aerodynamic performance of a family of three transonic, high-pressure (HP) turbine blades have been presented previously by the authors. The airfoils were designed for the same inlet and outlet velocity triangles but varied in their loading distributions. The previous papers presented results for the design incidence at various exit Mach numbers, and for off-design incidence at the design exit Mach number of 1.05. Results from the earlier studies indicated that by shifting the loading towards the rear of the airfoil an improvement in the profile loss performance of the order of 20% could be obtained near the design Mach number at design incidence. Measurements performed at off-design incidence, but still at the design Mach number, showed that the superior performance of the aft-loaded blade extended over a range of incidence from about −5.0° to +5.0° relative to the design value. For the current study, additional measurements were performed at off-design Mach numbers from about 0.5 to 1.3 and for incidence values of −10.0°, +5.0° and + 10.0° relative to design. The corresponding Reynolds numbers, based on outlet velocity and true chord, varied from roughly 4 × 105 to 10 × 105. The measurements included midspan losses, blade loading distributions and base pressures. In addition, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes computations of the flow were performed to help in the interpretation of the experimental results. The results show that the superior loss performance of the aft-loaded profile, observed at design Mach number and low values of off-design incidence, does not extend readily to off-design Mach numbers and larger values of incidence. In fact, the measured midspan loss performance for the aft-loaded blade was found to be inferior to, or at best equal to, that of the baseline, mid-loaded airfoil at most combinations of off-design Mach number and incidence. However, based on the observations made at design and off-design flow conditions, it appears that aft-loading can be a viable design philosophy to employ in order to reduce the losses within a blade row provided the rearward deceleration is carefully limited. The loss performance of the front-loaded blade is inferior or at best equal to that of the other two blades for all operating conditions. As such, it appears that there is no advantage to front loading the airfoil for transonic high-pressure turbine blades. The results also provide a significant addition to the data available in the open literature on the off-design performance of transonic HP turbine airfoils.

Aerodynamic Performance of a Family of Three High Pressure Transonic Turbine Blades at Off-Design Incidence

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Corriveau ◽  
S. A. Sjolander
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Design Values ◽  
Outlet Flow ◽  
Exit Mach Number

Linear cascade measurements for the aerodynamic performance of three transonic High Pressure (HP) turbine blades have been presented previously by Corriveau and Sjolander [1] [2] for the design incidence. The airfoils were designed for the same inlet and outlet velocity triangles but varied in their loading distributions. Results from the earlier studies indicated that by shifting the loading towards the rear of the airfoil an improvement in the profile loss performance of the order of 20% could be obtained near the design Mach number of 1.05. The measurements have been extended to off-design incidence to investigate the effects of incidence on the performance of HP turbine blades having differing loading distributions. The additional measurements were performed for incidence values of −10.0°, +5.0°, and +10.0° relative to the design incidence. In addition, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulations of the cascade flow were performed in order to help in the interpretation of the experimental results. The exit Mach number was kept at the design value of 1.05. The corresponding Reynolds numbers, based on outlet velocity and true chord, is roughly 10 × 105. The measurements include midspan losses, outlet flow angles, blade loading distributions and base pressures. The results show that the superior loss performance of the aft-loaded profile, observed at design incidence and Mach number, could also be seen for off-design values of incidence ranging from about −5.0° to +5.0°. However, it was found that for incidences greater than about +5.0° the performance of the aft-loaded blade deteriorated rapidly. The front-loaded airfoil showed generally similar performance to that of the baseline mid-loaded airfoil up to an incidence of +5.0°, at which point its performance also deteriorates significantly.

Influence of Loading Distribution on the Off-Design Performance of High-Pressure Turbine Blades

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 563-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Corriveau ◽  
S. A. Sjolander
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Design Flow ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number

Linear cascade measurements for the aerodynamic performance of a family of three transonic, high-pressure (HP) turbine blades have been presented previously by the authors. The airfoils were designed for the same inlet and outlet velocity triangles but varied in their loading distributions. The previous papers presented results for the design incidence at various exit Mach numbers, and for off-design incidence at the design exit Mach number of 1.05. Results from the earlier studies indicated that by shifting the loading towards the rear of the airfoil an improvement in the profile loss performance of the order of 20% could be obtained near the design Mach number at design incidence. Measurements performed at off-design incidence, but still at the design Mach number, showed that the superior performance of the aft-loaded blade extended over a range of incidence from about −5.0deg to +5.0deg relative to the design value. For the current study, additional measurements were performed at off-design Mach numbers from about 0.5 to 1.3 and for incidence values of −10.0deg, +5.0deg, and +10.0deg relative to design. The corresponding Reynolds numbers, based on outlet velocity and true chord, varied from roughly 4×105 to 10×105. The measurements included midspan losses, blade loading distributions, and base pressures. In addition, two-dimensional Navier–Stokes computations of the flow were performed to help in the interpretation of the experimental results. The results show that the superior loss performance of the aft-loaded profile, observed at design Mach number and low values of off-design incidence, does not extend readily to off-design Mach numbers and larger values of incidence. In fact, the measured midspan loss performance for the aft-loaded blade was found to be inferior to, or at best equal to, that of the baseline, midloaded airfoil at most combinations of off-design Mach number and incidence. However, based on the observations made at design and off-design flow conditions, it appears that aft-loading can be a viable design philosophy to employ in order to reduce the losses within a blade row provided the rearward deceleration is carefully limited. The loss performance of the front-loaded blade is inferior or at best equal to that of the other two blades for all operating conditions.

Effects of Periodic Unsteadiness on Secondary Flows in High Pressure Turbine Passages

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph J. Volino ◽  
Christopher D. Galvin ◽  
Mounir B. Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Pressure Losses ◽  
Flow Losses ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Lower Reynolds Number

Secondary flow losses were investigated experimentally in a linear cascade of high pressure turbine blades in a low speed wind tunnel. Periodic wakes were generated with moving rods upstream of the cascade to simulate the effect of wakes from upstream vanes in an engine. Velocities, turbulence levels and turbulence spectra were documented downstream of the wakes generated by the upstream rods and downstream of the cascade airfoils. Pressure distributions were documented on the airfoils at the midspan and near the tip. Total pressure loss through the passage was measured at the midspan and in the endwall boundary layer. Cases were documented with and without upstream wakes at a Reynolds number of 30,000 based on inlet velocity and axial chord. An additional case was acquired at Re = 60,000 without wakes. The effects of wakes and Reynolds number on the pressure distribution on the airfoils were small. In the cases without wakes, total pressure losses were 27% higher at the lower Reynolds number due to thicker boundary layers. Upstream wakes cause an increase of about 80% in total pressure losses at the midspan and a 36% increase near the endwall. Much of this is due to the loss associated with the upstream wakes themselves, but with this direct effect subtracted the losses are still 20% higher in the case with wakes at the midspan with local increases comparable near the endwall.

Aerothermal Effect of Cavity Welding Beads on a Transonic Squealer Tip

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joao Vieira ◽  
John Coull ◽  
Peter Ireland ◽  
Eduardo Romero
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Aerodynamic Loss ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Mass Flow Rates

Abstract High pressure turbine blade tips are critical for gas turbine performance and are sensitive to small geometric variations. For this reason, it is increasingly important for experiments and simulations to consider real geometry features. One commonly absent detail is the presence of welding beads on the cavity of the blade tip, which are an inherent by-product of the blade manufacturing process. This paper therefore investigates how such welds affect the Nusselt number, film cooling effectiveness and aerodynamic performance. Measurements are performed on a linear cascade of high pressure turbine blades at engine realistic Mach and Reynolds numbers. Two cooled blade tip geometries were tested: a baseline squealer geometry without welding beads, and a case with representative welding beads added to the tip cavity. Combinations of two tip gaps and several coolant mass flow rates were analysed. Pressure sensitive paint was used to measure the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness on the tip, which is supplemented by heat transfer coefficient measurements obtained via infrared thermography. Drawing from all of this data, it is shown that the weld beads have a generally detrimental impact on thermal performance, but with local variations. Aerodynamic loss measured downstream of the cascade is shown to be largely insensitive to the weld beads.

Using CFD to Reduce Resonant Stresses on a Single-Stage, High-Pressure Turbine Blade

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Clark ◽  
A. S. Aggarwala ◽  
M. A. Velonis ◽  
R. E. Gacek ◽  
S. S. Magge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Guide Vane ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Single Stage ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Time Resolved

The ability to predict levels of unsteady forcing on high-pressure turbine blades is critical to avoid high-cycle fatigue failures. In this study, 3D time-resolved computational fluid dynamics is used within the design cycle to predict accurately the levels of unsteady forcing on a single-stage high-pressure turbine blade. Further, nozzle-guide-vane geometry changes including asymmetric circumferential spacing and suction-side modification are considered and rigorously analyzed to reduce levels of unsteady blade forcing. The latter is ultimately implemented in a development engine, and it is shown successfully to reduce resonant stresses on the blade. This investigation builds upon data that was recently obtained in a full-scale, transonic turbine rig to validate a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow solver for the prediction of both the magnitude and phase of unsteady forcing in a single-stage HPT and the lessons learned in that study.

Numerical investigation of high-pressure turbine blade tip flows: analysis of aerodynamics

2011 ◽  
Vol 225 (7) ◽  
pp. 940-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Vass ◽  
T Arts
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Internal Cooling ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Design Solutions ◽  
Exit Mach Number

The current contribution reports on the validation and analysis of three-dimensional computational results of the flow around four distinct high-pressure turbine blade tip geometries (TG1, 2, 3, and 4 hereinafter), taking into account the effect of the entire internal cooling setup inside the blade, at design exit Mach number: M = 0.8, and high exit Reynolds number: Re C = 900 000. Three of the four geometries represent different tip design solutions – TG1: full squealer rim; TG2: single squealer on the suction side; TG3: partial suction and pressure side squealer, and one (TG4) models TG1 in worn condition. This article provides a comparison between the different geometries from the aerodynamic point of view, analyses the losses, and evaluates the distinct design solutions. An assessment of the effect of the uneven rubbing of the blade tip was performed as well. TG1 was found to be the top performer followed by TG3 and TG2. According to the investigations, the effect of rubbing increased the kinetic loss coefficient by 10–15 per cent.

Multi-Disciplinary Analyses for the Design of a High Pressure Turbine Blade Tip

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Caloni ◽  
Shahrokh Shahpar
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Cooling Flow ◽  
Barrier Coating ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Internally Cooled ◽  
Blade Tip

The design of a high pressure turbine blade is a challenging task requiring multiple disciplines to be solved simultaneously. Most recently, conjugate analyses are being developed to tackle such a problem; they are able to resolve both the fluid dynamics in a turbine passage and the thermal distribution in the solid part of the component. In this paper, the in-house Hydra CFD solver is used to analyse a high pressure shroudless turbine blade for a modern jet engine. The turbine is internally cooled and a Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) is applied on the aerofoil surface. The coupling technique used at the interface in the presence of the TBC is described. The flow features at the tip of the turbine blade are the main focus of this study. Four different tip configurations are analysed. A flat tip and a squealer tip are chosen as reference designs; however the effects of opening the Trailing Edge (TE) on the Suction Side (SS) and the Pressure Side (PS) are also investigated. Both a cooled and an uncooled configuration of the turbine blade are analysed and the effect of the cooling flow on the over tip leakage is studied. Finally, conjugate analyses for the cooled turbine blades are used to predict the temperature reached by the different tip designs. The design with an opened TE on the SS shows a significant aerodynamic improvement over the others without increasing the temperature the tip has to withstand in operation.

Gradient-Based Adjoint and Design of Experiment CFD Methodologies to Improve the Manufacturability of High Pressure Turbine Blades

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio Zamboni ◽  
Gabriel Banks ◽  
Simon Bather
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Correlation Factor ◽  
Control Points ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Flow Capacity ◽  
Profile Tolerance ◽  
The Impact

The tolerance of a turbine blade aerofoil is determined by the requirements to achieve an aerodynamic performance in operation. In fact, the manufacturing tolerance applied to the profile is driven by the effects of geometrical non-conformances on the efficiency and flow capacity of the aerofoil. However, this tolerance also has an impact on the ease with which the aerofoil can be manufactured, with tighter tolerance leading to lower manufacturing conformity. This paper details the application of an adjoint RANS solver and the according series of Design of Experiments (DoE) CFD calculations for a high pressure turbine blade to the above problem. There are two aims of this work; the first is to show that simpler linear CFD perturbation can be used to evaluate the effect of the geometric non-conformance. The second is to validate the spatial geometric correlation factor of the control points used in the manufacturing process on the performance evaluation with DoE techniques. This also verified the applicability of the adjoint CFD techniques; in fact the adjoint CFD calculation is an order of magnitude less computationally expensive than a large series of DoE RANS CFD calculations. The results confirm that the peak suction area is the most critical control region for the effect on the efficiency and flow capacity. Moreover, the CFD investigations show that a significant level of correlation exists between the influence factors at different control points. This suggests that not only the amount of geometric deviation but also the stream surface variation of profile tolerance significantly influence the final aerodynamic performance. The results from this calculation allow the creation of a 3D sensitivity map which will be used during the manufacturing of the aerofoil to optimise the control of the spatial distribution of the geometric non-conformance and to directly assess the expected performance effect during the manufacturing quality inspection. The methodology detailed in this paper shows how the CFD adjoint methods could be used for improved manufacturability of turbine blades ensuring that the critical characteristic features are controlled on the surface, relaxing the profile tolerance on those surface areas where the impact on the aerodynamic performance is predicted to be lower.

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