Fluid Dynamics and Performance of Partially and Fully Shrouded Axial Turbines

2004 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 668-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Porreca ◽  
T. Behr ◽  
J. Schlienger ◽  
A. I. Kalfas ◽  
R. S. Abhari ◽  
...  

A unique comparative experimental and numerical investigation carried out on two test cases with shroud configurations, differing only in the labyrinth seal path, is presented in this paper. The blade geometry and tip clearance are identical in the two test cases. The geometries under investigation are representative of an axial turbine with a full and partial shroud, respectively. Global performance and flow field data were acquired and analyzed. Computational simulations were carried out to complement the investigation and to facilitate the analysis of the steady and unsteady flow measurements. A detailed comparison between the two test cases is presented in terms of flow field analysis and performance evaluation. The analysis focuses on the flow effects reflected on the overall performance in a multi-stage environment. Strong interaction between the cavity flow and the blade tip region of the rotor blades is observed up to the blade midspan. A marked effect of this interaction can be seen in the downstream second stator where different vortex structures are observed. Moreover, in the partial shroud test case, a strong tip leakage vortex is developed from the first rotor and transported through the downstream blade row. A measurable change in the second stage efficiency was observed between the two test cases. In low aspect ratio blades within a multi-stage environment, small changes in the cavity geometry can have a significant effect on the mainstream flow. The present analysis has shown that an integrated and matched blade-shroud aerodynamic design has to be adopted to reach optimal performances. The additional losses resulting from small variations of the sealing geometry could result in a gain of up to one point in the overall stage efficiency.

Author(s):  
L. Porreca ◽  
T. Behr ◽  
J. Schlienger ◽  
A. I. Kalfas ◽  
R. S. Abhari ◽  
...  

A unique comparative experimental and numerical investigation carried out on two test cases with shroud configurations differing only in the labyrinth seal path, is presented in this paper. The blade geometry and tip clearance is identical in the two test cases. The geometries under investigation are representative of an axial turbine with a full and partial shroud, respectively. Global performance and flow field data were acquired and analyzed. Computational simulations were carried out to complement the investigation and to facilitate the analysis of the steady and unsteady flow measurements. A detailed comparison between the two test cases is presented in terms of flow field analysis and performance evaluation. The analysis focuses on the flow effects reflected on the overall performance in a multi-stage environment. Strong interaction between the cavity flow and the blade tip region of the rotor blades is observed up to the blade mid span. A marked effect of this interaction can be seen in the downstream second stator where different vortex structures are observed. Moreover, in the partial shroud test case, a strong tip leakage vortex is developed from the first rotor and transported through the downstream blade row. A measurable change in the second stage efficiency was observed between the two test cases. In low aspect ratio blades within a multistage environment, small changes in the cavity geometry can have a significant effect on the mainstream flow. The present analysis has shown that an integrated and matched blade-shroud aerodynamic design has to be adopted to reach optimal performances. The additional losses resulting from small variations of the sealing geometry could result in a gain of up to one point in the overall stage efficiency.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Porreca ◽  
A. I. Kalfas ◽  
R. S. Abhari

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the effect of shroud design in axial turbine aerodynamics. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations have been conducted on three different test cases with identical blade geometry and tip clearances but different shroud designs. The first and second test cases are representative of a full shroud and a nonaxisymmetric partial shroud geometry while the third test case uses an optimized partial shroud. Partial shrouds are sometimes used in industrial application in order to benefit from the advantage of shrouded configuration, as well as reduce mechanical stress on the blades. However, the optimal compromise between mechanical considerations and aerodynamic performances is still an open issue due to the resulting highly three-dimensional unsteady flow field. Aerodynamic performance is measured in a low-speed axial turbine facility and shows that there are clear differences between the test cases. In addition, steady and time resolved measurements are performed together with computational analysis in order to improve the understanding of the effect of the shroud geometry on the flow field and to quantify the sources of the resultant additional losses. The flow field analysis shows that the effect of the shroud geometry is significant from 60% blade height span to the tip. Tip leakage vortex in the first rotor is originated in the partial shroud test cases while the full shroud case presents only a weak indigenous tip passage vortex. This results in a significant difference in the secondary flow development in the following second stator with associated losses that varies by about 1% in this row. The analysis shows that the modified partial shroud design has improved considerably the aerodynamic efficiency by about 0.6% by keeping almost unchanged the overall weight of this component, and thus blade root stresses. The work, therefore, presents a comprehensive flow field analysis and shows the impact of the shroud geometry in the aerodynamic performance.


Author(s):  
L. Porreca ◽  
A. I. Kalfas ◽  
R. S. Abhari

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the effect of shroud design in axial turbine aerodynamics. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations has been conducted on three different test cases with identical blade geometry and tip clearances but different shroud designs. The first and the second test cases are representative of a full shroud and a non-axisymmetric partial shroud geometry while the third test case however uses an optimized partial shroud. Partial shrouds are sometimes used in industrial application in order to benefit from the advantage of shrouded configuration as well as reducing mechanical stress on the blades. However, the optimal compromise between mechanical considerations and aerodynamic performances is still an open issue due to the resulting highly 3-dimensional unsteady flow field. Aerodynamic performance is measured in a low-speed axial turbine facility and shows that there are clear differences between the test cases. In addition, steady and time resolved measurements are performed together with computational analysis in order to improve understanding of the effect of the shroud geometry on the flow field and to quantify the sources of the resultant additional losses. The flow field analysis shows that the effect of the shroud geometry is significant from 60% blade height span to the tip. Tip leakage vortex in the first rotor is originated in the partial shroud test cases while the full shroud case present only a weak indigenous tip passage vortex. This results in a significant difference in the secondary flow development in the following second stator with associated losses that varies of about 1% in this row. The analysis shows that the modified partial shroud design has improved considerably the aerodynamic efficiency of about 0.6% by keeping almost unchanged the overall weight of this component and thus blade root stresses. The work therefore presents a comprehensive flow field analysis and the shows the impact of the shroud geometry in the aerodynamic performance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Zheng ◽  
Xiubo Jin ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Qingzhe Gao ◽  
Kang Xu

Author(s):  
Xin Teng ◽  
WuLi Chu ◽  
HaoGuang Zhang ◽  
Kai Liu ◽  
JinGe Li

Over the service time, the rotating parts of turbine engine vary in their geometry. When aircraft take off or fly through a volcanic ash cloud, the particles are sucked into the engine, impinge the blade and gradually erode the surface. The impinging between particles and blades is responsible for the increase of the surface roughness. Also, during the long-time operation, the function of the blade’s stacking law combined with the centrifugal force could cause deviation of the stagger angle. Moreover, blade tip clearance could vary because of the casing deformation. All the deformation of geometry could severely reduce the engine performance and thus engine life. The work presented in this paper focused on the influence of geometry deformation in a real low-pressure compressor. The investigation is more difficult than most of the previously published researches with a total of five stages being considered. Due to the irregularities in geometry, it is difficult to numerically assess the performance of the compressor. The aim of this study is to give an analysis method that allows an efficient and accurate estimation of the performance for multistage compressor with geometry deformation. In the first step, the geometry models with different deviation in tip clearance, roughness and stagger angle were established respectively. A CFD study was then applied to the compressor with RANS method to calculate the flow field with different types of deformation. The variation of overall performance due to the deformation was finally analyzed to identify the dominant factor on influencing the performance of the compressor among different types of geometry deformation. A method based on polytropic efficiency analysis and flow field analysis was also established to specifically analyze which stage is most sensitive to the geometry deformation. The results show a significant influence of geometric deformation on the efficiency, total pressure rise and flow range of the multistage compressor. The conclusions of this study would provide an important guidance for engine overhaul in the factory.


Author(s):  
Yun Zheng ◽  
Xiubo Jin ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Qingzhe Gao ◽  
Kang Xu

Abstract The numerical study is performed by means of an in-house CFD code to investigate the effect of circumferential nonuniform tip clearance due to the casing ovalization on flow field and performance of a turbine stage. A method called fast-moving mesh is used to synchronize the non-circular computational domain with the rotation of the rotor row. Four different layouts of the circumferential nonuniform clearance are calculated and evaluated in this paper. The results show that, the circumferential nonuniform clearance could reduce the aerodynamic performance of the turbine. When the circumferential nonuniformity δ reaches 0.4, the aerodynamic efficiency decreases by 0.58 percentage points. Through the analysis of the flow field, it is found that the casing ovalization leads to the difference of the size of the tip clearance in the circumferential direction, and the aerodynamic loss of the position of large tip clearance is greater than that of small tip clearance, which is related to the scale of leakage vortex. In addition, the flow field will become nonuniform in the circumferential direction, especially at the rotor exit, which will adversely affect the downstream flow field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (69) ◽  
pp. 34438-34448
Author(s):  
Kairui Dong ◽  
Guangbin Liu ◽  
Qichao Yang ◽  
Yuanyang Zhao ◽  
Liansheng Li ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 77 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. Padzillah ◽  
S. Rajoo ◽  
R. F. Martinez-Botas

Traditionally, the turbocharger has been an essential tool to boost the engine power especially the diesel engine. However, in recent years it is seen as an enabling technology for engine downsizing of all internal combustion engines. The use of mixed flow turbine as replacement for radial turbine in an automotive turbocharger has been proven to deliver better efficiency at high loading conditions. Furthermore, the use vanes that match the geometrical properties at the turbine leading edge could further increase its performance. However, improvement on the overall turbocharger performance is currently limited due to lack of understanding on the flow feature within the turbine stage. Therefore, the use of validated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in resolving this issue is necessary. This research attempts to provide description of flow field within the turbocharger turbine stage by plotting velocity and pressure contours at different planes. To achieve this aim, a numerical model of a full stage turbocharger turbine operating at 30000rpm under its optimum condition (pressure ratio of 1.3) is developed and validated. Results indicated strong tip-clearance flow downstream of the turbine mid-chord. Evidence of flow separations at the turbine leading edge are also seen despite turbine operating at its optimum condition.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Marconcini ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Seiichi Ibaraki

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver is used to investigate the flow field of a high-pressure ratio centrifugal compressor for turbocharger applications. Such a compressor consists of a double-splitter impeller followed by a vaned diffuser. The inlet flow to the open shrouded impeller is transonic, thus giving rise to interactions between shock waves and boundary layers and between shock waves and tip leakage vortices. These interactions generate complex flow structures which are convected and distorted through the impeller blades. Detailed laser Doppler velocimetry flow measurements are available at various cross sections inside the impeller blades highlighting the presence of low-velocity flow regions near the shroud. Particular attention is focused on understanding the physical mechanisms which govern the flow phenomena in the near shroud region. To this end numerical investigations are performed using different tip clearance modelizations and various turbulence models, and their impact on the computed flow field is discussed.


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