Forced Response in Axial Turbines Under the Influence of Partial Admission

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Fridh ◽  
Björn Laumert ◽  
Torsten Fransson

High cycle fatigue (HCF) due to unforeseen excitation frequencies, underestimated force magnitudes, or a combination of both causes control-stage failures for steam turbine stakeholders. This paper provides an extended design criteria toolbox, as well as validation data, for control-stage design based on experimental data to reduce HCF incidents in partial-admission turbines. The upstream rotor in a two-stage air test turbine is instrumented with pressure transducers and strain gauges. Admission degrees extend from 28.6% to 100%, as one or two admission arcs are simulated by blocking segmental arcs immediately upstream of the first stator vanes with aerodynamically shaped filling blocks. Sweeps across a speed range of 50%–105% of design speed are performed at a constant turbine pressure ratio during simultaneous high-speed acquisition. A forced-response analysis is performed and results presented in Campbell diagrams. Partial admission creates a large number of low-engine-order forced responses because of the blockage, pumping, loading, and unloading processes. Combinations of the number of rotor blades and low-engine-order excitations are the principal sources of forced-response vibrations for the turbine studied here. Altering the stator and/or rotor pitches changes the excitation pattern. We observed that a relationship between the circumferential lengths of the admitted and nonadmitted arcs dictates the excitation forces and may serve as a design parameter.

Author(s):  
Jens Fridh ◽  
Björn Laumert ◽  
Torsten Fransson

High cycle fatigue (HCF) due to unforeseen excitation frequencies or due to under predicted force magnitudes, or a combination of both causes control stage failures for steam turbine stakeholders. The objectives of this paper is to provide an extended design criteria toolbox and validation data for control stage design based on experimental data, with the aim to decrease HCF incidents for partial admission turbines. The upstream rotor in a two stage air test turbine is instrumented with pressure transducers and strain gauges. Admission degrees stretching from 28.6% to 100% as one or two admission arcs are simulated by blocking segmental arcs immediately upstream of first stator vanes by aerodynamically shaped filling blocks. Sweeps across a speed range from 50 to 105% of design speed are performed at constant turbine pressure ratio during simultaneous high speed acquisition. A forced response analysis is performed and results presented in Campbell diagrams. Partial admission creates a large number of low engine order forced responses because of the blockage, pumping, loading and unloading processes. Combinations of the number of rotor blades and low engine order excitations are the principal sources of forced response vibrations for the turbine studied herein. Altering the stator and/or rotor pitches will change the excitation pattern. A relation between the circumferential lengths of the admitted and non-admitted arcs that dictates the excitation forces is observed that may serve as a design parameter.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshimasa Miura ◽  
Naoto Sakai ◽  
Naoki Kanazawa ◽  
Kentaro Nakayama

Abstract The accurate prediction of high cycle fatigue (HCF) is becoming one of the key technologies in the design process of state-of-the-art axial compressors. If they are not properly designed, both rotor blades and stator vanes can be damaged. There are two main factors to cause HCF. One is low engine order (LEO) and the other is high engine order (HEO) excitation by fluid force associated with adjacent rotor-stator interaction. For the front stages of axial compressors for power generations and aero engines, the inlet Mach number of a rotor tip typically exceeds the speed of sound and strong shock waves tend to be induced. This can be the source of HEO excitation fluid force, and adjacent stator vanes are sometimes severely damaged. Thus, the aim of this study is to establish an efficient method for predicting the vibration response in this type of problem with high accuracy. To achieve this, numerical investigations are carried out by one-way fluid structure interaction (FSI) simulation. To validate the accuracy of FSI simulation, experiments are also conducted using a gas turbine engine for power generation. In the experiment, the vibration level is measured with strain gauges mounted on the surface of stator vanes and the data are compared with the predicted results. In the first part of the study, efficient prediction methods of excitation fluid force on the stator vane are investigated by time transformation (TT) and harmonic balance (HB) methods. Their accuracies are evaluated by comparing the results with those calculated by transient rotor stator (TRS) simulation whose pitch ratio is one between rotor and stator computational domains. It is found that the TT method can accurately predict the excitation fluid force with lower computation load even when there are pitch differences between rotor and stator regions. In the second part of the study, forced response analyses are carried out using the excitation fluid force obtained in the unsteady flow simulation. To obtain the total damping of the system, both hammering test and flutter simulations are carried out. Computed results are validated with experimental data and it is found that the predicted vibration level is in good agreement with experimental results. Through this study, the effectiveness of one-way FSI simulation is confirmed for this type of forced response prediction. By utilizing the combination of efficient unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods and harmonic response analysis, vibration amplitude can be predicted accurately and efficiently.


Author(s):  
Holger Hennings ◽  
Robert Elliott

An experimental investigation was conducted on a single stage high pressure turbine in order to gain a deeper unterstanding of turbine blade forced response. In particular the main objective of this experiment was to obtain good quality validation data for the prediction methods used by major engine manufacturers. The stage investigated consists of an uncooled nozzle guide vane (NGV) and a rotor with 64 blades. To study the complete forced response problem a so called Flexible Rotor was designed and manufactured. This rotor has three modes of interest in the operating range of the stage: first torsion, second flap and second edge. The design of the experiment was supported by detailed CFD and structural analysis. The mechanical behavior of the Flexible Rotor is well known. In order to identify all interesting modes all blades are equipped with strain gauges individually calibrated. To check the unsteady pressures 18 unsteady pressure transducers were mounted at midspan. This paper deals with experiments only with the Flexible Rotor. Forced response results are presented for the first torsion mode at two different pressure ratios. The results obtained show a large scatter for the maximum response amplitudes at each pressure ratio. The distribution of the amplitudes around the disk is controlled by the mechanical properties of the rotor.


Author(s):  
J. J. Moore ◽  
A. Palazzolo ◽  
R. Gadangi ◽  
T. A. Nale ◽  
S. A. Klusman ◽  
...  

Abstract A high speed damper test rig has been assembled at Texas A&M University to develop rotordynamic dampers for rocket engine turbopumps that operate at cryogenic temperatures, such as those used in the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs). Damping is difficult to obtain in this class of turbomachinery due to the low temperature and viscosity of the operating fluid. An impact damper has been designed and tested as a means to obtain effective damping in a rotorbearing system. The performance and behavior of the impact damper is verified experimentally in a cryogenic test rig at Texas A&M. Analytical investigations indicate a strong amplitude dependence on the performance of the impact damper. An optimum operating amplitude exists and is determined both analytically and experimentally. In addition, the damper performance is characterized by an equivalent viscous damping coefficient. The test results prove the impact damper to be a viable means to suppress vibration in a cryogenic rotorbearing system.


Author(s):  
Bernd Beirow ◽  
Arnold Kühhorn ◽  
Thomas Giersch ◽  
Jens Nipkau

The forced response of the first rotor of an E3E-type high pressure compressor blisk is analyzed with regard to varying mistuning, varying engine order excitations and the consideration of aeroelastic effects. For that purpose, SNM-based reduced order models are used in which the disk remains unchanged while the Young’s modulus of each blade is used to define experimentally adjusted as well as intentional mistuning patterns. The aerodynamic influence coefficient technique is employed to model aeroelastic interactions. Furthermore, based on optimization analyses and depending on the exciting EO and aerodynamic influences it is searched for the worst as well as the best mistuning distributions with respect to the maximum blade displacement. Genetic algorithms using blade stiffness variations as vector of design variables and the maximum blade displacement as objective function are applied. An allowed limit of the blades’ Young’s modulus standard deviation is formulated as secondary condition. In particular, the question is addressed if and how far the aeroelastic impact, mainly causing aerodynamic damping, combined with mistuning can even yield a reduction of the forced response compared to the ideally tuned blisk. It is shown that the strong dependence of the aerodynamic damping on the inter-blade phase angle is the main driver for a possible response attenuation considering the fundamental blade mode. The results of the optimization analyses are compared to the forced response due to real, experimentally determined frequency mistuning as well as intentional mistuning.


Author(s):  
Sridar Dhandapani ◽  
Mehdi Vahdati ◽  
Mehmet Imregun

This paper deals with performance, forced response and surge issues arising in ice-damaged IP compressor assemblies. In addition to the inherent blade-passing excitation, damaged rotor blades may cause low engine-order excitation for both upstream and downstream blade rows, the strength of which depends on the severity, location and circumferential distribution of the damage. Similarly, performance and surge stability are related to the nature of the blockage caused by the damaged blades. Several symmetric and asymmetric damage configurations were studied using a 49-bladed rotor assembly in order to quantify the consequences of ice damage and assess the maximum amount of damage that can be tolerated. Both single-row part-annulus and multi-row whole-annulus models were used in the numerical study.


1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hoyniak ◽  
S. Fleeter

High-performance aircraft engine fan and compressor blades are vulnerable to aerodynamically forced vibrations generated by inlet flow distortions due to wakes from upstream blade and vane rows, atmospheric gusts, and maldistributions in inlet ducts. In this paper, an analysis is developed to predict the flow-induced forced response behavior of an aerodynamically detuned rotor operating in a supersonic flow with a subsonic axial component. The aerodynamic detuning is achieved by alternating the circumferential spacing of adjacent rotor blades. The total unsteady aerodynamic loading acting on the blading, due to the convection of the transverse gust past the airfoil cascade and the resulting motion of the cascade, is developed in terms of influence coefficients. This analysis is then utilized to investigate the effect of aerodynamic detuning on the forced response characteristics of a 12-bladed rotor, with Verdon’s Cascade B flow geometry as a uniformly spaced baseline configuration. The results of this study indicate that for forward traveling wave gust excitations, aerodynamic detuning is generally very beneficial, resulting in significantly decreased maximum amplitude blade responses for many interblade phase angles.


Author(s):  
Tobias Gezork ◽  
María A. Mayorca ◽  
Pieter Groth ◽  
Damian M. Vogt ◽  
Torsten Fransson

Forced response in turbomachinery refers to the vibration of a component due to an excitation originating from another component. Obstacles, such as struts and blade rows in the upstream and downstream flow path of a turbomachine engine lead to engine order (EO) excitations. To be able to predict the severity of these excitations, both aerodynamic and structural calculations are performed. There is a risk of critical high cycle fatigue (HCF) failure when the force acts at a resonance frequency. Customarily, forcing calculations exclude detailing features, such as leakage flows. The current investigation uses a two stage subsonic model steam turbine configuration with shrouded rotor blades to demonstrate the influence of neglecting flow through seal cavities for blade forcing predictions. Upstream and down-stream vanes are the excitation sources on the rotor blade. Calculation results are compared for a configuration including and excluding the tip shroud cavity. Computed data is compared to available pressure data from tests in the model turbine. The investigation shows for the first blade passing excitation at design point that the axial and circumferential rotor forcing change by +22%, respectively +4% when including the tip shroud cavity for the investigated configuration. The change in forcing arises from the interaction of the leakage flow with the main stream flow. For highly loaded designs this can be of importance if there is a critical excitation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Scherhag ◽  
Jan Paul Geiermann ◽  
Fabian Wartzek ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer

In the present study, an application for efficient cooling of turbine liner segments employing pulsating impinging jets was investigated. A combined numerical and experimental study was conducted to evaluate the design of a case cavity device which utilizes the periodically unsteady pressure distribution caused by the rotor blades to excite a pulsating impinging jet. Through an opening between the main annulus and a case cavity, pressure pulses from the rotor blades propagated into this cavity and caused a strong pressure oscillation inside. The unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results were in good qualitative agreement with the measurement data obtained using high-frequency pressure transducers and hot wire anemometry. Furthermore, the numerical study revealed the formation of distinct toroidal vortex structures at the nozzle outlet as a result of the jet pulsation. Within the scope of the measurements, the influence of the operating point on the pressure propagation inside the cavity was investigated. The dependence of shape and amplitude of the pressure oscillation on engine speed and stage pressure ratio was found to be in accordance with an analytical consideration.


Author(s):  
Bernd Beirow ◽  
Arnold Kühhorn ◽  
Thomas Giersch ◽  
Jens Nipkau

The forced response of an E3E-type HPC-blisk front rotor is analyzed with regard to varying mistuning and the consideration of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI). For that purpose, a reduced order model is used in which the disk remains unchanged and mechanical properties of the blades namely stiffness and damping are adjusted to measured as well as intentional blade frequency mistuning distributions. The aerodynamic influence coefficient technique is employed to model the aeroelastics. Depending on the blade mode, the exciting engine order and aerodynamic influences it is sought for the worst mistuning distributions with respect to the maximum blade displacement based on optimization analyses. Genetic algorithms using blade alone frequencies as design variables are applied. The validity of the Whitehead-limit is assessed in this context. In particular, the question is addressed if and how far aeroelastic effects, mainly caused by aerodynamic damping, combined with mistuning can even cause a reduction of the forced response compared to the ideally tuned blisk. It is shown that the strong dependence of the aerodynamic damping on the inter-blade phase angle is the main driver for a possible response attenuation considering the fundamental as well as a higher blade mode. Furthermore, the differences to the blisk vibration response without a consideration of the flow and an increase of the disk’s stiffness are discussed. Closing, the influence of pure damping mistuning is analyzed again using optimization.


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