Aerodynamic-Rotordynamic Interaction in Axial Compression Systems: Part I — Modeling and Analysis of Fluid-Induced Forces

Author(s):  
Ammar A. Al-Nahwi ◽  
James D. Paduano ◽  
Samir A. Nayfeh

This paper presents a first principles-based model of the fluid-induced forces acting on the rotor of an axial compressor. These forces are primarily associated with the presence of a nonuniform flow field around the rotor, such as that produced by a rotor tip clearance asymmetry. Simple, analytical expressions for the forces as functions of basic flow field quantities are obtained. These expressions allow an intuitive understanding of the nature of the forces and—when combined with a rudimentary model of an axial compressor flow field (the Moore-Greitzer model)—enable computation of the forces as a function of compressor geometry, torque and pressure-rise characteristics, and operating point. The forces predicted by the model are also compared to recently published measurements and more complex analytical models, and are found to be in reasonable agreement. The model elucidates that the fluid-induced forces comprise three main contributions: fluid turning in the rotor blades, pressure distribution around the rotor, and unsteady momentum storage within the rotor. The model also confirms recent efforts in that the orientation of fluid-induced forces is locked to the flow nonuniformity, not to tip clearance asymmetry as is traditionally assumed. The turning and pressure force contributions are shown to be of comparable magnitudes—and therefore of equal importance—for operating points between the design point and the peak of the compressor characteristic. Within this operating range, both “forward” and “backward” rotor whirl tendencies are shown to be possible. This work extends recent efforts by developing a more complete, yet compact, description of fluid-induced forces in that it accounts for all relevant force contributions, both tangential and radial, that may influence the dynamics of the rotor. Hence it constitutes an essential element of a consistent treatment of rotordynamic stability under the action of fluid-induced forces, which is the subject of Part II of this paper.

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-415
Author(s):  
Ammar A. Al-Nahwi ◽  
James D. Paduano ◽  
Samir A. Nayfeh

This paper presents a first principles-based model of the fluid-induced forces acting on the rotor of an axial compressor. These forces are primarily associated with the presence of a nonuniform flow field around the rotor, such as that produced by a rotor tip clearance asymmetry. Simple, analytical expressions for the forces as functions of basic flow field quantities are obtained. These expressions allow an intuitive understanding of the nature of the forces and—when combined with a rudimentary model of an axial compressor flow field (the Moore-Greitzer model)—enable computation of the forces as a function of compressor geometry, torque and pressure-rise characteristics, and operating point. The forces predicted by the model are also compared to recently published measurements and more complex analytical models, and are found to be in reasonable agreement. The model elucidates that the fluid-induced forces comprise three main contributions: fluid turning in the rotor blades, pressure distribution around the rotor, and unsteady momentum storage within the rotor. The model also confirms recent efforts in that the orientation of fluid-induced forces is locked to the flow nonuniformity, not to tip clearance asymmetry as is traditionally assumed. The turning and pressure force contributions are shown to be of comparable magnitudes—and therefore of equal importance—for operating points between the design point and the peak of the compressor characteristic. Within this operating range, both “forward” and “backward” rotor whirl tendencies are shown to be possible. This work extends recent efforts by developing a more complete, yet compact, description of fluid-induced forces in that it accounts for all relevant force contributions, both tangential and radial, that may influence the dynamics of the rotor. Hence it constitutes an essential element of a consistent treatment of rotordynamic stability under the action of fluid-induced forces, which is the subject of Part II of this paper.


Author(s):  
P. V. Ramakrishna ◽  
M. Govardhan

The present numerical work studies the flow field in subsonic axial compressor stator passages for: (a) preceding rotor sweep (b) preceding rotor re-staggering (three stagger angle changes: 0°, +3° and +5°); and (c) stator sweeping (two 20° forward sweep schemes). The following are the motives for the study: at the off-design conditions, compressor rotors are re-staggered to alleviate the stage mismatching by adjusting the rows to the operating flow incidence. Fundamental to this is the understanding of the effects of rotor re-staggering on the downstream component. Secondly, sweeping the rotor stages alters the axial distance between the successive rotor-stator stages and necessitates that the stator vanes must also be swept. To the best of the author’s knowledge, stator sweeping to suit such scenarios has not been reported. The computational model for the study utilizes well resolved hexahedral grids. A commercial CFD package ANSYS® CFX 11.0 was used with standard k-ω turbulence model for the simulations. CFD results were well validated with experiments. The following observations were made: (1) When the rotor passage is closed by re-staggering, with the same mass flow rate and the same stator passage area, stators were subjected to negative incidences. (2) Effect of stator sweeping on the upstream rotor flow field is insignificant. Comparison of total pressure rise carried by the downstream stators suggests that an appropriate redesign of stator is essential to match with the swept rotors. (3) While sweeping the stator is not recommended, axial sweeping is preferable over true sweeping when it is necessary.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Krug ◽  
Peter Busse ◽  
Konrad Vogeler

An important aspect of the aerodynamic flow field in the tip region of axial compressor rotors is the unsteady interaction between the tip clearance vortex (TCV) and the incoming stator wakes. In order to gain an improved understanding of the mechanics involved, systematic studies need to be performed. As a first step toward the characterization of the dynamic effects caused by the relative movement of the blade rows, the impact of a stationary wake-induced inlet disturbance on a linear compressor cascade with tip clearance will be analyzed. The wakes were generated by a fixed grid of cylindrical bars with variable pitch being placed at discrete pitchwise positions. This paper focuses on experimental studies conducted at the newly designed low-speed cascade wind tunnel in Dresden. The general tunnel configuration and details on the specific cascade setup will be presented. Steady state flow field measurements were carried out using five-hole probe traverses up- and downstream of the cascade and accompanied by static wall pressure readings. 2D-particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements complemented these results by visualizing the blade-to-blade flow field. Hence, the structure of the evolving secondary flow system is evaluated and compared for all tested configurations.


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.


1988 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Moore ◽  
J. S. Tilton

An experimental and analytical study of flow in the tip clearance gap of a linear turbine rotor blade cascade has been performed. Measurements of wall static pressures and flow velocities are used to verify a flow model involving a vena contracta, near the tip gap entrance, followed by flow mixing to fill the gap. A frequently referenced potential flow theory for flow into a tip gap is found to be in error and the correct theory is shown to model the unloading along the pressure surface of the blade and the endwall static pressure distribution up to the vena contracta accurately. A combined potential flow and mixing model accounts for the pressure rise in the tip gap due to mixing. Turbine tip heat transfer is also discussed and a correlation of local heat transfer rates for essentially incompressible flow over unshrouded turbine rotor blades is presented.


Author(s):  
L. G. Fre´chette ◽  
O. G. McGee ◽  
M. B. Graf

A theoretical evaluation was conducted delineating how aeromechanical feedback control can be utilized to stabilize the inception of rotating stall in axial compressors. Ten aeromechanical control methodologies were quantitatively examined based on the analytical formulations presented in the first part of this paper (McGee et al, 2003a). The maximum operating range for each scheme is determined for optimized structural parameters, and the various schemes are compared. The present study shows that the most promising aeromechanical designs and controls for a class of low-speed axial compressors were the use of dynamic fluid injection. Aeromechanically incorporating variable duct geometries and dynamically re-staggered IGV and rotor blades were predicted to yield less controllability. The aeromechanical interaction of a flexible casing wall was predicted to be destabilizing, and thus should be avoided by designing sufficiently rigid structures to prevent casing ovalization or other structurally-induced variations in tip clearance. Control authority, a metric developed in the first part of this paper, provided a useful interpretation of the aeromechanical damping of the coupled system. The model predictions also show that higher spatial modes can become limiting with aeromechanical feedback, both in control of rotating stall as well as in considering the effects of lighter, less rigid structural aeroengine designs on compressor stability.


Author(s):  
Chengwu Yang ◽  
Ge Han ◽  
Shengfeng Zhao ◽  
Xingen Lu ◽  
Yanfeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract The blades of rear stages in small size core compressors are reduced to shorter than 20 mm or even less due to overall high pressure ratio. The growing of tip clearance-to-blade height ratio of the rear stages enhance the leakage flow and increase the possibility of a strong clearance sensitivity, thus limiting the compressor efficiency and stability. A new concept of compressor, namely diffuser passage compressor (DP), for small size core compressors was introduced. The design aims at making the compressors robust to tip clearance leakage flow by reducing pressure difference between pressure and suction surfaces. To validate the concept, the second stage of a two-stage highly loaded axial compressor was designed with DP rotor according to a diffuser map. The diffuser passage stage has the same inlet condition and loading as the conventional compressor (CNV) stage, of which the work coefficient is around 0.37. The predicted performance and flow field of the DP were compared with the conventional axial compressor in detail. The rig testing was supplemented with the numerical predictions. Results reveal that the throttle characteristic of DP indicates higher pressure rise and the loss reduction in tip clearance is mainly responsible for the performance improvement. For the compressor with DP, the pressure and flow angle are more uniform on exit plane. What’s more, the rotor with diffused passage reveals more robust than the conventional rotor at double clearance gap. Furthermore, the experimental data indicate that DP presents higher pressure rise at design and part speeds. At design speed, the stall margin was extended by 7.25%. Moreover, peak adiabatic efficiency of DP is also higher than that of CNV by about 0.7%.


Author(s):  
Zhibo Zhang ◽  
Xianjun Yu ◽  
Baojie Liu

The detailed evolutionary processes of the tip leakage flow/vortex inside the rotor passage are still not very clear for the difficulties of investigating of them by both experimental and numerical methods. In this paper, the flow fields near the rotor tip region inside the blade passage with two tip gaps, 0.5% and 1.5% blade height respectively, were measured by using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) in a large-scale low speed axial compressor test facility. The measurements are conducted at four different operating conditions, including the design, middle, maximum static pressure rise and near stall conditions. In order to analyze the variations of the characteristics of the tip leakage vortex (TLV), the trajectory, concentration, size, streamwise velocity, and the blockage parameters are extracted from the ensemble-averaged results and compared at different compressor operating conditions and tip gaps. The results show that the formation of the TLV is delayed with large tip clearance, however, its trajectory moves much faster in an approximately linear way from the blade suction side to pressure side. In the tested compressor, the size of the tip gap has little effects on the scale of the TLV in the spanwise direction, on the contrary, its effects on the pitch-wise direction is very prominent. Breakdown of the TLV were both found at the near-stall condition with different tip gaps. The location of the initiation of the TLV breakdown moves downstream from the 60% chord to 70% chord as the tip gap increases. After the TLV breakdown occurs, the flow blockage near the rotor tip region increases abruptly. The peak value of the blockage effects caused by the TLV breakdown is doubled with the tip gap size increasing from 0.5% to 1.5% blade span.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. M. McDougall

Detailed measurements have been made within an axial compressor operating both at design point and near stall. Rotor tip clearance was found to control the performance of the machine by influencing the flow within the rotor blade passages. This was not found to be the case in the stator blade row, where hub clearance was introduced beneath the blade tips. Although the passage flow was observed to be altered dramatically, no significant changes were apparent in the overall pressure rise or stall point. Small tip clearances in the rotor blade row resulted in the formation of corner separations at the hub, where the blade loading was highest. More representative clearances resulted in blockage at the tip due to the increased tip clearance flow. The effects that have been observed emphasize both the three-dimensional nature of the flow within compressor blade passages, and the importance of the flow in the endwall regions in determining the overall compressor performance.


Author(s):  
Peter Busse ◽  
Andreas Krug ◽  
Konrad Vogeler

An important aspect of the aerodynamic flow field in the tip region of axial compressor rotors is the unsteady interaction between the tip clearance vortex and the incoming stator wakes. In order to gain an improved understanding of the mechanics involved, systematic studies need to be performed. As a first step towards the characterisation of the dynamic effects caused by the relative movement of the blade rows, the impact of a stationary wake-induced inlet disturbance on a linear compressor cascade with tip clearance will be analyzed. The wakes were generated by a fixed grid of cylindrical bars with variable pitch being placed at discrete pitchwise positions. Part II of this two-part paper focuses on the numerical studies conducted with the scientific flow solver TRACE. Selected measurements, which are discussed in detail in the first part of this paper, are compared with steady state RANS simulation data to determine the validity of the computational model. For this purpose, the flow field obtained in the passage (PIV), at the cascade exit (five-hole probes) and the endwall pressure distributions were used. The presented numerical results show potentials and limitations of the steady state CFD for the prediction of the investigated flow phenomena. The computations provide the initial conditions for future unsteady calculations, and enable a separate depiction of potential effects of steady and unsteady wake-tip clearance vortex interaction.


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