Blade Forced Response Prediction for Industrial Gas Turbines: Part 2 — Verification and Application

Author(s):  
Wei Ning ◽  
Stuart Moffatt ◽  
Yansheng Li ◽  
Roger G. Wells

This is part two of a two-part paper. Part One describes the methodologies of a blade forced response prediction system. The emphasis of this part is to demonstrate the capability and computational efficiency of the system for predicting blade forced response. Part two firstly presents verification of the multistage time-linearized unsteady flow solver through comparison of predicted blade surface pressure distributions with data measured on a VKI transonic turbine stage. It concludes with presentation of the results of an analysis carried out on the last stage rotor blade of an ALSTOM three-stage transonic test compressor. In the analysis, strain gauge results together with Finite Element (FE) modal analysis identify the resonant crossings. The mode shape of the blade vibration is used in the CFD code to predict the blade aerodynamic damping. The aerodynamic damping is compared with the blade system damping obtained from the strain gauge tests. The variation is shown of aerodynamic and mechanical damping with blade mode shape. The blade unsteady modal forces induced by the upstream stators are derived from the calculated unsteady flows. The blade vibration at three resonant crossings is compared with those given by strain gauge measurements. Good comparisons and high computational efficiency demonstrate that the forced response methodologies described in Part One can be used in the blade design process to tackle blade aeromechanical issues.

Author(s):  
Stuart Moffatt ◽  
Li He

Forming the first part of a two-part paper, the methodology of an efficient frequency-domain approach for predicting the forced response of turbomachinery blades is presented. The capability and computational efficiency of the method are demonstrated in Part Two with a three-stage transonic compressor case. Interaction between fluid and structure is dealt with in a loosely coupled manner, based on the assumption of linear aerodynamic damping and negligible frequency shift. The Finite Element (FE) package ANSYS is used to provide the mode shape and natural frequency of a particular mode, which is interpolated onto the CFD mesh. The linearised unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved in the frequency domain using a single-passage approach to provide aerodynamic excitation and damping forces. Two methods of obtaining the single degree-of-freedom forced response solution are demonstrated: the Modal Reduction Technique, solving the modal forced response equation in modal space; and a new Energy Method, an alternative method allowing calculations to be performed directly and simply in physical space. Both methods are demonstrated in a preliminary case study of the NASA R67 transonic fan blade with excitation of the 1st torsion mode due to a hypothetical inlet distortion.


2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Moffatt ◽  
Wei Ning ◽  
Yansheng Li ◽  
Roger G. Wells ◽  
Li He

Author(s):  
Jing Li ◽  
Suryarghya Chakrabarti ◽  
Wei-Min Ren

Abstract Turbomachinery blade mode shapes are routinely predicted by finite element method (FEM) programs and are then used in unsteady computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses to predict the aerodynamic damping. This flutter stability assessment process is critical for the last-stage blades (LSBs) of modern heavy-duty gas turbines (HDGTs) which can be particularly susceptible to flutter. Evidences suggest that actual mode shapes may deviate from the FEM predictions due to changes in the FEM boundary or loading conditions, effects of the nonlinear friction contacts, and blade-to-blade variations (mistuning), among others. This uncertainty in the mode shape is accompanied by a general lack of knowledge on the sensitivity of the aerodynamic damping to a small change in mode shape. This paper presents a method to perturb a mode shape and estimate the corresponding change in aerodynamic damping in a framework enabled by linear theories and a rigid-body, quasi-3D treatment of mode shapes. This method is of low computational cost and is suitable for use in the preliminary design cycle. The numerical validation and applications of the method are demonstrated on two LSB blades. Results suggest that the mode shape sensitivity can be substantial and may even exceed the change in aerodynamic damping of a frictionally damped system when subjected to various levels of excitation.


Author(s):  
Jing Li ◽  
Nyansafo Aye-Addo ◽  
Robert Kielb ◽  
Nicole Key

This paper is the second part of a two-part paper that presents a comprehensive study of the higher-order mode mistuned forced response of an embedded rotor blisk in a multi-stage axial research compressor. The resonant response of the second-stage rotor (R2) in its first chordwise bending (1CWB) mode due to the second harmonic of the periodic passing of its neighboring stators (S1 and S2) is investigated computationally and experimentally at three steady loading conditions in the Purdue Three-Stage Compressor Research Facility. A Non-Intrusive Stress Measurement System (NSMS, or blade tip-timing) is used to measure the blade vibration. Two reduced-order mistuning models of different levels of fidelity are used, namely the Fundamental Mistuning Model (FMM) and the Component Mode Mistuning (CMM), to predict the response. Although several modes in the 1CWB modal family appear in frequency veering and high modal density regions, they do not heavily participate in the response such that very similar results are produced by the FMM and the CMM models of different sizes. A significant response amplification factor of 1.5∼2.0 is both measured and predicted, which is on the same order of magnitude of what was commonly reported for low-frequency modes. This amplification is also a strong, non-monotonic function of the steady loading. Moreover, on average, the mistuned blades respond at an amplitude only approximately 40% that of the tuned, much lower than what was commonly reported (75∼80%). This is due to the very low level of structural coupling associated with the 1CWB family of the rotor blisk. In this study, a very good agreement between predictions and measurements is achieved for the deterministic analysis. This is complemented by a sensitivity analysis which shows that the mistuned system is highly sensitive to the discrepancies in the experimentally determined blade frequency mistuning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. F72OUU
Author(s):  
Victor Bicalho Civinelli de Almeida ◽  
Dieter Peitsch

A numerical aeroelastic assessment of a highly loaded high pressure compressor exposed to flow disturbances is presented in this paper. The disturbances originate from novel, inherently unsteady, pressure gain combustion processes, such as pulse detonation, shockless explosion, wave rotor or piston topping composite cycles. All these arrangements promise to reduce substantially the specific fuel consumption of present-day aeronautical engines and stationary gas turbines. However, their unsteady behavior must be further investigated to ensure the thermodynamic efficiency gain is not hindered by stage performance losses. Furthermore, blade excessive vibration (leading to high cycle fatigue) must be avoided, especially under the additional excitations frequencies from waves traveling upstream of the combustor. Two main numerical analyses are presented, contrasting undisturbed with disturbed operation of a typical industrial core compressor. The first part of the paper evaluates performance parameters for a representative blisk stage with high-accuracy 3D unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes computations. Isentropic efficiency as well as pressure and temperature unsteady damping are determined for a broad range of disturbances. The nonlinear harmonic balance method is used to determine the aerodynamic damping. The second part provides the aeroelastic harmonic forced response of the rotor blades, with aerodynamic damping and forcing obtained from the unsteady calculations in the first part. The influence of blade mode shapes, nodal diameters and forcing frequency matching is also examined.


Author(s):  
G. S. Heinlein ◽  
M. A. Bakhle ◽  
J. P. Chen

Abstract Boundary layer ingestion has significant potential to reduce fuel burn in aircraft engines. However, designing a fan that can operate in an environment of continuous distortion without aeromechanical failure is a critical challenge. Capturing the requisite aeromechanical flow features in a high-fidelity computational setting is necessary in validating satisfactory designs as well as determining possible regions for overall improvement. In the current work, a three-dimensional, time-accurate, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamic code is utilized to study a distortion-tolerant fan coupled to a boundary layer ingesting inlet. The comparison between this coupled inlet-fan and a previous fan-only simulation will provide insight into the changes in aeromechanic response of the fan blades. Additionally, comparisons to previous wind tunnel tests are made to provide validation of inlet distortion as seen by the distortion-tolerant fan. A resonant crossing was also investigated for the 85% speed operational line condition to compare resonant response between the inlet-fan, fan-only, and experiment. A decrease in maximum tip displacement is observed in the forced response of the coupled inlet-fan compared to the fan-only simulation. The predicted maximum tip displacement was still below the upper limit on the range observed in the wind tunnel tests but matched well with the average tip displacement value of 27.6 mils. A single mode was chosen at the 100% speed condition to provide insight into the effects that the inlet duct has on fan stability. Near stall and near choke conditions were also simulated to observe how the changes of progressing along the speed line affects flutter stability prediction. The analysis shows the fan has low levels of aerodynamic damping at all the conditions tested. However, the coupled inlet-fan shows a decrease in the level of aerodynamic damping over what was observed with the fan-only simulation. Some of the blades experienced single cycles of negative aerodamping which indicate a possibility of increased blade vibration amplitude but were followed by positive aerodamping cycles. Work is continuing to understand possible sources to account for the differences observed between the two simulation cases as well as with the experiment.


Author(s):  
Joshua J. Waite ◽  
Robert E. Kielb

The three major aeroelastic issues in the turbomachinery blades of jet engines and power turbines are forced response, non-synchronous vibrations, and flutter. Flutter primarily affects high-aspect ratio blades found in the fan, fore high-pressure compressor stages, and aft low-pressure turbine (LPT) stages as low natural frequencies and high axial velocities create smaller reduced frequencies. Often with LPT flutter analyses, physical insights are lost in the exhaustive quest for determining whether the aerodynamic damping is positive or negative. This paper underlines some well known causes of low-pressure turbine flutter in addition to one novel catalyst. In particular, an emphasis is placed on revealing how local aerodynamic damping contributions change as a function of unsteady (e.g. mode shape, reduced frequency) and steady (e.g. blade torque, pressure ratio) parameters. To this end, frequency domain RANS CFD analyses are used as computational wind tunnels to investigate how aerodynamic loading variations affect flutter boundaries. Preliminary results show clear trends between the aerodynamic work influence coefficients and variations in exit Mach number and back pressure, especially for torsional mode shapes affecting the passage throat. Additionally, visualizations of qualitative bifurcations in the unsteady pressure phases around the airfoil shed light on how local damping contributions evolve with steady loading. Final results indicate a sharp drop in aeroelastic stability near specific regions of the pressure ratio indicating a strong correlation between blade loading and flutter. Passage throat shock behavior is shown to be a controlling factor near the trailing edge, and like critical reduced frequency, this phenomenon is shown to be highly dependent on the vibratory mode shape.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Giersch ◽  
Peter Hönisch ◽  
Bernd Beirow ◽  
Arnold Kühhorn

Radial turbine wheels designed as blade integrated disks (blisk) are widely used in various industrial applications. However, related to the introduction of exhaust gas turbochargers in the field of small and medium sized engines, a sustainable demand for radial turbine wheels has come along. Despite those blisks being state of the art, a number of fundamental problems, mainly referring to fluid-structure-interaction and, therefore, to the vibration behavior, have been reported. Aiming to achieve an enhanced understanding of fluid-structure-interaction in radial turbine wheels, a numerical method, able to predict forced responses of mistuned blisks due to aerodynamic excitation, is presented. In a first step, the unsteady aerodynamic forcing is determined by modeling the spiral casing, the stator vanes, and the rotor blades of the entire turbine stage. In a second step, the aerodynamic damping induced by blade vibration is computed using a harmonic balance technique. The structure itself is represented by a reduced order model being extended by aerodynamic damping effects and aerodynamic forcings. Mistuning is introduced by adjusting the modal stiffness matrix based on results of blade by blade measurements that have been performed at rest. In order to verify the numerical method, the results are compared with strain-gauge data obtained during rig-tests. As a result, a measured low engine order excitation was found by modeling the spiral casing. Furthermore, a localization phenomenon due to frequency mistuning could be proven. The predicted amplitudes are close to the measured data.


Author(s):  
Thomas Giersch ◽  
Peter Hönisch ◽  
Bernd Beirow ◽  
Arnold Kühhorn

Radial turbine wheels designed as blade integrated disks (blisk) are widely used in various industrial applications. However, related to the introduction of exhaust gas turbochargers in the field of small and medium sized engines a sustainable demand for radial turbine wheels has come along. Despite those blisks are state of the art, a number of fundamental problems, mainly referred to fluid-structure-interaction and therefore to the vibration behavior, have been reported. Aiming to achieve an enhanced understanding of fluid-structure-interaction in radial turbine wheels a numerical method, able to predict forced responses of mistuned blisks due to aerodynamic excitation, is presented. In a first step the unsteady aerodynamic forcing is determined by modeling the spiral casing, the stator vanes and the rotor blades of the entire turbine stage. In a second step the aerodynamic damping induced by blade vibration is computed using a harmonic balance technique. The structure itself is represented by a reduced order model being extended by aerodynamic damping effects and aerodynamic forcings. Mistuning is introduced by adjusting the modal stiffness matrix based on results of blade by blade measurements that have been performed at rest. In order to verify the numerical method, the results are compared with strain-gauge data obtained during rig-tests. As a result a measured low engine order excitation was found by modeling the spiral casing. Furthermore a localization phenomenon due to frequency mistuning could be proven. The predicted amplitudes are close to measured data.


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

Abstract State-of-the-art axial compressors of gas turbines employed in power generation plants and aero engines should have both high efficiency and small footprint. Thus, compressors are designed to have thin rotor blades and stator vanes with short axial distances. Recently, problems of high cycle fatigue (HCF) associated with forced response excitation have gradually increased as a result of these trends. Rotor blade fatigue can be caused not only by the wake and potential effect of the adjacent stator vane, but also by the stator vanes of two, three or four compressor stages away. Thus, accurate prediction and suppression methods are necessary in the design process. In this study, the problem of rotor blade vibration caused by the stator vanes of two and three compressor stages away is studied. In the first part of the study, one-way FSI simulation is carried out. To validate the accuracy of the simulation, experiments are also conducted using a gas turbine test facility. It is found that one-way FSI simulation can accurately predict the order of the vibration level. In the second part of the study, a method of controlling the blade vibration is investigated by optimizing the clocking of the stator vanes. It is confirmed that the vibration amplitude can be effectively suppressed without reducing the performance. Through this study, ways to evaluate and control the rotor blade vibration are validated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document