The Measurement of Turbomachinery Blade Vibration Through Tip Timing With Capacitance Tip Clearance Probes

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Lawson ◽  
Paul C. Ivey
Keyword(s):  
High Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
Timing Measurement ◽  
Probe System ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Capacitance Probe ◽  
Probe Sensor

Turbomachinery blade vibrations can cause High Cycle Fatigue, which reduces blade life. In order to observe this vibration a non-intrusive monitoring system is sought. The vibration can be detected by measuring blade tip timing since in the presence of vibration the blade timing will differ slightly from the passing time calculated from rotor speed. Much research and development has gone into investigating the ability of optical probes to achieve this. However, this paper looks at the potential for a dual use capacitance probe sensor to measure both tip timing and tip clearance. This paper provides new insights into the ability of a commercially available capacitance probe tip clearance measurement system for application as a non-intrusive turbomachinery blade tip timing measurement device. This is done by correlating capacitance probe tip timing results with simultaneously measured blade-mounted strain gauge vibration results and precise rotational speeds. Thus the characterisation of the performance of the capacitance probe system when measuring blade vibration on a full-sized low-speed research compressor is analysed and reported.

Compressor Blade Tip Timing Using Capacitance Tip Clearance Probes

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Lawson ◽  
Paul Ivey
Keyword(s):  
Compressor Blade ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Timing Measurement ◽  
Measured Strain ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Capacitance Probe

Turbomachinery blade vibrations of sufficient amplitude cause High Cycle Fatigue, which reduces blade life. In order to observe this vibration a non-intrusive monitoring system is sought. The vibration can be detected by measuring blade tip timing since in the presence of vibration the blade timing will differ slightly from the passing time calculated from rotor speed. This paper provides new insights into the ability of a commercially available capacitance probe tip clearance measurement system for application as a non-intrusive turbomachinery blade tip timing measurement device. Initial experimental investigations are reported where a compressor blade with mounted strain gauges is used in a low-speed compressor. Capacitance probe results are correlated with simultaneously measured strain gauge results. Finite Element simulations are also used. The performance of the capacitance system in measuring blade vibration is analysed. Measurements were facilitated by the commissioning of a new instrument dedicated compressor test facility and this test facility is described.

On Possibilities of Using Relative Shaft Vibration Signals for Rotating Blades Monitoring

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jindrich Liska ◽  
Vojtech Vasicek ◽  
Jan Jakl
Keyword(s):  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Vibration Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Systems ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
Vibration Signals ◽  
Rotating Blades ◽  
Timing Measurement ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Shaft Vibration

Ensuring the reliability of the steam turbine is the key for its long life. For this purpose monitoring systems are standardly used. Early detection of any failure can avoid possible economical and material losses. A monitoring of rotating blades vibration belongs to the very important tasks of the turbomachinery state assessment. Especially in terms of the last stages of low-pressure part, where the longest blades are vibrating at most. Commonly used methods for blade vibration monitoring are based on contact measurement using strain gauges or non-contact approach based on blade tip timing measurement. Rising demand for low-cost monitoring systems has initiated development of a new approach in blade vibration monitoring task. The presented approach is based on usage of relative rotor vibration signals. Its advantage is in using of standardly installed sensors making this approach economically interesting for the turbine operators compared to the traditionally used methods, mentioned above. This paper summarizes the symptoms of blade vibration phenomenon in relative shaft vibration signals, the impact of operating conditions on the blade vibration amplitude and its comparison to blade tip-timing measurement results. In addition of several examples, the article also describes an evaluation of proposed method in operation of steam turbine with power of 170MW.

Numerical Investigation of Tip Clearance Flow Induced Flutter in an Axial Research Compressor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Möller ◽  
Maximilian Jüngst ◽  
Felix Holzinger ◽  
Christoph Brandstetter ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Transonic Compressor ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Fluctuation Pattern ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Pass Through

A flutter phenomenon was observed in a 1.5-stage configuration at the Darmstadt transonic compressor. This phenomenon is investigated numerically for different compressor speeds. The flutter occurs for the second eigenmode of the rotor blades and is caused by tip clearance flow which is able to pass through multiple rotor gaps at highly throttled operating points. The vibration pattern during flutter is accompanied by a pressure fluctuation pattern of the tip clearance flow which is interacting with the blade motion causing the aeroelastic instability. The velocity of the tip clearance flow fluctuation is about 50% of the blade tip speed for simulation and experiment and also matches the mean convective velocity inside the rotor gap. This is consistent for all compressor speeds. From this investigations, general guidelines are drawn which can be applied at an early stage during compressor design to evaluate the susceptibility to this kind of blade vibration.

scholarly journals Blade by Blade Tip Clearance Measurement

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Sheard
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Measurement System ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Real World Applications ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Capacitance Probe ◽  
Blade Tip Clearance

This paper describes a capacitance-based tip clearance measurement system which engineers have used in the most demanding turbine test applications. The capacitance probe has survived extended use in a major European gas turbine manufacturer's high-temperature demonstrator unit, where it functioned reliably at a turbine entry temperature in excess of 1800 degrees Kelvin. This paper explores blade by blade tip clearance measurement techniques and examines probe performance under laboratory conditions in support of high-temperature installations. The paper outlines the blade by blade tip clearance measurement technique and describes the experimental facility used to study tip clearance measurement. The paper also fully describes the method used to calibrate the measurement system in order to ascertain measurement accuracy. The paper clarifies how the practical problems were overcome associated with making blade by blade tip clearance measurements in both compressor and turbine environments. Since its initial development, gas turbine development programmes have routinely used the clearance measurement system. The inherent robustness of the system has resulted in reliable in-service measurement of clearance in real world applications.

Blade Tip Clearance Flow and Compressor NSV: The Jet Core Feedback Theory as the Coupling Mechanism

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Thomassin ◽  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
Njuki W. Mureithi
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Coupling Mechanism ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
Potential Core ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Blade Tip

This paper investigates the role of tip clearance flow in the occurrence of non-synchronous vibrations (NSV) observed in the first axial rotor of a high-speed high-pressure compressor (HPC) in an aero-engine. NSV is an aero-elastic phenomenon where the rotor blades vibrate at non-integral multiples of the shaft rotational frequencies in operating regimes where classical flutter is not known to occur. A physical mechanism to explain the NSV phenomenon is proposed based on the blade tip trailing edge impinging jet like flow, and a novel theory based on the acoustic feedback in the jet potential core. The theory suggests that the critical jet velocity, which brings a jet impinging on a rigid structure to resonance, is reduced to the velocities observed in the blade tip secondary flow when the jet impinges on a flexible structure. The feedback mechanism is then an acoustic wave traveling backward in the jet potential core, and this is experimentally demonstrated. A model is proposed to predict the critical tip speed at which NSV can occur. The model also addresses several unexplained phenomena, or missing links, which are essential to connect tip clearance flow unsteadiness to NSV. These are the pressure level, the pitch-based reduced frequency, and the observed step changes in blade vibration and mode shape. The model is verified using two different rotors that exhibited NSV.

Blade Tip Clearance Flow and Compressor Nonsynchronous Vibrations: The Jet Core Feedback Theory as the Coupling Mechanism

2008 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Thomassin ◽  
Huu Duc Vo ◽  
Njuki W. Mureithi
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Coupling Mechanism ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
Potential Core ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Nonsynchronous Vibrations

This paper investigates the role of tip clearance flow in the occurrence of nonsynchronous vibrations (NSVs) observed in the first axial rotor of a high-speed high-pressure compressor in an aeroengine. NSV is an aeroelastic phenomenon where the rotor blades vibrate at nonintegral multiples of the shaft rotational frequencies in operating regimes where classical flutter is not known to occur. A physical mechanism to explain the NSV phenomenon is proposed based on the blade tip trailing edge impinging jetlike flow, and a novel theory based on the acoustic feedback in the jet potential core. The theory suggests that the critical jet velocity, which brings a jet impinging on a rigid structure to resonance, is reduced to the velocities observed in the blade tip secondary flow when the jet impinges on a flexible structure. The feedback mechanism is then an acoustic wave traveling backward in the jet potential core, and this is experimentally demonstrated. A model is proposed to predict the critical tip speed at which NSV can occur. The model also addresses several unexplained phenomena, or missing links, which are essential to connect tip clearance flow unsteadiness to NSV. These are the pressure level, the pitch-based reduced frequency, and the observed step changes in blade vibration and mode shape. The model is verified using two different rotors that exhibited NSV.

scholarly journals An Improved Blade Vibration Parameter Identification Method considering Tip Clearance Variation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Liang Zhang ◽  
Qidi Wang ◽  
Xin Li
Keyword(s):  
Parameter Identification ◽  
Eddy Current ◽  
Vibration Amplitude ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Vibration Parameter ◽  
Blade Vibration ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Vibration Parameters ◽  
Clearance Change

Blade tip timing (BTT) technology is the most effective means for real-time monitoring of blade vibration. Accurately extracting the time of blade tip reaching the sensors is the key to ensure the accuracy of the BTT system. The tip clearance changes due to various complex forces during high-speed rotation. The traditional BTT signal extraction method does not consider the influence of tip clearance change on timing accuracy and introduces large timing errors. To solve this problem, a quadratic curve fitting timing method was proposed. In addition, based on the measurement principle of the eddy current sensors, the relationship among the output voltage of the eddy current sensor, tip clearance, and the blade cutting magnetic line angle was calibrated. A multisensor vibration parameter identification algorithm based on arbitrary angular distribution was introduced. Finally, the experiments were conducted to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that in the range of 0.4 to 1.05 mm tip clearance change, the maximum absolute error of the timing values calculated by the proposed method is 26.0359 us, which is much lower than the calculated error of 203.7459 us when using the traditional timing method. When the tip clearance changed, the constant speed synchronous vibration parameters of No. 0 blade were identified. The average value of the vibration amplitude is 1.0881 mm. Compared with the identification results without changing tip clearance, the average value error of the vibration amplitude is 0.0017 mm. It is proved that within the blade tip clearance variation of 0.4 to 0.9 mm, the timing values obtained by the proposed timing method can accurately identify the vibration parameters of the blade.

scholarly journals Advanced Instrumentation Technology for the Integrated-High-Performance-Turbine-Engine-Technology and High-Cycle-Fatigue Programs

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Stange ◽  
Kelly R. Navarra
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
High Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Operational Testing ◽  
Thermographic Phosphors ◽  
Blade Tip

This paper presents an overview of current research efforts aimed at improving turbine-engine structural-instrumentation capabilities. Emphasis is placed on non-intrusive concepts that will be applicable to the advanced engines currently in use, or concepts being developed for initial operational testing shortly after the turn of the century. Technologies to be described include: blade-tip deflection sensors to determine dynamic stress, thermographic phosphors to measure metal temperature, pressure-sensitive paints and air etalons to measure dynamic pressure, and micro-electro-mechanical systems to assess a variety of parameters. Advantages, potential problems and limitations of each system are presented, and an assessment of the applicability of each system to either the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology or the High Cycle Fatigue initiative is made.

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