Aerodynamic Concept for Very Large Steam Turbine Last Stages

Author(s):  
Heinrich Stu¨er ◽  
Frank Truckenmu¨ller ◽  
Don Borthwick ◽  
John D. Denton

A move to ever larger low pressure steam turbines inevitably leads to an increase in the blade height to hub diameter ratio and the extent and magnitude of supersonic flow. This paper looks at the options available to the designer to mitigate the aerodynamic challenges associated with an increase in turbine size. Combinations of the effects of lean and sweep are explained using simple arguments based on flow field streamlines, then demonstrated in a stationary blade design by numerical and experimental methods. Developments in the principal regions of transonic and supersonic flow are shown by stationary blade hub and rotating blade tip examples. A stationary blade design which optimises the flow field effects shown is presented. The paper concludes by evaluating the unsteady flow in a very large final stage design.

Author(s):  
Alain Batailly ◽  
Mathias Legrand ◽  
Antoine Millecamps ◽  
Francois Garcin

Higher aircraft energy efficiency may be achieved by minimizing the clearance between the rotating blade tips and respective surrounding casing. A common technical solution consists in the implementation of an abradable liner which improves both the operational safety and the efficiency of modern turbomachines. Recently, unexpected abradable wear removal mechanisms were observed in experimental set-ups and during maintenance procedures. The present study introduces a numerical strategy capable to address this occurrence. After focusing on the analysis of the experimental results, the good agreement between experimental observations and numerical results is illustrated in terms of critical stress levels within the blade as well as final wear profiles of the abradable liner. New blade designs are also explored in order to assess the impact of blade design on the outbreak of the interaction phenomenon. The prevalence of three dominant parameters in the interaction onset is shown: (1) blade design, (2) abradable material mechanical properties and (3) the need for a global distortion of the casing to synchronize blade-tip/abradable coating contacts.


Author(s):  
Juri Bellucci ◽  
Federica Sazzini ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Lorenzo Arcangeli ◽  
...  

This paper focuses on the use of the CFD for improving a steam turbine preliminary design tool. Three-dimensional RANS analyses were carried out in order to independently investigate the effects of profile, secondary flow and tip clearance losses, on the efficiency of two high-pressure steam turbine stages. The parametric study included geometrical features such as stagger angle, aspect ratio and radius ratio, and was conducted for a wide range of flow coefficients to cover the whole operating envelope. The results are reported in terms of stage performance curves, enthalpy loss coefficients and span-wise distribution of the blade-to-blade exit angles. A detailed discussion of these results is provided in order to highlight the different aerodynamic behavior of the two geometries. Once the analysis was concluded, the tuning of a preliminary steam turbine design tool was carried out, based on a correlative approach. Due to the lack of a large set of experimental data, the information obtained from the post-processing of the CFD computations were applied to update the current correlations, in order to improve the accuracy of the efficiency evaluation for both stages. Finally, the predictions of the tuned preliminary design tool were compared with the results of the CFD computations, in terms of stage efficiency, in a broad range of flow coefficients and in different real machine layouts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Eric DeShong ◽  
Shawn Siroka ◽  
Reid A. Berdanier ◽  
Karen A. Thole

Abstract The clearance that exists between the casing and turbine blade tips is one of the key drivers of efficiency in gas turbine engines. For this reason, engine manufacturers utilize precise manufacturing techniques and may employ clearance control systems to minimize tip clearances to reduce associated losses. Despite these efforts, turbines typically exhibit some nominal casing ovality or rotor-casing eccentricity, and changes to blade tip clearance during operation commonly occur due to thermal and mechanical stresses. The present study investigates non-axisymmetric tip clearance effects by creating a rotor-casing eccentricity in a one-stage axial test turbine operating in a continuous-duration mode at engine relevant conditions with engine representative hardware. A magnetic levitation bearing system was leveraged to move the turbine shaft to vary the rotor-casing eccentricity without test section disassembly. The results of this study indicate that rotor-casing eccentricity does not affect overall turbine efficiency over the range that was tested, but does locally influence efficiency and the rotor exit flow field. Comparisons of flow angle and secondary flow kinetic energy agreed with previous studies and existing analytical methods, respectively. Collectively, these results indicate that tip clearance can be studied locally on an eccentric rotor.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Smyth ◽  
Robert J. Miller

Abstract This paper proposes a new duty-based Smith Chart as part of an improved method of selecting the geometric topology of compressors (axial, mixed or radial) in the earliest stage of design. The method has a number of advantages over previous methods: it is based on the non-dimensional flow and the non-dimensional work, which aligns with the aerodynamic function of the compressor and is therefore more intuitive than specific speed and specific diameter. It is based on a large number of consistently designed compressor rotors which have been computationally predicted using RANS CFD. Most importantly, it provides the designer not only with a choice of topology but also with the complete meridional geometry of the compressor, its blade design and the number of blades. This fidelity of geometry at the very early stage of design allows the designer to undertake a true systems design optimization (noise, manufacturing, packaging constraints and cost). This has the major advantage of significantly reducing early stage design times and costs and allows the designer to explore completely new products more quickly.


Author(s):  
Kurt Weber ◽  
Girish Modgil ◽  
Steve Gegg ◽  
Shyam Neerarambam ◽  
Moujin Zhang

The flow field in High-Work Single-Stage (HWSS) turbines differs from traditional turbine flow fields. Operating at increased pressure ratios, wakes and trailing edge shocks at the exit of the vane are more likely to cause a vibratory response in the rotating blade. This flow field can produce increased excitation at harmonics that correspond to the vane passing frequency and harmonics higher than the vane passing frequency. In this paper, blade vibratory stresses in a HWSS gas turbine stage are predicted using unsteady pressures from two Rolls-Royce in-house flow codes that employ different phase lagged unsteady approaches. Hydra uses a harmonic storage approach, and the Vane/Blade Interaction (VBI) code uses a direct storage approach. Harmonic storage reduces memory requirements considerably. The predicted stress for four modes at two engine speeds are presented and are compared with rig test strain gauge data to assess and validate the predictive capability of the codes for forced response. Strain gauge data showed the need to consider harmonics higher than the fundamental vane passing frequency for the max power shaft speed and operating at the conditions. Because of this, it was a good case for validation and for comparing the two codes. Overall, it was found that, stress predictions using the Hydra flow code compare better with data. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is a first in comparing two different phase lagged unsteady approaches, in the context of forced response, to engine rig data for a High-Work Single Stage turbine.


Author(s):  
Deqi Yu ◽  
Jiandao Yang ◽  
Wei Lu ◽  
Daiwei Zhou ◽  
Kai Cheng ◽  
...  

The 1500-r/min 1905mm (75inch) ultra-long last three stage blades for half-speed large-scale nuclear steam turbines of 3rd generation nuclear power plants have been developed with the application of new design features and Computer-Aided-Engineering (CAE) technologies. The last stage rotating blade was designed with an integral shroud, snubber and fir-tree root. During operation, the adjacent blades are continuously coupled by the centrifugal force. It is designed that the adjacent shrouds and snubbers of each blade can provide additional structural damping to minimize the dynamic stress of the blade. In order to meet the blade development requirements, the quasi-3D aerodynamic method was used to obtain the preliminary flow path design for the last three stages in LP (Low-pressure) casing and the airfoil of last stage rotating blade was optimized as well to minimize its centrifugal stress. The latest CAE technologies and approaches of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Fatigue Lifetime Analysis (FLA) were applied to analyze and optimize the aerodynamic performance and reliability behavior of the blade structure. The blade was well tuned to avoid any possible excitation and resonant vibration. The blades and test rotor have been manufactured and the rotating vibration test with the vibration monitoring had been carried out in the verification tests.


Author(s):  
Takayuki Mori ◽  
Risa Kimoto ◽  
Kenji Naganuma

Flow field around a marine propeller was measured by means of PIV technique in a large cavitation tunnel of the Naval Systems Research Center, TRDI/Ministry of Defense, Japan. Test section of the tunnel is 2m(W) × 2m(H) × 10m(L) and it contains 2000m3 of water. 2-dimensional PIV (2-D PIV) and stereo PIV (SPIV) measurements were made for a five-bladed highly skewed marine propeller. In the case of 2-D PIV measurements, high spatial resolution measurements were possible by seeding relatively small amount of tracer particles. Phase-averaged flow fields showed details on evolution of tip vortices. In the case of SPIV measurements, much larger amounts of tracer particles were required, and it was difficult to perform high resolution measurements. Phase averaged velocity profiles from SPIV measurements showed good agreement with 2-D PIV-measured results. PIV-measured results were compared with results of LDV measurements. Although PIV-measured velocity profiles showed fairly good agreements with LDV-measured results, some discrepancies were found at the blade tip region.


Author(s):  
Kevin Cremanns ◽  
Dirk Roos ◽  
Arne Graßmann

In order to meet the requirements of rising energy demand, one goal in the design process of modern steam turbines is to achieve high efficiencies. A major gain in efficiency is expected from the optimization of the last stage and the subsequent diffuser of a low pressure turbine (LP). The aim of such optimization is to minimize the losses due to separations or inefficient blade or diffuser design. In the usual design process, as is state of the art in the industry, the last stage of the LP and the diffuser is designed and optimized sequentially. The potential physical coupling effects are not considered. Therefore the aim of this paper is to perform both a sequential and coupled optimization of a low pressure steam turbine followed by an axial radial diffuser and subsequently to compare results. In addition to the flow simulation, mechanical and modal analysis is also carried out in order to satisfy the constraints regarding the natural frequencies and stresses. This permits the use of a meta-model, which allows very time efficient three dimensional (3D) calculations to account for all flow field effects.


1957 ◽  
Vol 1 (03) ◽  
pp. 13-46
Author(s):  
J. D. van Manen

The paper deals with the vortex system of the "screw + nozzle" propeller. The results obtained from systematic experiments with propellers in nozzles in which the length-diameter ratio of the nozzle, the number of blades, and the blade-area ratio of the propeller have been varied are discussed. In addition the results of experiments carried out for determining the optimum diameter of the nozzle system behind the ship are described. Explanatory comments on nozzle design are given, including diagrams for determining the radial inequality of the axial velocities in the nozzle and for making computations with regard to cavitation and strength. The influence of the clearance between blade tip and nozzle wall is discussed.


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