Prediction of Erosion in Radial Turbine Components

Author(s):  
Adel Ghenaiet

Automotive radial turbines usually operate in extreme polluted environments, where the impingements of particles on blades cause erosion damage. This paper presents a numerical study of particle dynamics and erosion through the components of a radial inflow turbine based on a Lagrangian tracking in-house code. The particle trajectories, impacts and induced erosion were determined throughout the volute, vaneless nozzle and impeller. The number of particles, sizes and initial positions were known according to a specified concentration of sand particles AC-coarse (0–200 micron). The results of numerical simulations show that obtained trajectories are consistently different from those in axial flow turbines, owing to the nature of flow and direction of inward forces. Small size particles travel easily through the rotor passage, whereas large ones only cross a small part of the rotor then are centrifuged back to the volute till reducing in size by fragmentation. The maximum erosion wear is found on the rotor blade leading edge due to direct exposure to flux of particles at high velocities and incidences. Highly eroded area is observed on the blade suction side from the leading edge, due to particles consistently impacting this area. Several particles crossing through the rotor passage are found to impact the pressure surface only towards exducer. Small particles from pressure side crossing over the tip induce local erosion. The initial positions of blades are shown to have great effects on the rotor erosion patterns.

Author(s):  
Xiaochen Mao ◽  
Bo Liu

Unsteady numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the unsteady effects of axial spacing on the performance of a contra-rotating axial compressor. The results show that the stage efficiency is dominant by unsteady effects between two rotors at lower axial gap ranges. As the axial spacing is increased, the variation of aerodynamic force is different for the two rotors. As a whole, the oscillation on the pressure surface is much stronger than that on the suction side in rotor1. For rotor2, however, the local maximum amplitude is just located at the blade leading edge, especially near the tip region. Additionally, the maximum amplitude of the pressure fluctuations generally decreases with an increase of axial spacing. The dominating frequency is different for monitors located at different positions and varies with the increasing of axial gaps. As the axial gap is increased, the potential effects decay in the process of propagating. Meanwhile, the incoming wakes are mixed out more sufficiently which would reduce the fluctuations at leading edge of rotor2. Therefore, a proper axial spacing should be chosen in the design process of a contra-rotating axial compressor considering both the performance and structure.


2011 ◽  
Vol 383-390 ◽  
pp. 3963-3968
Author(s):  
Shao Hua Li ◽  
Li Mei Du ◽  
Wen Hua Dong ◽  
Ling Zhang

In this paper, a numerical simulation was performed to investigate heat transferring characteristics on the leading edge of a blade with three rows of holes of film-cooling using Realizable k- model. Three rows of holes were located on the suction side leading edge stagnation line and the pressure surface. The difference of the cooling efficiency and the heat transfer of the three rows of holes on the suction side and pressure side were analyzed; the heat transfer and film cooling effectiveness distribution in the region of leading edge are expounded under different momentum rations.The results show that under the same condition, the cooling effectiveness on the pressure side is more obvious than the suction side, but the heat transfer is better on the suction side than the pressure side. The stronger momentum rations are more effective cooling than the heat transfer system.


Author(s):  
Amr Abdelrahman ◽  
Amr Emam ◽  
Ihab Adam ◽  
Hamdy Hassan ◽  
Shinichi Ookawara ◽  
...  

Abstract Through the last two decades, many studies have demonstrated the ability of leading-edge protrusions (tubercles), inspired from the pectoral flippers of the humpback whale, to be an effective passive flow control method for the stall phase of an airfoil in some cases depending on the geometrical features and the flow regime. Nevertheless, there is a little work associated with revealing tubercles performance for the lifting surfaces with a highly cambered cross-section, used in numerous applications. The present work aims to investigate the effect of implementing leading edge tubercles on the performance of an infinite span rectangular wing with the highly cambered S1223 foil at different flow regimes. Two sets; baseline one and a modified with tubercles have been studied at Re = 0.1 × 106, 0.3 × 106 and 1.5 × 106 using computational fluid dynamics with a validated model. The numerical results demonstrated that Tubercles have the ability to entirely alter the flow structure over the airfoil, confining the separation to troughs, hence, softening the stall characteristics. However, the tubercle modification expedites the presence of the stalled flow over the suction side, lowering the stall angle for the three mentioned Reynolds numbers. While, no considerable difference occurs in lift and drag before the stall.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Rakibuzzaman ◽  
Hyoung-Ho Kim ◽  
Kyungwuk Kim ◽  
Sang-Ho Suh ◽  
Kyung Kim

Effective hydraulic turbine design prevents sediment and cavitation erosion from impacting the performance and reliability of the machine. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques, this study investigated the performance characteristics of sediment and cavitation erosion on a hydraulic Francis turbine by ANSYS-CFX software. For the erosion rate calculation, the particle trajectory Tabakoff–Grant erosion model was used. To predict the cavitation characteristics, the study’s source term for interphase mass transfer was the Rayleigh–Plesset cavitation model. The experimental data acquired by this study were used to validate the existing evaluations of the Francis turbine. Hydraulic results revealed that the maximum difference was only 0.958% compared with the CFD data, and 0.547% compared with the experiment (Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM)). The turbine blade region was affected by the erosion rate at the trailing edge because of their high velocity. Furthermore, in the cavitation–erosion simulation, it was observed that abrasion propagation began from the pressure side of the leading edge and continued along to the trailing edge of the runner. Additionally, as sediment flow rates grew within the area of the attached cavitation, they increased from the trailing edge at the suction side, and efficiency was reduced. Cavitation–sand erosion results then revealed a higher erosion rate than of those of the sand erosion condition.


Author(s):  
Rayapati Subbarao ◽  
M. Govardhan

Abstract Flow through the Counter Rotating Turbine (CRT) stage is more complex due to the presence of two rotors that rotate in the opposite direction, the spacing between them and the tip clearance provided on rotors. This flow aspect may change, if we change the parameters like speed, spacing and blade angles. Current effort contains simulation studies on the flow topology of CRT through dissimilar speed ratios in the range of 0.85–1.17. CRT components stator and the rotors are modelled. At nozzle inlet, stagnation pressure boundary condition is used. At the turbine stage or rotor 2 outlet, mass flow rate is specified. Skin friction lines are drawn on rotor 1 as well as rotor 2 on all over the blade. Not much variation of skin friction lines is witnessed in rotor 1 on the pressure side with exception to the position of the separation line close to leading edge. On suction side, skin friction lines are more uniform when the speed ratio is greater than 1. Skin friction lines on rotor 2 pressure surface show the presence of re-attachment lines. The position of the nodal point of separation near the hub remained same, but the strength is decreasing with speed ratio. On rotor 2 suction side, near the tip, all along the stream wise direction, line of re-attachment is observed that spreads from leading edge to trailing edge, whose strength is varying with speed ratio. Near the hub as well, line of re-attachment is observed, which is of more intensity in lower speed ratios. For the same region in rotor 1, there is proper reattachment as nodes are observed instead of lines, suggesting that more improved flow is occurring in rotor 1 than rotor 2. Thus, the present paper identifies the flow modification with speed ratio in a counter rotating turbine. Also, effort is made to see the consequence of flow change on the output of CRT.


Author(s):  
Michael A. Zaccaria ◽  
Budugur Lakshminarayana

The flow field in turbine rotor passages is complex with unsteadiness caused by the aerodynamic interaction of the nozzle and rotor flow fields. The two-dimensional steady and unsteady flow field at midspan in an axial flow turbine rotor has been investigated experimentally using an LDV with emphasis on the interaction of the nozzle wake with the rotor flow field. The flow field in the rotor passage is presented in Part I, while the flow field downstream of the rotor is presented in Part II. Measurements were acquired at 37 axial locations from just upstream of the rotor to one chord downstream of the rotor. The time average flow field and the unsteadiness caused by the wake has been captured. As the nozzle wake travels through the rotor flow field, the nozzle wake becomes distorted with the region of the nozzle wake near the rotor suction surface moving faster than the region near the rotor pressure surface, resulting in a highly distorted wake. The wake is found to be spread out along the rotor pressure surface, as it convects downstream of midchord. The magnitude of the nozzle wake velocity defect grows until close to midchord, after which it decreases. High values of unresolved unsteadiness were observed at the rotor leading edge. This is due to the large flow gradients near the leading edge and the interaction of the nozzle wake with the rotor leading edge. High values of unresolved unsteadiness were also observed near the rotor pressure surface. This increase in unresolved unsteadiness is caused by the interaction of the nozzle wake with the flow near the rotor pressure surface.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Corsini ◽  
Giovanni Delibra ◽  
Anthony G. Sheard

Taking a lead from the humpback whale flukes, characterized by a series of bumps that result in a sinusoidal-like leading edge, this paper reports on a three-dimensional numerical study of sinusoidal leading edges on cambered airfoil profiles. The turbulent flow around the cambered airfoil with the sinusoidal leading edge was computed at different angles of attack with the open source solver OpenFOAM, using two different eddy viscosity models integrated to the wall. The reported research focused on the effects of the modified leading edge in terms of lift-to-drag performance and the influence of camber on such parameters. For these reasons a comparison with a symmetric airfoil is provided. The research was primarily concerned with the elucidation of the fluid flow mechanisms induced by the bumps and the impact of those mechanisms on airfoil performance, on both symmetric and cambered profiles. The bumps on the leading edge influenced the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil, and the lift curves were found to feature an early recovery in post-stall for the symmetric profile with an additional gain in lift for the cambered profile. The bumps drove the fluid dynamic on the suction side of the airfoil, which in turn resulted in the capability to control the separation at the trailing edge in coincidence with the peak of the sinusoid at the leading edge.


Author(s):  
Adel Ghenaiet

This paper presents a numerical study of particle laden gas flow through a two-stage hp axial turbine, by means of an in-house code based on the Lagrangian tracking model and the finite element method. As fly-ash solid particles trajectories and locations of impacts are predicted, the local erosion rates and the deteriorations of blades are assessed. The computed trajectories provide a detailed description of particles behaviors and reveal that particle impacts on the aft of vane pressure side usually lead to significant variations in the directions of particles to the next rotor blade, and subsequently particles impact the suction side. The plots of equivalent erosion rates indicate the vanes and blades locations which suffer more erosion. The first vane pressure surface is impacted more than any other component, but higher rates are seen at the top corner from trailing edge. The critical regions of erosion wear in the first rotor are observed over the top of blade leading edge extending along the tip as well as a rounding of the top corner from trailing edge. In the second vane, the regions of higher erosion are revealed over the last third of leading edge and the top corner extending along tip. The erosion in the second rotor is over a large area of suction side till the tip corner. The predicted areas of extreme erosion, also shown by the deteriorated profiles, are indicators for anticipated vanes and blades failures.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dodds ◽  
M. Vahdati

In this two-part paper the phenomenon of part span rotating stall is studied. The objective is to improve understanding of the physics by which stable and persistent rotating stall occurs within high speed axial flow compressors. This phenomenon is studied both experimentally (Part I) and numerically (Part II). The experimental observations reported in Part I are now explored through the use of 3D unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation. The objective is to both validate the computational model and, where possible, explore some physical aspects of the phenomena. Unsteady simulations are presented, performed at a fixed speed with the three rows of variable stator vanes adjusted to deliberately mismatch the front stages and provoke stall. Two families of rotating stall are identified by the model, consistent with experimental observations from Part I. The first family of rotating stall originates from hub corner separations developing on the stage 1 stator vanes. These gradually coalesce into a multicell rotating stall pattern confined to the hub region of the stator and its downstream rotor. The second family originates from regions of blockage associated with tip clearance flow over the stage 1 rotor blade. These also coalesce into a multicell rotating stall pattern of shorter length scale confined to the leading edge tip region. Some features of each of these two patterns are then explored as the variable stator vanes (VSVs) are mismatched further, pushing each region deeper into stall. The numerical predictions show a credible match with the experimental findings of Part I. This suggests that a RANS modeling approach is sufficient to capture some important aspects of part span rotating stall behavior.


Author(s):  
Veronique Henry

Abstract An experimental and numerical investigation is presented for blade profiles in axial flow fans. In order to improve the aerodynamic design of the blades, first numerical simulations with a two dimensional cascade oriented code have been performed in the rotor passage of a single-stage axial flow ventilation fan. The optimization design has been performed involving statistics. The influence of four design parameters have been investigated: rate of curvature, leading edge shape, chordwise location of the maximum camber and chordwise location of the maximum thickness. The new profile produced has been tested in wind-tunnel with a well-known C4 profile to validate the expected performance level. Next step has consisted in performing Navier-Stockes computations. Results demonstrate that the use of a coupled viscous-inviscid approach is appropriate for blade design and optimization. The Navier-Stockes code can be seen as a complementary tool as it leads to a complete description of the flow.


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