Investigation of Effect of End Wall Contouring Methods on a Transonic Turbine Blade Passage

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kapil Panchal ◽  
Santosh Abraham ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad ◽  
Wing Ng ◽  
Barry J. Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Surface Topology ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Loss Reduction ◽  
Blade Passage ◽  
Transonic Turbine ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number ◽  
End Wall

End wall contouring has been widely studied during past two decades for secondary loss reduction in turbine passages. Recent non-axisymmetric end wall contouring methods have shown more promise for loss reduction as compared to the axisymmetric end wall contouring methods used in initial studies. The end wall contouring methods have shown definite promise, especially, for the turbine passages at low design exit Mach numbers. A class of methods exists in the literature where the end wall surface is defined by using a combination of two curves. These curves specify surface topology variation in streamwise and pitchwise directions. Another class of methods depends on surface contour optimization, in which the modification of surface contours is achieved by changing the control point locations that define the surface topology. A definitive, passage design parameter based method of contouring is still not available. However, a general guideline for the trend of contour variation, along pitchwise and streamwise direction, can certainly be extrapolated from the existing literature. It is not clear, however, whether such a trend can be fitted to any blade profile to achieve, least of all a nonoptimum but a definite, reduction in losses. Moreover, almost all of the existing studies have focused on end wall contouring of passages with low exit Mach numbers. Some researchers, indeed, have used blades designed for high turning and high exit Mach number. However, such studies were done at Mach number well below the intended design condition. A study of effect of end wall contouring on a high turning blade with high design exit Mach number is not available in open literature. The present study investigates the effect of application of three different types of end wall contouring methods through numerical simulation, on a high turning transonic turbine blade passage. The main contouring method is based on total loss reduction criterion which is described here in detail. The contouring methodology described here avoids the deficiency of current commercial mesh generation software in context of automated meshing and provides a robust end wall optimization methodology. The geometry that gives minimum SKE values is compared with this loss optimized geometry. Additionally, a normalized contoured surface topology was extracted from a previous study that has similar blade design parameters and this surface was fitted to the turbine passage under study in order to investigate the effect of such trend based surface fitting. This contour geometry has also been compared with the other two contour geometries. Aerodynamic response of these geometries has been compared in detail with the baseline case without any end wall contouring. A comparison of shape and location of end wall contours on aerodynamic performance has been provided. The results indicate that end wall contouring for transonic turbine blades may not result in as significant gains at design conditions as those claimed for low speed turbine passages in previous studies.

Effect of Upstream Purge Slot on a Transonic Turbine Blade Passage: Part 2 — Heat Transfer Performance

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnab Roy ◽  
Dorian M. Blot ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad ◽  
Wing F. Ng ◽  
Andrew S. Lohaus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Incidence Angle ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Measured Temperature ◽  
Convective Boundary ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Blade Passage ◽  
Transonic Turbine

Heat transfer experiments with and without upstream purge cooling were carried out for a high turning (127°) airfoil passage in the presence of an upstream purge slot in a transonic linear cascade. Different coolant to mainstream mass flow ratios (MFR) were investigated at cascade design exit Mach number (0.88) and design incidence angle. The experiments were performed at Virginia Tech’s transient transonic blow down facility. A transient Infrared thermography technique was employed to measure the endwall surface temperature. Heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and film cooling effectiveness (ETA) were calculated from measured temperature assuming a 1-D semi-infinite transient conduction through a solid with convective boundary condition. In this experiment, the blade span increases in the mainstream flow direction in order to match realistic inlet/exit airfoil surface Mach number distribution. Results indicate strong interactions between coolant flow and cross passage secondary flow where significant coolant coverage is observed at higher leakage flow rates through the purge slot. The backward facing step created by the purge slot seems to be the driving factor on influencing endwall HTC compared to with or without blowing cases. Three-dimensional viscous CFD has also been performed for further insight of flow characteristics and to support experimental data. Aerodynamic measurements at cascade exit plane are provided in the companion paper GT2013-94951 [1], “Effect of upstream purge slot on a transonic turbine blade passage: Part – 1 – Aerodynamic performance”.

scholarly journals Effects of Tip Clearance Gap and Exit Mach Number on Turbine Blade Tip and Near-Tip Heat Transfer

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Anto ◽  
S. Xue ◽  
W. F. Ng ◽  
L. J. Zhang ◽  
H. K. Moon
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Engine Blade ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Exit Mach Number

This study focuses on local heat transfer characteristics on the tip and near-tip regions of a turbine blade with a flat tip, tested under transonic conditions in a stationary, 2-D linear cascade with high freestream turbulence. The experiments were conducted at the Virginia Tech transonic blow-down wind tunnel facility. The effects of tip clearance and exit Mach number on heat transfer distribution were investigated on the tip surface using a transient infrared thermography technique. In addition, thin film gages were used to study similar effects in heat transfer on the near-tip regions at 94% height based on engine blade span of the pressure and suction sides. Surface oil flow visualizations on the blade tip region were carried-out to shed some light on the leakage flow structure. Experiments were performed at three exit Mach numbers of 0.7, 0.85, and 1.05 for two different tip clearances of 0.9% and 1.8% based on turbine blade span. The exit Mach numbers tested correspond to exit Reynolds numbers of 7.6 × 105, 9.0 × 105, and 1.1 × 106 based on blade true chord. The tests were performed with a high freestream turbulence intensity of 12% at the cascade inlet. Results at 0.85 exit Mach showed that an increase in the tip gap clearance from 0.9% to 1.8% translates into a 3% increase in the average heat transfer coefficients on the blade tip surface. At 0.9% tip clearance, an increase in exit Mach number from 0.85 to 1.05 led to a 39% increase in average heat transfer on the tip. High heat transfer was observed on the blade tip surface near the leading edge, and an increase in the tip clearance gap and exit Mach number augmented this near-leading edge tip heat transfer. At 94% of engine blade height on the suction side near the tip, a peak in heat transfer was observed in all test cases at s/C = 0.66, due to the onset of a downstream leakage vortex, originating from the pressure side. An increase in both the tip gap and exit Mach number resulted in an increase, followed by a decrease in the near-tip suction side heat transfer. On the near-tip pressure side, a slight increase in heat transfer was observed with increased tip gap and exit Mach number. In general, the suction side heat transfer is greater than the pressure side heat transfer, as a result of the suction side leakage vortices.

Effects of Shock Wave Development on Secondary Flow Behavior in Linear Turbine Cascade at Transonic Condition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoshio Tsujita ◽  
Masanao Kaneko
Keyword(s):  
Shock Wave ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Secondary Flow ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Turbine Cascade ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Passage Vortex ◽  
Exit Mach Number

Abstract Gas turbines widely applied to power generation and aerospace propulsion systems are continuously enhanced in efficiency for the reduction of environmental load. The energy recovery efficiency from working fluid in a turbine component constituting gas turbines can be enhanced by the increase of turbine blade loading. However, the increase of turbine blade loading inevitably intensifies the secondary flows, and consequently increases the associated loss generation. The development of the passage vortex is strongly influenced by the pitchwise pressure gradient on the endwall in the cascade passage. In addition, a practical high pressure turbine stage is generally driven under transonic flow conditions where the shock wave strongly influences the pressure distribution on the endwall. Therefore, it becomes very important to clarify the effects of the shock wave formation on the secondary flow behavior in order to increase the turbine blade loading without the deterioration of efficiency. In this study, the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional transonic flows in the HS1A linear turbine cascade at the design incidence angle were analyzed numerically by using the commercial CFD code with the assumption of steady compressible flow. The isentropic exit Mach number was varied from the subsonic to the supersonic conditions in order to examine the effects of development of shock wave caused by the increase of exit Mach number on the secondary flow behavior. The increase of exit Mach number induced the shock across the passage and increased its obliqueness. The increase of obliqueness reduced the cross flow on the endwall by moving the local minimum point of static pressure along the suction surface toward the trailing edge. As a consequence, the increase of exit Mach number attenuated the passage vortex.

scholarly journals Endwall Heat Transfer Measurements in a Transonic Turbine Cascade

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Giel ◽  
D. R. Thurman ◽  
G. J. Van Fossen ◽  
S. A. Hippensteele ◽  
R. J. Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Model Verification ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Transonic Turbine ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Inlet Conditions

Turbine blade endwall heat transfer measurements are presented for a range of Reynolds and Mach numbers. Data were obtained for Reynolds numbers based on inlet conditions of 0.5 and 1.0 × 106, for isentropic exit Mach numbers of 1.0 and 1.3, and for free-stream turbulence intensities of 0.25 and 7.0 percent. Tests were conducted in a linear cascade at the NASA Lewis Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility. The test article was a turbine rotor with 136 deg of turning and an axial chord of 12.7 cm. The large scale allowed for very detailed measurements of both flow field and surface phenomena. The intent of the work is to provide benchmark quality data for CFD code and model verification. The flow field in the cascade is highly three dimensional as a result of thick boundary layers at the test section inlet. Endwall heat transfer data were obtained using a steady-state liquid crystal technique.

Effect of Turbine Airfoil Shape on Aerodynamic Losses for Turbine Airfoils Operating Under Transonic Conditions

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh Abraham ◽  
Kapil Panchal ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad ◽  
Wing Ng ◽  
Barry J. Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mach Number ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Airfoil Surface ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Airfoils ◽  
Turbine Design

Profile and secondary loss correlations have been developed and improved over the years to include the induced incidence and leading edge geometry and to reflect recent trends in turbine design. All of these investigations have resulted in better understanding of the flow field in turbine passages. However, there is still insufficient data on the performance of turbine airfoils with high turning angles operating at varying incidence angles at transonic Mach numbers. The paper presents detailed aerodynamic measurements for three different turbine airfoils with similar turning angles but different aerodynamic shapes. Midspan total pressure loss, secondary flow field, and static pressure measurements on the airfoil surface in the cascades are presented and compared for the three different airfoil sets. The airfoils are designed for the same velocity triangles (inlet/exit gas angles and Mach number). Airfoil curvature and true chord are varied to change the loading vs. chord. The objective is to investigate the type of loading distribution and its effect on aerodynamic performance (pressure loss). Measurements are made at +10, 0 and −10 degree incidence angles for high turning turbine airfoils with ∼127 degree turning. The cascade exit Mach numbers were varied within a range from 0.6 to 1.1. In order to attain a ratio of inlet Mach number to exit Mach number that is representative to that encountered in a real engine, the exit span is increased relative to the inlet span. This results in one end wall diverging from inlet to exit at a 13 degree angle, which simulates the required leading edge loading as seen in an engine. 3D viscous compressible CFD analysis was carried out in order to compare the results with experimentally obtained values and to further investigate the flow characteristics of the airfoils under study.

Experimental Investigation of Pressure Side Flow Separation on the T106C Airfoil at High Suction Side Incidence Flow

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Stotz ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis ◽  
Yavuz Guendogdu
Keyword(s):  
Mach Number ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Separation Bubble ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Pressure Side ◽  
Blade Passage ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Profile Losses ◽  
Exit Mach Number ◽  
Side Flow

The objective of this work is to study the influence of a pressure side separation bubble on the profile losses and the development of the bubble in the blade passage. For the experimental investigations the T106 profile is used, with an increased loading due to an enlarged pitch to chord ratio from 0.799 to 0.95 (T106C). The experiments were performed at the high-speed cascade wind tunnel of the Institute of Jet Propulsion at the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich. The main feature of the wind tunnel is to vary Reynolds and Mach number independently to achieve realistic turbomachinery conditions. The focus of this work is to determine the influence of a pressure side separation on the profile losses and hence the robustness to suction side incidence flow. The cascade is tested at four incidence angles from 0° to −22.7° to create separation bubbles of different sizes. The influence of the Reynolds number is investigated for a wide range at constant exit Mach number. Therefore a typical exit Mach number for low pressure turbines in the range of 0.5–0.8 is chosen in order to consider compressible effects. Furthermore, two inlet turbulence levels of about 3% and 7.5% have been considered. The characteristics of the separation bubble are identified by using the profile pressure distributions, whereas wake traverses with a five hole probe are used to determine the influence of the pressure side separation on the profile losses. Further, time-resolved pressure measurements near the trailing edge as well as single hot wire measurements in the blade passage are conducted to investigate the unsteady behavior of the pressure side separation process itself and also its influence on the midspan passage flow.

An Examination of the Contributions to Loss on a Transonic Turbine Blade in Cascade

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Mee ◽  
N. C. Baines ◽  
M. L. G. Oldfield ◽  
T. E. Dickens
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Suction Surface ◽  
Near Wake ◽  
Linear Cascade ◽  
Transonic Turbine ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

Experiments to measure losses of a linear cascade of transonic turbine blades are reported. Detailed measurements of the boundary layer at the rear of the suction surface of a blade and examination of wake traverse data enable the individual components of boundary layer, shock and mixing loss to be determined. Results indicate that each component contributes significantly to the overall loss in different Mach number regimes. Traverses in the near wake of the blade indicate the way in which the wake develops and facilitate examination of the development of the mixing loss.

Experimental and Numerical Investigations of a Transonic, High Turning Turbine Cascade With a Divergent Endwall

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh Abraham ◽  
Kapil Panchal ◽  
Song Xue ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad ◽  
Wing Ng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mach Number ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Design Flow ◽  
Cfd Analysis ◽  
Airfoil Surface ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
End Wall

The paper presents detailed measurements of midspan total pressure loss, secondary flow field, static pressure measurements on airfoil surface at midspan, near hub and near the end walls in a transonic turbine airfoil cascade. Numerous low-speed experimental studies have been carried out to investigate the performance of turbine cascades. Profile and secondary loss correlations have been developed and improved over the years to include the induced incidence and leading edge geometry and to reflect recent trends in turbine design. All of the above investigations have resulted in better understanding of flow field in turbine passages. However, there is still insufficient data on the performance of turbine blades with high turning angles operating at varying incidences angles at transonic Mach numbers. In the present study, measurements were made at +10, 0 and −10 degree incidence angles for a high turning turbine airfoil with 127 degree turning. The exit Mach numbers were varied within a range from 0.6 to 1.1. Additionally, the exit span is increased relative to the inlet span resulting in one end wall diverging from inlet to exit at 13 degree angle. This was done in order to obtain a ratio of inlet Mach number to exit Mach number which is representative to that encountered in real engine and simulates the blade and near end wall loading that is seen in an engine. 3D viscous compressible CFD analysis was carried out in order to compare the results with experimentally obtained values and to further investigate the design and off-design flow characteristics of the airfoil under study. All aerodynamic measurements were compared with CFD analysis and a reasonably good match was observed.

Numerical Investigation of Aerothermal Characteristics of the Blade Tip and Near-Tip Regions of a Transonic Turbine Blade

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Arisi ◽  
S. Xue ◽  
W. F. Ng ◽  
H. K. Moon ◽  
L. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Rotor Blade ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Exit Mach Number

In modern gas turbine engines, the blade tips and near-tip regions are exposed to high thermal loads caused by the tip leakage flow. The rotor blades are therefore carefully designed to achieve optimum work extraction at engine design conditions without failure. However, very often gas turbine engines operate outside these design conditions which might result in sudden rotor blade failure. Therefore, it is critical that the effect of such off-design turbine blade operation be understood to minimize the risk of failure and optimize rotor blade tip performance. In this study, the effect of varying the exit Mach number on the tip and near-tip heat transfer characteristics was numerically studied by solving the steady Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equation. The study was carried out on a highly loaded flat tip rotor blade with 1% tip gap and at exit Mach numbers of Mexit = 0.85 (Reexit = 9.75 × 105) and Mexit = 1.0 (Reexit = 1.15 × 106) with high freestream turbulence (Tu = 12%). The exit Reynolds number was based on the rotor axial chord. The numerical results provided detailed insight into the flow structure and heat transfer distribution on the tip and near-tip surfaces. On the tip surface, the heat transfer was found to generally increase with exit Mach number due to high turbulence generation in the tip gap and flow reattachment. While increase in exit Mach number generally raises he heat transfer over the whole blade surface, the increase is significantly higher on the near-tip surfaces affected by leakage vortex. Increase in exit Mach number was found to also induce strong flow relaminarization on the pressure side near-tip. On the other hand, the size of the suction surface near-tip region affected by leakage vortex was insensitive to changes in exit Mach number but significant increase in local heat transfer was noted in this region.

Tip Leakage Losses in Subsonic and Transonic Blade-Rows

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. S. Wheeler ◽  
Theodosios Korakianitis ◽  
Shashimal Banneheke
Keyword(s):  
Mach Number ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Leakage Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Leakage Flows ◽  
Mach Numbers ◽  
Exit Mach Number ◽  
Tip Leakage Flows

In this paper the effect of blade-exit Mach number on unshrouded turbine tip-leakage flows is investigated. Previously published experimental data of a high-pressure turbine blade are used to validate a CFD code, which is then used to study the tip-leakage flow at blade-exit Mach numbers from 0.6 to 1.4. Three-dimensional calculations are performed of a flat-tip and a cavity-tip blade. Two-dimensional calculations are also performed to show the effect of various squealer-tip geometries on an idealized tip-flow. The results show that as the blade-exit Mach number is increased the tip leakage flow becomes choked. Therefore the tip-leakage flow becomes independent of the pressure difference across the tip and hence the blade-loading. Thus the effect of the tip-leakage flow on overall blade loss reduces at blade-exit Mach numbers greater than 1.0. The results suggest that for transonic blade-rows it should be possible to raise blade loading within the tip region without increasing tip-leakage loss.

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