Effects of Stator Flow Distortion on Rotating Blade Endurance: Part 1—Aerodynamic Excitation Aspects

Author(s):  
Vishwas Iyengar ◽  
Harold Simmons

Blade vibrations, with the possibility of a failure, are one of the major factors controlling the reliability of all compressors and turbines. Flow disturbances upstream and downstream of rotor/ stator will produce wake pulses that excite the blades. This requires a structural dynamic model of the blade stress response for a given excitation and a method to estimate the pulsating forces acting on the rotating blades by the stationary components and, vice versa, for rotor pulsations acting on the stator. This paper discusses the efforts made to understand the aerodynamic instabilities caused by the vane and its role in generation of blade vibration. Here, comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are used to get a better understanding of the stator-rotor flow interactions at different operating conditions and their effect on overall pulsation and vibration levels. This model is based on blade dynamic response measurements and on careful CFD simulations of basic flow altering scenarios. It is found that a surprisingly low misalignment angle (relative) could result in fatigue damage stress levels in most cases. This paper presents several example cases to demonstrate typical flow profiles for axial and radial compressors/ turbines with varying stator flow distortions. It is Part 1 of a two-part high cycle fatigue (HCF) failure analysis procedure, dealing with aerodynamic excitation aspects.

Author(s):  
Harold Simmons ◽  
Vishwas Iyengar ◽  
Timothy C. Allison

Blade vibrations, with the possibility of failure, is one of the major factors controlling the reliability of compressors and turbines. The prospects of encountering high alternating stress environments in blades make efficient turbomachine operation a very challenging task. In many cases the compressor or turbine functions through a wide range of load, flow, temperature, and speed which affect blade vibration, thus the stress environment continuously changes as the operating conditions changes. Any flow disturbance upstream of the rotating blades and some disturbances downstream will produce repetitive wake pulses that excite the blades. Resonance occurs with any coincidence of repetitive pulses with structural natural frequencies of rotating blades or impellers resulting in substantial amplification of alternating stresses. Most OEM design practices control vibratory stresses by avoiding resonance with expected stator sources; those excitations that cannot be avoided are designed with sufficient endurance to prevent failure. Thus three aspects of rotor/ blade design affect reliability: 1) aerodynamic excitation level and frequency, 2) structural response and resonance margins, and 3) selection and control of materials, coatings and their fabrication process to withstand the service environment. The main objective of this study is to develop a mathematical model to simulate the stresses in the rotating blade row that evaluates all three aspects of design to assess long term endurance. This is a two part paper on high cycle fatigue (HCF) failure analysis procedure of rotating blades and impellers. Part 1 [1] discusses aerodynamic excitation caused by stator vane and its role in generation of blade vibration. Here comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to get a better understanding of the stator-rotor flow interactions at different operating conditions. The results of the aerodynamic simulations are order related excitation spectrum that can be applied to the stress/pulsation relationship defined in this part of the paper. This paper, Part 2, discusses an empirical dynamic stress model developed by impulse testing, assessing material endurance strength, and evaluation of criteria for failure by HCF.


Author(s):  
David Hemberger ◽  
Roberto De Santis ◽  
Dietmar Filsinger

As a means of meeting ever increasing emissions and fuel economy demands car manufacturers are using aggressive engine downsizing. To maintain the power output of the engine turbocharging is typically used. Compared to Mono scroll turbines, with a multi-entry system the individual volute sizing can be better matched to the single mass flow pulse from the engine cylinders. The exhaust pulse energy can be better utilised by the turbocharger turbine improving turbocharger response. Additionally the interaction of the engine exhaust pulses can be better avoided, improving the scavenging of the engine. Besides the thermodynamic advantages, the multi-entry turbine represents a challenge to the structural dynamic design of the turbine. A higher number of turbine wheel resonance points can be expected during operation. In addition, the increased use of exhaust pulse energy leads to a distinct accentuation of the blade vibration excitation. Using validated engine models, the interaction of the multi-entry turbine with the engine has been analyzed and various operating points, which may be critical for the blade vibration excitation, have been classified. These operating points deliver the input variables for unsteady computational flow dynamics (CFD) analyses. From these calculations unsteady blade forces were derived providing the necessary boundary conditions for the structural dynamic analyses by spatially and temporally high-resolved absolute pressures on the turbine surface. Goal of the investigation is to identify critical operating conditions. Important is also to investigate the effect of a scroll connection valve on blade excitation. The investigations utilize validated tools that were introduced and successfully applied to several turbine types in a series of publications over recent years. It can be stated that the engine operating condition and the admission type significantly influence the forced response reaction of the blade to the different excitation orders (EO). In case of equal admission even (or multiples of two) EOs generate the largest dynamic blade stress as can be expected due to the two turbine inlet segments. This reaction also increases with the engine speed. In the case of unequal admission, the odd EOs produce the largest forced response reaction. The maximum dynamic blade stress occurs in the region where the scroll connection is just closed. Above all, the scroll connection valve influences the Beta value and thus the basic behavior — unequal or equal admission. It has been possible to reconstruct the forced response behavior of the turbine blade within an engine combustion cycle. For the first time it could be shown for a double scroll application that there is a significant dynamic blade stress change dependent on the engine crankshaft angle. Certainly, due to the inertia of the mass and damping (mass, structure, flow), the blade will not exactly follow the predicted course. However, it is clear that the transient processes within an engine combustion cycle will affect the dynamic blade stress. This applies to the turbine wheels investigated in the work at hand with low damping, high eigenfrequencies and the considered internal combustion engines — as they are typically used in the passenger car sector.


Author(s):  
Yun Zheng ◽  
Kang Xu ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Qingzhe Gao ◽  
Xiubo Jin

Abstract S-shaped intakes are widely used in aero-engines of modern fighters because of the demand for reducing radar cross-section. Besides, boundary layer ingestion (BLI) configurations are proposed in civil engines recently due to the high propulsion efficiency and low fuel consumption. And S-shaped ducts are usually used as transition sections of diffusers in BLI intakes. Compared with normal straight intakes, it is inevitable to bring in the influence of inlet distortion and acoustic reflection for S-shaped intakes. Meanwhile, composite fan blades, shorter intakes and integrated blisks are common in engine designs. So, fan blades are prone to serious vibrations such as flutter and forced response, which may lead to high-cycle fatigue, and further cause structural failure. The aeromechanical characteristics of a transonic fan (NASA rotor67) in presence of a s-shaped intake are predicted by an in-house integrated time-domain aeroelasticity code. The three dimensional, time-accurate, unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved in fluid domain, and the structural dynamic equations of blade vibration are solved with a modal superimposition method. Mode shapes and natural frequencies of rotor blade are obtained with a commercial Finite Element code, and the Campbell diagram is presented. Full-annulus aeroelastic calculations are conducted to obtain the transient response and the aerodynamic damping of fan blades. Different techniques for interface between the intake and the rotor are used for comparison to demonstrate the influence of upstream interaction. A mixing-plane model is used at the interface to model the blade vibration without interactions with the distortion, while a sliding-plane model is used at the same condition to include the flow distortion and acoustic effects on the fan blade motion. S-shaped intakes with two different axial length are investigated for the forced response and flutter stability. This study indicates that the forced response level is attenuated due to the decrease of distortion level as the length increases, while the flutter stability is determined by the phase difference between the upstream and the reflective acoustic wave.


Author(s):  
Andreas Marn ◽  
Florian Schönleitner ◽  
Mathias Mayr ◽  
Thorsten Selic ◽  
Franz Heitmeir

In order to achieve the ACARE targets regarding reduction of emissions, it is essential to reduce fuel consumption drastically. Reducing engine weight is supporting this target and one option to reduce weight is to reduce the overall engine length (shorter shafts, nacelle). However, to achieve a reduction in engine length, the spacing between stator and rotor can be minimised, thus changing the rotor blade excitation. Related to the axial spacing, a number of excitation mechanisms with respect to the rotor blading must already be considered during the design process. Based on these facts several setups have been investigated at different engine relevant operating points and axial spacing between the stator and rotor in the subsonic test turbine facility (STTF-AAAI) at the Institute for Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics at Graz University of Technology. In order to avoid upstream effects of supporting struts, these struts are located far downstream of the stage which is under investigation. For rotor blade vibration measurements, a novel telemetry system in combination with strain gauges is applied. To the best of the author’s knowledge, the present paper is the first report of blade vibration measurements within a rotating system in the area of low pressure turbines under engine relevant operating conditions. In addition, aerodynamic measurements including unsteady flow measurements have been conducted, but will not be presented in this paper. By analysing the flow field, aerodynamic excitation mechanisms can be identified and assigned to the blade vibration. However, this is not presented in this paper. Within this paper, the flow fields are analysed in both upstream and downstream of the turbine stage, visualised for two axial gaps and then compared to the forced response of the blading. Detailed structural dynamic investigations show critical modes during the operation which are identified by the telemetry measurements as well. Finally the influence of the axial spacing regarding the rotor blade excitation and vibration can be elaborated and is prepared to get a better understanding of basic mechanisms. The paper shows that reducing axial spacing is a promising option for reducing engine weight, but aeroelasticity must be carefully taken into account.


2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15
Author(s):  
Johannes Gültlinger ◽  
Frank Gauterin ◽  
Christian Brandau ◽  
Jan Schlittenhard ◽  
Burkhard Wies

ABSTRACT The use of studded tires has been a subject of controversy from the time they came into market. While studded tires contribute to traffic safety under severe winter conditions by increasing tire friction on icy roads, they also cause damage to the road surface when running on bare roads. Consequently, one of the main challenges in studded tire development is to reduce road wear while still ensuring a good grip on ice. Therefore, a research project was initiated to gain understanding about the mechanisms and influencing parameters involved in road wear by studded tires. A test method using the institute's internal drum test bench was developed. Furthermore, mechanisms causing road wear by studded tires were derived from basic analytical models. These mechanisms were used to identify the main parameters influencing road wear by studded tires. Using experimental results obtained with the test method developed, the expected influences were verified. Vehicle driving speed and stud mass were found to be major factors influencing road wear. This can be explained by the stud impact as a dominant mechanism. By means of the test method presented, quantified and comparable data for road wear caused by studded tires under controllable conditions can be obtained. The mechanisms allow predicting the influence of tire construction and variable operating conditions on road wear.


Author(s):  
Hossein Gholizadeh ◽  
Doug Bitner ◽  
Richard Burton ◽  
Greg Schoenau

It is well known that the presence of entrained air bubbles in hydraulic oil can significantly reduce the effective bulk modulus of hydraulic oil. The effective bulk modulus of a mixture of oil and air as pressure changes is considerably different than when the oil and air are not mixed. Theoretical models have been proposed in the literature to simulate the pressure sensitivity of the effective bulk modulus of this mixture. However, limited amounts of experimental data are available to prove the validity of the models under various operating conditions. The major factors that affect pressure sensitivity of the effective bulk modulus of the mixture are the amount of air bubbles, their size and the distribution, and rate of compression of the mixture. An experimental apparatus was designed to investigate the effect of these variables on the effective bulk modulus of the mixture. The experimental results were compared with existing theoretical models, and it was found that the theoretical models only matched the experimental data under specific conditions. The purpose of this paper is to specify the conditions in which the current theoretical models can be used to represent the real behavior of the pressure sensitivity of the effective bulk modulus of the mixture. Additionally, a new theoretical model is proposed for situations where the current models fail to truly represent the experimental data.


Author(s):  
Xinwei Zhao ◽  
Hongkun Li ◽  
Shuhua Yang ◽  
Zhenfang Fan ◽  
Yang Wang

The unshrouded impeller is widely used in industrial centrifugal compressors and normally operates at high tip speed and large volume flow. However, this type of impeller can be very sensitive to flow excitations such as IGV wake, and hence encounters the challenge of high dynamic stress. Due to the lack of experimental vibration data, this paper aims to enhance the understanding of the IGV preswirl effect. The real operating representative data from strain gauges is acquired during the experiment. The blade transient and quasi-steady response due to upstream IGV wake under different configurations are investigated and quantified. Results show that the blade response increases with larger positive regulation. And under specific operating conditions, the vibration of the blade is quite large, which is comparable with synchronize resonance. This increment is attributed to the aerodynamic loading change due to enhanced distortion of the inlet flow. Based on the current findings, accurate numerical prediction of the blade forced vibration for a large shift of inlet flow condition is also needed for more reliable operating of the impeller.


Author(s):  
Fabian F. Müller ◽  
Markus Schatz ◽  
Damian M. Vogt ◽  
Jens Aschenbruck

The influence of a cylindrical strut shortly downstream of the bladerow on the vibration behavior of the last stage rotor blades of a single stage LP model steam turbine was investigated in the present study. Steam turbine retrofits often result in an increase of turbine size, aiming for more power and higher efficiency. As the existing LP steam turbine exhaust hoods are generally not modified, the last stage rotor blades frequently move closer to installations within the exhaust hood. To capture the influence of such an installation on the flow field characteristics, extensive flow field measurements using pneumatic probes were conducted at the turbine outlet plane. In addition, time-resolved pressure measurements along the casing contour of the diffuser and on the surface of the cylinder were made, aiming for the identification of pressure fluctuations induced by the flow around the installation. Blade vibration behavior was measured at three different operating conditions by means of a tip timing system. Despite the considerable changes in the flow field and its frequency content, no significant impact on blade vibration amplitudes were observed for the investigated case and considered operating conditions. Nevertheless, time-resolved pressure measurements suggest that notable pressure oscillations induced by the vortex shedding can reach the upstream bladerow.


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