The Use of Probabilistic Methods in Determining Turbine Disc Cyclic Life Uncertainty

Author(s):  
David T. Williams ◽  
Peter Smout ◽  
Matteo Bianchi ◽  
Martin B. Joinson

Gas turbine discs are classified as Critical Parts since, in the event of their primary failure, high energy debris can be released potentially resulting in hazardous consequences to the aircraft. Critical Parts are monitored during the life cycle of a gas turbine engine to ensure that integrity is established and maintained. The predicted safe cyclic life for an engine disc must be calculated as part of this monitoring process. For calculating the life of a turbine disc, a thorough understanding of material properties, operating conditions, metal temperatures and the resultant stress field is required. These inputs are obtained variously by component or whole engine testing or by predictive methods. These methods evolve over time, and materials may need to be changed, so for legacy engine designs, it’s important that the monitoring process recognises this and reacts appropriately. This paper describes the application of probabilistic methods to determine the uncertainty of turbine disc cyclic life for a two shaft low by-pass ratio gas turbine engine designed originally in the 1950s but predicted to be in service to beyond 2030. For the subject gas turbine the original material used to manufacture the turbine discs was declared technically and commercially obsolete. A new material was selected, requiring a new cyclic life to be determined. Rather than run an engine test to measure temperatures of the new discs, an analytical approach was adopted involving air system and thermal modelling and robust design techniques. These included Monte-Carlo analyses and the linking of thermal modelling and cyclic lifing codes using optimisation tools. It is shown how a probabilistic approach to air system and thermal modelling has enabled: (i) a quantitative judgment on the value of an air system survey (ii) the uncertainty of thermal predictions and the resultant variation in life to be quantified. These methods and results have then been used to release a safe cyclic life of a turbine disc for operation in an aircraft without the use of a dedicated thermocouple test.

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Sattar ◽  
C. V. Sundt

1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Watts ◽  
T. E. Dwan ◽  
C. G. Brockus

An analog fuel control for a gas turbine engine was compared with several state-space derived fuel controls. A single-spool, simple cycle gas turbine engine was modeled using ACSL (high level simulation language based on FORTRAN). The model included an analog fuel control representative of existing commercial fuel controls. The ACSL model was stripped of nonessential states to produce an eight-state linear state-space model of the engine. The A, B, and C matrices, derived from rated operating conditions, were used to obtain feedback control gains by the following methods: (1) state feedback; (2) LQR theory; (3) Bellman method; and (4) polygonal search. An off-load transient followed by an on-load transient was run for each of these fuel controls. The transient curves obtained were used to compare the state-space fuel controls with the analog fuel control. The state-space fuel controls did better than the analog control.


Author(s):  
Godwin Ita Ekong ◽  
Christopher A. Long ◽  
Peter R. N. Childs

Compressor tip clearance for a gas turbine engine application is the radial gap between the stationary compressor casing and the rotating blades. The gap varies significantly during different operating conditions of the engine due to centrifugal forces on the rotor and differential thermal expansions in the discs and casing. The tip clearance in the axial flow compressor of modern commercial civil aero-engines is of significance in terms of both mechanical integrity and performance. In general, the clearance is of critical importance to civil airline operators and their customers alike because as the clearance between the compressor blade tips and the casing increases, the aerodynamic efficiency will decrease and therefore the specific fuel consumption and operating costs will increase. This paper reports on the development of a range of concepts and their evaluation for the reduction and control of tip clearance in H.P. compressors using an enhanced heat transfer coefficient approach. This would lead to improvement in cruise tip clearances. A test facility has been developed for the study at the University of Sussex, incorporating a rotor and an inner shaft scaled down from a Rolls-Royce Trent aero-engine to a ratio of 0.7:1 with a rotational speed of up to 10000 rpm. The idle and maximum take-off conditions in the square cycle correspond to in-cavity rotational Reynolds numbers of 3.1×106 ≤ Reφ ≤ 1.0×107. The project involved modelling of the experimental facilities, to demonstrate proof of concept. The analysis shows that increasing the thermal response of the high pressure compressor (HPC) drum of a gas turbine engine assembly will reduce the drum time constant, thereby reducing the re-slam characteristics of the drum causing a reduction in the cold build clearance (CBC), and hence the reduction in cruise clearance. A further reduction can be achieved by introducing radial inflow into the drum cavity to further increase the disc heat transfer coefficient in the cavity; hence a further reduction in disc drum time constant.


In the past three decades, it is very challenging for the researchers to design and development a best gas turbine engine component. Engine component has to face different operating conditions at different working environments. Nickel based superalloys are the best material to design turbine components. Inconel 718, Inconel 617, Hastelloy, Monel and Udimet are the common material used for turbine components. Directional solidification is one of the conventional casting routes followed to develop turbine blades. It is also reported that the raw materials are heat treated / age hardened to enrich the desired properties of the material implementation. Accordingly they are highly susceptible to mechanical and thermal stresses while operating. The hot section of the turbine components will experience repeated thermal stress. The halides in the combination of sulfur, chlorides and vanadate are deposited as molten salt on the surface of the turbine blade. On prolonged exposure the surface of the turbine blade starts to peel as an oxide scale. Microscopic images are the supportive results to compare the surface morphology after complete oxidation / corrosion studies. The spectroscopic results are useful to identify the elemental analysis over oxides formed. The predominant oxides observed are NiO, Cr2O3, Fe2O3 and NiCr2O4. These oxides are vulnerable on prolonged exposure and according to PB ratio the passivation are very less. In recent research, the invention on nickel based superalloys turbine blades produced through other advanced manufacturing process is also compared. A summary was made through comparing the conventional material and advanced materials performance of turbine blade material for high temperature performance.


Author(s):  
S.M. Sergeev ◽  
◽  
V.A. Kudriashov ◽  
N.V. Petrukhin ◽  
◽  
...  

The main technical characteristics of jet engines depend on the fuel quality: thrust and fuel consumption. As a rule, the comparative assessment of real engines is carried by specific values. Specific thrust is one of the most important parameters of the gas turbine engine (GTE). The larger it is, the smaller the required air flow rate through the engine at a given thrust and therefore its dimensions and mass. To date, a system for evaluating the performance properties of fuels based on qualification methods has been created. However, these methods do not allow calculating the thrust and specific thrust of the engine and potentially assessing the effect of fuels on these characteristics. Therefore, the issues of efficient use of fuels for GTE are solved almost exclusively on the basis of tests at testing units with full-scale engines, which are carried out repeatedly, which leads to a significant increase in the cost of testing. The article proposes a method for calculating the thrust and specific thrust of a double-flow gas turbine engine according to the results of tests at a constant volume laboratory unit of bypass type “Flame”. The method is based on modeling the engine operating conditions using the similarity criteria of the bench reactor and the real engine and allows reducing significantly the material and time costs for testing. The experimental of the combustion characteristics of hydrocarbon fuels and the rated values of their thrust and specific thrust for a double-flow gas turbine engine are presented.


Author(s):  
Alexandr N. Arkhipov ◽  
Yury A. Ravikovich ◽  
Anton A. Matushkin ◽  
Dmitry P. Kholobtsev

Abstract The regional aircraft with a turbofan gas turbine engine, created in Russia, is successfully operated in the world market. Further increase of the life and reduction of the cost of the life cycle are necessary to ensure the competitive advantages of the engine. One of the units limiting the engine life is the compressor rotor. The cyclic life of the rotor depends on many factors: the stress-strain state in critical zones, the life of the material under low-cycle loading, the regime of engine operation, production deviations (within tolerances), etc. In order to verify the influence of geometry deviations, the calculations of the model with nominal dimensions and the model with the most unfavorable geometric dimensions (worst cases) have been carried out. The obtained influence coefficients for geometric and weight tolerances are then used for probabilistic modeling of stresses in the critical zone. Rotor speed and gas loads on the blades for different flight missions and engine wear are determined from the corresponding aerodynamic calculations taking into account the actual flight cycles (takeoff, reduction, reverse) and are also used for stress recalculations. The subsequent calculation of the rotor cyclic life and the resource assessment is carried out taking into account the spread of the material low-cycle fatigue by probabilistic modeling of the rotor geometry and weight loads. A preliminary assessment of the coefficients of tolerances influence on stress in the critical zone can be used to select the optimal (in terms of life) tolerances at the design stage. Taking into account the actual geometric and weight parameters can allow estimating the stress and expected life of each manufactured rotor.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey Schutte ◽  
Jimmy Tai ◽  
Jonathan Sands ◽  
Dimitri Mavris

The focus of this study is to compare the aerothermodynamic cycle design space of a gas turbine engine generated using two on-design approaches. The traditional approach uses a single design point (SDP) for on-design cycle analysis, where off-design cycle analysis must be performed at other operating conditions of interest. A multi-design point (MDP) method performs on-design cycle analysis at all operating conditions where performance requirements are specified. Effects on the topography of the cycle design space as well as the feasibility of the space are examined. The impacts that performance requirements and cycle assumptions have on the bounds and topography of the feasible space are investigated. The deficiencies of a SDP method in determining an optimum gas turbine engine will be shown for a given set of requirements. Analysis will demonstrate that the MDP method, unlike the SDP method, always obtains a properly sized engine for a set of given requirements and cycle design variables, resulting in an increased feasible region of the aerothermodynamic cycle design space from which the optimum performance engine can be obtained.


Author(s):  
Seonghee Kho ◽  
Jayoung Ki ◽  
Miyoung Park ◽  
Changduk Kong ◽  
Kyungjae Lee

This study is aim to be programmed the simulation which is available for real-time performance analysis so that is to be developed gas turbine engine’s condition monitoring system with analyzing difference between performance analysis results and measuring data from test cell. In addition, test cell created by this study have been developed to use following applications: to use for learning principals and mechanism of gas turbine engine in school, and to use performance test and its further research for variable operating conditions in associated institutes. The maximum thrust of the micro turbojet engine is 137 N (14 kgf) at 126,000 rpm of rotor rotational speed if the Jet A1 kerosene fuel is used. The air flow rate is measured by the inflow air speed of duct, and the fuel flow is measured by a volumetric fuel flowmeter. Temperatures and pressures are measured at the atmosphere, the compressor inlet and outlet and the turbine outlet. The thrust stand was designed and manufactured to measure accurately the thrust by the load cell. All measuring sensors are connected to a DAQ (Data Acquisition) device, and the logging data are used as function parameters of the program, LabVIEW. The LabVIEW is used to develop the engine condition monitoring program. The proposed program can perform both the reference engine model performance analysis at an input condition and the real-time performance analysis with real-time variables. By comparing two analysis results the engine condition can be monitored. Both engine performance analysis data and monitoring results are displayed by the GUI (Graphic User Interface) platform.


Author(s):  
J. Zelina ◽  
D. T. Shouse ◽  
J. S. Stutrud ◽  
G. J. Sturgess ◽  
W. M. Roquemore

An aero gas turbine engine has been proposed that uses a near-constant-temperature (NCT) cycle and an Inter-Turbine Burner (ITB) to provide large amounts of power extraction from the low-pressure turbine. This level of energy is achieved with a modest temperature rise across the ITB. The additional energy can be used to power a large geared fan for an ultra-high bypass ratio transport aircraft, or to drive an alternator for large amounts of electrical power extraction. Conventional gas turbines engines cannot drive ultra-large diameter fans without causing excessively high turbine temperatures, and cannot meet high power extraction demands without a loss of engine thrust. Reducing the size of the combustion system is key to make use of a NCT gas turbine cycle. Ultra-compact combustor (UCC) concepts are being explored experimentally. These systems use high swirl in a circumferential cavity about the engine centerline to enhance reaction rates via high cavity g-loading on the order of 3000 g’s. Any increase in reaction rate can be exploited to reduce combustor volume. The UCC design integrates compressor and turbine features which will enable a shorter and potentially less complex gas turbine engine. This paper will present experimental data of the Ultra-Compact Combustor (UCC) performance in vitiated flow. Vitiation levels were varied from 12–20% oxygen levels to simulate exhaust from the high pressure turbine (HPT). Experimental results from the ITB at atmospheric pressure indicate that the combustion system operates at 97–99% combustion efficiency over a wide range of operating conditions burning JP-8 +100 fuel. Flame lengths were extremely short, at about 50% of those seen in conventional systems. A wide range of operation is possible with lean blowout fuel-air ratio limits at 25–50% below the value of current systems. These results are significant because the ITB only requires a small (300°F) temperature rise for optimal power extraction, leading to operation of the ITB at near-lean-blowout limits of conventional combustor designs. This data lays the foundation for the design space required for future engine designs.


Author(s):  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Cosimo Bianchini ◽  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Lorenzo Mazzei ◽  
Giovanni Riccio ◽  
...  

The transition-piece of a gas turbine engine is subjected to high thermal loads as it collects high temperature combustion products from the gas generator to a turbine. This generally produces high thermal stress levels in the casing of the transition piece, strongly limiting its life expectations and making it one of the most critical components of the entire engine. The reliable prediction of such thermal loads is hence a crucial aspect to increase the transition-piece life span and to assure safe operations. The present study aims to investigate the aero-thermal behaviour of a gas turbine engine transition-piece and in particular to evaluate working temperatures of the casing in relation to the flow and heat transfer situation inside and outside the transition-piece. Typical operating conditions are considered to determine the amount of heat transfer from the gas to the casing by means of CFD. Both conjugate approach and wall fixed temperature have been considered to compute the heat transfer coefficient, and more in general, the transition-piece thermal loads. Finally a discussion on the most convenient heat transfer coefficient expression is provided.


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