Flow Topology Optimization of a Cooling Passage for a High Pressure Turbine Blade

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Iseler ◽  
T. J. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Topology Optimization ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Flow Topology ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Design Modification ◽  
Cooling Passage ◽  
The Impact

This paper deals with a topology optimization of internal cooling passages within high pressure turbine blades in order to deliver fully three dimensional designs that optimize the local flow physics. By applying the implemented optimality criteria, a new individual passage design with minimized amount of recirculation is achieved, leading to a reduced total pressure loss. In contrary to traditional parametric approaches, where a CFD run is needed after each design modification, the applied topology optimization acts as a co-simulation and is finished after a single run where the initial geometry represents the available design space. The CFD runs for optimization and the subsequent verification of the flow passages assume steady state take-off conditions. The verification includes a flow simulation to check the pressure loss of the optimized passage design. In a second step, a loosely coupled conjugate heat transfer procedure including external turbine flow, coolant flow and heat conduction of the solid (blade, platform and attachment) is applied to predict the impact on the heat transfer. By running a FEM simulation afterwards, the stresses are computed and compared with those from the reference design.

Impact of Individual High-Pressure Turbine Rotor Purge Flows on Turbine Center Frame Aerodynamics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Zerobin ◽  
C. Aldrian ◽  
A. Peters ◽  
F. Heitmeir ◽  
E. Göttlich
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Reference Case ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Purge Flow ◽  
Generation Mechanisms ◽  
The Impact

This paper presents an experimental study of the impact of individual high-pressure turbine purge flows on the main flow in a downstream turbine center frame duct. Measurements were carried out in a product-representative one and a half stage turbine test setup, installed in the Transonic Test Turbine Facility at Graz University of Technology. The rig allows testing at engine-relevant flow conditions, matching Mach, Reynolds, and Strouhal number at the inlet of the turbine center frame. The reference case features four purge flows differing in flow rate, pressure, and temperature, injected through the hub and tip, forward and aft cavities of the high-pressure turbine rotor. To investigate the impact of each individual cooling flow on the flow evolution in the turbine center frame, the different purge flows were switched off one-by-one while holding the other three purge flow conditions. In total, this approach led to six different test conditions when including the reference case and the case without any purge flow ejection. Detailed measurements were carried out at the turbine center frame duct inlet and outlet for all six conditions and the post-processed results show that switching off one of the rotor case purge flows leads to an improved duct performance. In contrast, the duct exit flow is dominated by high pressure loss regions if the forward rotor hub purge flow is turned off. Without the aft rotor hub purge flow, a reduction in duct pressure loss is determined. The purge flows from the rotor aft cavities are demonstrated to play a particularly important role for the turbine center frame aerodynamic performance. In summary, this paper provides a first-time assessment of the impact of four different purge flows on the flow field and loss generation mechanisms in a state-of-the-art turbine center frame configuration. The outcomes of this work indicate that a high-pressure turbine purge flow reduction generally benefits turbine center frame performance. However, the forward rotor hub purge flow actually stabilizes the flow in the turbine center frame duct and reducing this purge flow can penalize turbine center frame performance. These particular high-pressure turbine/turbine center frame interactions should be taken into account whenever high-pressure turbine purge flow reductions are pursued.

Aerodynamics and Heat Transfer for a Cooled One and One-Half Stage High-Pressure Turbine—Part III: Impact of Hot-Streak Characteristics on Blade Row Heat Flux

2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Mathison ◽  
C. W. Haldeman ◽  
M. G. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Radial Profile ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Coolant Temperature ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Blade Row ◽  
Hot Streak ◽  
The Impact

The influence of hot-streak magnitude and alignment relative to the vane leading edge on blade row heat flux is investigated for a one and one-half stage high-pressure turbine with a film-cooled vane, purge cooling, and uncooled blades. The full-stage turbine is operated at design-corrected conditions. In addition to investigating the impact of different hot-streak characteristics, this study also looks at the interaction of cooling flow with the hot streaks. This paper builds on the investigation of profile migration utilizing temperature measurements presented in Part I and the heat transfer measurements presented in Part II. Hot streaks aligned with the vane midpitch have a greater impact on blade temperatures and heat-flux values than hot streaks aligned with the vane leading edge. The leading edge hot streaks tend to be mixed out over the surface of the vane. The magnitude of the hot streak is observed to have the largest influence on the temperature and heat flux for the downstream blade. Time-accurate measurements confirm these conclusions and indicate that further analysis of the time-accurate data is warranted. Film cooling is found to impact a hot-streak profile in a way similar to that observed for a radial profile. Differences in core to coolant temperature ratio cause the uniform profile to show different coolant effects, but the overall spread of the cooling appears similar.

Aerothermodynamics of a High-Pressure Turbine Blade With Very High Loading and Vortex Generators

2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinaldo A. Gomes ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Flow Separation ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Vortex Generators ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Very High

AITEB-2 is a project where aerothermal challenges of modern high pressure turbine designs are analyzed. One of the scopes of the project is to allow for new gas turbine designs with less parts and lighter jet engines by increasing the blade pitch and therefore the aerodynamic blade loading. For transonic profiles, this leads to very high velocities on the suction side and shock induced separation is likely to occur. The total pressure loss increase due to flow separation and strong shocks, as well as the underturning of the flow, limits the increase of the blade pitch. In this paper, experiments using a linear turbine blade cascade with high aerodynamic loading are presented. The blade pitch is increased such that at design conditions, a strong separation occurs on the suction side. The experiments were run at high subsonic exit Mach numbers and at Reynolds numbers of 390,000 and 800,000. In order to reduce the flow separation and the aerodynamic losses, air jet vortex generators are used, which create streamwise vortices prior to the separation start. Since in high pressure turbine blades film cooling is widely used, also the influence of film cooling both with and without using vortex generators is analyzed. Film cooling is provided on the suction side by two rows of cylindrical holes. This paper provides an analysis of the influence of different main flow conditions, film cooling, and vortex generators on total pressure loss, heat transfer and film cooling effectiveness. The experiments show that the vortex generators, as well as the film cooling reduce flow separation and total pressure losses. The effects are also seen in the local heat transfer, especially with enhanced heat transport in the region with flow separation. The cases presented in this paper deal with complex flow phenomena, which are challenging to be predicted with modern numerical tools correctly. Therefore, the experimental data serve as a comprehensive database for validation of simulation tools in the AITEB-2 project.

Design and Optimization of the Internal Cooling Channels of a High Pressure Turbine Blade—Part I: Methodology

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Amaral ◽  
Tom Verstraete ◽  
René Van den Braembussche ◽  
Tony Arts
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Thermal Stress ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Internal Cooling ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
The Impact

This first paper describes the conjugate heat transfer (CHT) method and its application to the performance and lifetime prediction of a high pressure turbine blade operating at a very high inlet temperature. It is the analysis tool for the aerothermal optimization described in a second paper. The CHT method uses three separate solvers: a Navier–Stokes solver to predict the nonadiabatic external flow and heat flux, a finite element analysis (FEA) to compute the heat conduction and stress within the solid, and a 1D aerothermal model based on friction and heat transfer correlations for smooth and rib-roughened cooling channels. Special attention is given to the boundary conditions linking these solvers and to the stability of the complete CHT calculation procedure. The Larson–Miller parameter model is used to determine the creep-to-rupture failure lifetime of the blade. This model requires both the temperature and thermal stress inside the blade, calculated by the CHT and FEA. The CHT method is validated on two test cases: a gas turbine rotor blade without cooling and one with five cooling channels evenly distributed along the camber line. The metal temperature and thermal stress distribution in both blades are presented and the impact of the cooling channel geometry on lifetime is discussed.

Aerothermodynamics of a High-Pressure Turbine Blade With Very High Loading and Vortex Generators

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinaldo A. Gomes ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Flow Separation ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Vortex Generators ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Very High

AITEB-2 is a project where aerothermal challenges of modern high pressure turbine designs are analysed. One of the scopes of the project is to allow for new gas turbine designs with less parts and lighter jet engines by increasing the blade pitch and therefore the aerodynamic blade loading. For transonic profiles this leads to very high velocities on the suction side and shock induced separation is likely to occur. The total pressure loss increase due to flow separation and strong shocks as well as the under-turning of the flow limits the increase of the blade pitch. In this paper experiments using a linear turbine blade cascade with high aerodynamic loading are presented. The blade pitch is increased such that at design conditions a strong separation occurs on the suction side. The experiments were run at high subsonic exit Mach numbers and at Reynolds numbers of 390,000 and 800,000. In order to reduce the flow separation and the aerodynamic losses, air jet vortex generators are used which create streamwise vortices prior to the separation start. Since in high pressure turbine blades film cooling is widely used, also the influence of film cooling both with and without using vortex generators is analysed. Film cooling is provided on the suction side by two rows of cylindrical holes. The paper provides an analysis of the influence of different main flow conditions, film cooling and vortex generators on total pressure loss, heat transfer and film cooling effectiveness. The experiments show that the vortex generators as well as the film cooling reduce flow separation and total pressure losses. Effects are also seen in the local heat transfer, especially with enhanced heat transport in the region with flow separation. The cases presented in this paper deal with complex flow phenomena which are challenging to be predicted with modern numerical tools correctly. Therefore the experimental data serve as a comprehensive data base for CFD validation in the AITEB-2 project.

scholarly journals Transient Aero-Thermo-Mechanical Multidimensional Analysis of a High Pressure Turbine Assembly Through a Square Cycle

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislav Ganine ◽  
John W. Chew ◽  
Nicholas Hills ◽  
Sulfi Noor Mohamed ◽  
Matthew Miller
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Network Code ◽  
Multidimensional Analysis ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Engine Components ◽  
Cooling Air

Abstract Better understanding and more accurate prediction of heat transfer and cooling flows in aero engine components in steady and transient operating regimes are essential to modern engine designs aiming at reduced cooling air consumption and improved engine efficiencies. This paper presents a simplified coupled transient analysis methodology that allows assessment of the aerothermal and thermomechanical responses of engine components together with cooling air mass flow, pressure and temperature distributions in an automatic fully integrated way. This is achieved by assembling a fluid network with contribution of components of different geometrical dimensions coupled to each other through dimensionally heterogeneous interfaces. More accurate local flow conditions, heat transfer and structural displacement are resolved on a smaller area of interest with multidimensional surface coupled CFD/FE codes. Contributions of the whole engine air-system are predicted with a faster mono dimensional flow network code. Matching conditions at the common interfaces are enforced at each time step exactly by employing an efficient iterative scheme. The coupled simulation is performed on an industrial high pressure turbine disk component run through a square cycle. Predictions are compared against the available experimental data. The paper proves the reliability and performance of the multidimensional coupling technique in a realistic industrial setting. The results underline the importance of including more physical details into transient thermal modelling of turbine engine components.

scholarly journals Transient Aero-Thermo-Mechanical Multidimensional Analysis of a High Pressure Turbine Assembly Through a Square Cycle

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlad Ganine ◽  
John W. Chew ◽  
Nicholas J. Hills ◽  
Sulfi N. Mohamed ◽  
Matthew M. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Network Code ◽  
Multidimensional Analysis ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Engine Components ◽  
Cooling Air

Abstract Better understanding and more accurate prediction of heat transfer and cooling flows in aero engine components in steady and transient operating regimes are essential to modern engine designs aiming at reduced cooling air consumption and improved engine efficiencies. This paper presents a simplified coupled transient analysis methodology that allows assessment of the aerothermal and thermomechanical responses of engine components together with cooling air mass flow, pressure and temperature distributions in an automatic fully integrated way. This is achieved by assembling a fluid network with contribution of components of different geometrical dimensions coupled to each other through dimensionally heterogeneous interfaces. More accurate local flow conditions, heat transfer and structural displacement are resolved on a smaller area of interest with multidimensional surface coupled CFD/FE codes. Contributions of the whole engine air-system are predicted with a faster mono dimensional flow network code. Matching conditions at the common interfaces are enforced at each time step exactly by employing an efficient iterative scheme. The coupled simulation is performed on an industrial high pressure turbine disk component run through a square cycle. Predictions are compared against the available experimental data. The paper proves the reliability and performance of the multidimensional coupling technique in a realistic industrial setting. The results underline the importance of including more physical details into transient thermal modelling of turbine engine components.

Developing a Combustor Simulator for Investigating High Pressure Turbine Aerodynamics and Heat Transfer

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Barringer ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
M. D. Polanka
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Temperature Profiles ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Blow Down ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
The Impact

Within a gas turbine engine, the high pressure turbine vanes are subjected to very harsh conditions from the highly turbulent and hot gases exiting the combustor. The temperature and pressure fields exiting the combustor dictate the heat transfer and aero losses that occur in the turbine passages. To better understand these effects, the goal of this work is to develop an adjustable combustor exit profile simulator for the Turbine Research Facility (TRF) at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The TRF is a high temperature, high pressure, short duration blow-down test facility that is capable of matching several aerodynamic and thermal non-dimensional engine parameters including Reynolds number, Mach number, pressure ratio, corrected mass flow, gas-to-metal temperature ratio, and corrected speed. The research objective was to design, install, and verify a non-reacting simulator device that provides representative combustor exit total pressure and temperature profiles to the inlet of the TRF turbine test section. This required the upstream section of the facility to be redesigned into multiple concentric annuli that serve the purpose of injecting high momentum dilution jets and low momentum film cooling jets into a central annular chamber, similar to a turbine engine combustor. The design of the simulator allows for variations in injection levels to generate turbulence and pressure profiles. It also can vary the dilution and film cooling temperatures to create a variety of temperature profiles consistent with real combustors. To date, the design and construction of the simulator device has been completed. All of the hardware has been trial fitted and the flow control shutter systems have been successfully installed and tested. Currently, verification testing is being performed to investigate the impact of the generated temperature, pressure, and turbulence profiles on turbine heat transfer and secondary flow development.

Aerodynamics and Heat Transfer for a Cooled One and One-Half Stage High-Pressure Turbine: Part III—Impact of Hot Streak Characteristics on Blade Row Heat Flux

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Mathison ◽  
C. W. Haldeman ◽  
M. G. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Radial Profile ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Coolant Temperature ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Blade Row ◽  
Hot Streak ◽  
The Impact

The influence of hot streak magnitude and alignment relative to the vane leading edge on blade row heat flux are investigated for a one and one-half stage high-pressure turbine with a film-cooled vane, purge cooling, and un-cooled blades. The full-stage turbine is operated at design-corrected conditions. In addition to investigating the impact of different hot-streak characteristics, this study also looks at the interaction of cooling flow with the hot streaks. This paper builds on the investigation of profile migration utilizing temperature measurements presented in Part I and the heat transfer measurements presented in Part II. Hot streaks aligned with the vane mid-pitch have a greater impact on blade temperatures and heat-flux values than hot streaks aligned with the vane leading edge. The leading edge hot streaks tend to be mixed out over the surface of the vane. The magnitude of the hot streak is observed to have the largest influence on the temperature and heat flux for the downstream blade. Time-accurate measurements confirm these conclusions and indicate that further analysis of the time-accurate data is warranted. Film cooling is found to impact a hot streak profile in a way similar to that observed for a radial profile. Differences in core to coolant temperature ratio cause the uniform profile to show different coolant effects, but the overall spread of the cooling appears similar.

Effects of Combustor Exit Profiles on Vane Aerodynamic Loading and Heat Transfer in a High Pressure Turbine

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Barringer ◽  
K. A. Thole ◽  
M. D. Polanka
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Temperature Profiles ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Aerodynamic Loading ◽  
Turbine Inlet ◽  
Pressure Profiles ◽  
Total Temperature

The flow and thermal fields exiting gas turbine combustors dictate the overall performance of the downstream turbine. The goal of this work was to investigate the effects of engine representative combustor exit profiles on high pressure turbine vane aerodynamics and heat transfer. The various profiles were produced using a nonreacting turbine inlet profile generator in the Turbine Research Facility (TRF) located at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). This paper reports how the pressure loading and heat transfer along the vane surface was affected by different turbine inlet pressure and temperature profiles at different span locations. The results indicate that the inlet total pressure profiles affected the aerodynamic loading by as much as 10%. The results also reveal that the combination of different total pressure and total temperature profiles significantly affected the vane heat transfer relative to a baseline test with uniform inlet total pressure and total temperature. Near the inner diameter endwall, the baseline heat transfer was reduced 30–40% over the majority of the vane surface. Near the outer dimeter endwall, it was found that certain inlet profiles could increase the baseline heat transfer by 10–20%, while other profiles resulted in a decrease in the baseline heat transfer by 25–35%. This study also shows the importance of knowing an accurate prediction of the local flow driving temperature when determining vane surface heat transfer.

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