Effects of Downstream Vane Bowing and Asymmetry on Unsteadiness in a Transonic Turbine

Author(s):  
John P. Clark ◽  
Richard J. Anthony ◽  
Michael K. Ooten ◽  
John M. Finnegan ◽  
P. Dean Johnson ◽  
...  

Accurate predictions of unsteady forcing on turbine blades are essential for the avoidance of high-cycle-fatigue issues during turbine engine development. Further, if one can demonstrate that predictions of unsteady interaction in a turbine are accurate, then it becomes possible to anticipate resonant-stress problems and mitigate them through aerodynamic design changes during the development cycle. A successful reduction in unsteady forcing for a transonic turbine with significant shock interactions due to downstream components is presented here. A pair of methods to reduce the unsteadiness was considered and rigorously analyzed using a three-dimensional, time resolved Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solver. The first method relied on the physics of shock reflections itself and involved altering the stacking of downstream components to achieve a bowed airfoil. The second method considered was circumferentially-asymmetric vane spacing which is well known to spread the unsteadiness due to vane-blade interaction over a range of frequencies. Both methods of forcing reduction were analyzed separately and predicted to reduce unsteady pressures on the blade as intended. Then, both design changes were implemented together in a transonic turbine experiment and successfully shown to manipulate the blade unsteadiness in keeping with the design-level predictions. This demonstration was accomplished through comparisons of measured time-resolved pressures on the turbine blade to others obtained in a baseline experiment that included neither asymmetric spacing nor bowing of the downstream vane. The measured data were further compared to rigorous post-test simulations of the complete turbine annulus including a bowed downstream vane of non-uniform pitch.

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Clark ◽  
Richard J. Anthony ◽  
Michael K. Ooten ◽  
John M. Finnegan ◽  
P. Dean Johnson ◽  
...  

Accurate predictions of unsteady forcing on turbine blades are essential for the avoidance of high-cycle-fatigue issues during turbine engine development. Further, if one can demonstrate that predictions of unsteady interaction in a turbine are accurate, then it becomes possible to anticipate resonant-stress problems and mitigate them through aerodynamic design changes during the development cycle. A successful reduction in unsteady forcing for a transonic turbine with significant shock interactions due to downstream components is presented here. A pair of methods to reduce the unsteadiness was considered and rigorously analyzed using a three-dimensional (3D), time-resolved Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver. The first method relied on the physics of shock reflections itself and involved altering the stacking of downstream components to achieve a bowed airfoil. The second method considered was circumferentially asymmetric vane spacing which is well known to spread the unsteadiness due to vane-blade interaction over a range of frequencies. Both methods of forcing reduction were analyzed separately and predicted to reduce unsteady pressures on the blade as intended. Then, both design changes were implemented together in a transonic turbine experiment and successfully shown to manipulate the blade unsteadiness in keeping with the design-level predictions. This demonstration was accomplished through comparisons of measured time-resolved pressures on the turbine blade to others obtained in a baseline experiment that included neither asymmetric spacing nor bowing of the downstream vane. The measured data were further compared to rigorous post-test simulations of the complete turbine annulus including a bowed downstream vane of nonuniform pitch.


2003 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Clark ◽  
Marc D. Polanka ◽  
Matthew Meininger ◽  
Thomas J. Praisner

It is desirable to accurately predict the heat load on turbine hot section components within the design cycle of the engine. Thus, a set of predictions of the heat flux on the blade outer air seal of a transonic turbine is here validated with time-resolved measurements obtained in a single-stage high-pressure turbine rig. Surface pressure measurements were also obtained along the blade outer air seal, and these are also compared to three-dimensional, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes predictions. A region of very high heat flux was predicted as the pressure side of the blade passed a fixed location on the blade outer air seal, but this was not measured in the experiment. The region of high heat flux was associated both with very high harmonics of the blade-passing event and a discrepancy between predicted and measured time-mean heat-flux levels. Further analysis of the predicted heat flux in light of the experimental technique employed in the test revealed that the elevated heat flux associated with passage of the pressure side might be physical. Improvements in the experimental technique are suggested for future efforts.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Giel ◽  
J. R. Sirbaugh ◽  
I. Lopez ◽  
G. J. Van Fossen

Experimental measurements in the inlet of a transonic turbine blade cascade showed unacceptable pitchwise flow nonuniformity. A three-dimensional, Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the imbedded bellmouth inlet in the facility was performed to identify and eliminate the source of the flow nonuniformity. The blockage and acceleration effects of the blades were accounted for by specifying a periodic static pressure exit condition interpolated from a separate three-dimensional Navier–Stokes CFD solution of flow around a single blade in an infinite cascade. Calculations of the original inlet geometry showed total pressure loss regions consistent in strength and location to experimental measurements. The results indicate that the distortions were caused by a pair of streamwise vortices that originated as a result of the interaction of the flow with the imbedded bellmouth. Computations were performed for an inlet geometry that eliminated the imbedded bellmouth by bridging the region between it and the upstream wall. This analysis indicated that eliminating the imbedded bellmouth nozzle also eliminates the pair of vortices, resulting in a flow with much greater pitchwise uniformity. Measurements taken with an installed redesigned inlet verify that the flow nonuniformity has indeed been eliminated.


Author(s):  
O. Schennach ◽  
R. Pecnik ◽  
B. Paradiso ◽  
E. Go¨ttlich ◽  
A. Marn ◽  
...  

The current paper presents the results of numerical and experimental clocking investigations performed in a high-pressure transonic turbine with a downstream vane row. The objective was a detailed analysis of shock and wake interactions in such a 1.5 stage machine while clocking the vanes. Therefore a transient 3D-Navier Stokes calculation was done for two clocking positions and the three dimensional results are compared with Laser-Doppler-Velocimetry measurements at midspan. Additionally the second vane was equipped with fast response pressure transducers to record the instantaneous surface pressure for 20 different clocking positions at midspan.


2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 373-385
Author(s):  
Steffen Kämmerer ◽  
Jürgen F. Mayer ◽  
Heinz Stetter ◽  
Meinhard Paffrath ◽  
Utz Wever ◽  
...  

This article describes the development of a method for optimization of the geometry of three-dimensional turbine blades within a stage configuration. The method is based on flow simulations and gradient-based optimization techniques. This approach uses the fully parameterized blade geometry as variables for the optimization problem. Physical parameters such as stagger angle, stacking line, and chord length are part of the model. Constraints guarantee the requirements for cooling, casting, and machining of the blades.The fluid physics of the turbomachine and hence the objective function of the optimization problem are calculated by means of a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver especially designed for turbomachinery applications. The gradients required for the optimization algorithm are computed by numerically solving the sensitivity equations. Therefore, the explicitly differentiated Navier-Stokes equations are incorporated into the numerical method of the flow solver, enabling the computation of the sensitivity equations with the same numerical scheme as used for the flow field solution.This article introduces the components of the fully automated optimization loop and their interactions. Furthermore, the sensitivity equation method is discussed and several aspects of the implementation into a flow solver are presented. Flow simulations and sensitivity calculations are presented for different test cases and parameters. The validation of the computed sensitivities is performed by means of finite differences.


2009 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Schennach ◽  
J. Woisetschläger ◽  
B. Paradiso ◽  
G. Persico ◽  
P. Gaetani

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the flow field in a high-pressure transonic turbine with a downstream vane row (1.5 stage machine) concerning the airfoil indexing. The objective is a detailed analysis of the three-dimensional aerodynamics of the second vane for different clocking positions. To give an overview of the time-averaged flow field, five-hole probe measurements were performed upstream and downstream of the second stator. Furthermore in these planes additional unsteady measurements were carried out with laser Doppler velocimetry in order to record rotor phase-resolved velocity, flow angle, and turbulence distributions at two different clocking positions. In the planes upstream of the second vane, the time-resolved pressure field has been measured by means of a fast response aerodynamic pressure probe. This paper shows that the secondary flows of the second vane are significantly modified by the different clocking positions, in connection with the first vane modulation of the rotor secondary flows. An analysis of the performance of the second vane is also carried out, and a 0.6% variation in the second vane loss coefficient has been recorded among the different clocking positions.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Singh ◽  
P. K. Panigrahi ◽  
G. Biswas

Abstract A numerical study of rib augmented cooling of turbine blades is reported in this paper. The time-dependent velocity field around a pair of symmetrically placed ribs on the walls of a three-dimensional rectangular channel was studied by use of a modified version of Marker-And-Cell algorithm to solve the unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes and energy equations. The flow structures are presented with the help of instantaneous velocity vector and vorticity fields, FFT and time averaged and rms values of components of velocity. The spanwise averaged Nusselt number is found to increase at the locations of reattachment. The numerical results are compared with available numerical and experimental results. The presence of ribs leads to complex flow fields with regions of flow separation before and after the ribs. Each interruption in the flow field due to the surface mounted rib enables the velocity distribution to be more homogeneous and a new boundary layer starts developing downstream of the rib. The heat transfer is primarily enhanced due to the decrease in the thermal resistance owing to the thinner boundary layers on the interrupted surfaces. Another reason for heat transfer enhancement can be attributed to the mixing induced by large-scale structures present downstream of the separation point.


Author(s):  
J. P. Clark ◽  
A. S. Aggarwala ◽  
M. A. Velonis ◽  
R. E. Gacek ◽  
S. S. Magge ◽  
...  

The ability to predict levels of unsteady forcing on high-pressure turbine blades is critical to avoid high-cycle fatigue failures. In this study, 3D time-resolved computational fluid dynamics is used within the design cycle to predict accurately the levels of unsteady forcing on a single-stage high-pressure turbine blade. Further, nozzle-guide-vane geometry changes including asymmetric circumferential spacing and suction-side modification are considered and rigorously analyzed to reduce levels of unsteady blade forcing. The latter is ultimately implemented in a development engine, and it is shown successfully to reduce resonant stresses on the blade. This investigation builds upon data that was recently obtained in a full-scale, transonic turbine rig to validate a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow solver for the prediction of both the magnitude and phase of unsteady forcing in a single-stage HPT and the lessons learned in that study.


Author(s):  
W. N. Dawes

The aim of this paper is to help advance our understanding of the complex, three-dimensional, unsteady flow associated with the interaction of a splattered centrifugal impeller and its vaned diffuser. A time-resolved simulation is presented of the Krain stage performed using a time-accurate, 3D, unstructured mesh, solution-adaptive Navier-Stokes solver. The predicted flowfield, compared with experiment where available, displays a complex, unsteady interaction especially in the neighbourhood of the diffuser entry zone which experiences large periodic flow unsteadiness. Downstream of the throat, although the magnitude of this unsteadiness diminishes rapidly, the flow has a highly distorted three-dimensional character. The loss levels in the diffuser are then investigated to try and determine how time-mean loss levels compare with the levels expected from “equivalent” steady flow analysis performed by using the circumferentially averaged exit flow from the impeller as inlet to the diffuser. It is concluded that little loss could be attributed directly to unsteady effects but rather that the principle cause of the rather high loss levels observed in the diffuser is the strong spanwise distortion in swirl angle at inlet which initiates a strong hub/comer stall.


Author(s):  
A. C. Smith ◽  
A. C. Nix ◽  
T. E. Diller ◽  
W. F. Ng

This paper documents the measurement of the unsteady effects of passing shock waves on film cooling heat transfer on both the pressure and suction surfaces of first stage transonic turbine blades with leading edge showerhead film cooling. Experiments were performed for several cooling blowing ratios with an emphasis on time-resolved pressure and heat flux measurements on the pressure surface. Results without film cooling on the pressure surface demonstrated that increases in heat flux were a result of shock heating (the increase in temperature across the shock wave) rather than shock interaction with the boundary layer or film layer. Time-resolved measurements with film cooling demonstrated that the relatively strong shock wave along the suction surface appears to retard coolant ejection there and causes excess coolant to be ejected from pressure surface holes. This actually causes a decrease in heat transfer on the pressure surface during a large portion of the shock passing event. The magnitude of the decrease is almost as large as the increase in heat transfer without film cooling. The decrease in coolant ejection from the suction surface holes did not appear to have any effects on suction surface heat transfer.


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