Effect of Differential Tip Clearance on the Performance of a Tandem Rotor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Hitesh Chhugani ◽  
Shubhali More ◽  
A. M. Pradeep
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Vortex Breakdown ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Tip Vortex ◽  
Sudden Expansion ◽  
Engine Operation ◽  
Operation Stability

Abstract Tandem blade is an interesting concept that promises a higher total pressure rise per stage. Owing to two separate tip leakage vortices and their interaction, losses are likely to increase particularly near the tip region. Although, rotors are designed with optimum tip clearance, the clearance changes during engine operation as well as during its service life. In the case of tandem rotors, the forward and the aft rotors can have different tip clearances. This will also impact the performance of the stage. Six different tip clearances have been investigated. ANSYS CFX is used for steady RANS computational analysis. The results suggest that the performance of the tandem rotor is highly sensitive to the forward rotor tip clearance. Higher tip clearance adversely affects the total pressure rise and operation stability of the tandem rotor. At design mass flow rate, the performance degradation for tandem configuration with the higher tip clearance (Case2, Case 3, Case 5, and Case 6), is attributed to the vortex breakdown of TLV1, which leads to the sudden expansion of the blockage region near the rotor tip. Vortex breakdown primarily depends upon the swirling strength of TLV1 and TLV2 as well as on the adverse pressure gradient. Near the stall point, the role of the adverse pressure gradient becomes more dominant in the vortex breakdown.

Robust Compressor Blades for Desensitizing Operational Tip Clearance Variations

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranay Seshadri ◽  
Shahrokh Shahpar ◽  
Geoffrey T. Parks
Keyword(s):  
Robust Design ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Side Surface ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Compressor Blades ◽  
Robust Designs ◽  
Multi Objective ◽  
Mean And Variance

Robust design is a multi-objective optimization framework for obtaining designs that perform favorably under uncertainty. In this paper robust design is used to redesign a highly loaded, transonic rotor blade with a desensitized tip clearance. The tip gap is initially assumed to be uncertain from 0.5 to 0.85% span, and characterized by a beta distribution. This uncertainty is then fed to a multi-objective optimizer and iterated upon. For each iteration of the optimizer, 3D-RANS computations for two different tip gaps are carried out. Once the simulations are complete, stochastic collocation is used to generate mean and variance in efficiency values, which form the two optimization objectives. Two such robust design studies are carried out: one using 3D blade engineering design parameters (axial sweep, tangential lean, re-cambering and skew) and the other utilizing suction and pressure side surface perturbations (with bumps). A design is selected from each Pareto front. These designs are robust: they exhibit a greater mean efficiency and lower variance in efficiency compared to the datum blade. Both robust designs were also observed to have significantly higher aft and reduced fore tip loading. This resulted in a weaker clearance vortex, wall jet and double leakage flow, all of which lead to reduced mixed-out losses. Interestingly, the robust designs did not show an increase in total pressure at the tip. It is believed that this is due to a trade-off between fore-loading the tip and obtaining a favorable total pressure rise and higher mixed-out losses, or aft-loading the tip, obtaining a lower pressure rise and lower mixed-out losses.

Effects of Area Ratio and Mean Rise Angle on the Aerodynamics of Interturbine Ducts

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfeng Zhang ◽  
Shuzhen Hu ◽  
Ali Mahallati ◽  
Xue-Feng Zhang ◽  
Edward Vlasic
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Static Pressure ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Boundary Layer Separation ◽  
Wake Flow ◽  
Height Ratio ◽  
Inlet Swirl

This work, a continuation of a series of investigations on the aerodynamics of aggressive interturbine ducts (ITD), is aimed at providing detailed understanding of the flow physics and loss mechanisms in four different ITD geometries. A systematic experimental and computational study was carried out by varying duct outlet-to-inlet area ratios (ARs) and mean rise angles while keeping the duct length-to-inlet height ratio, Reynolds number, and inlet swirl constant in all four geometries. The flow structures within the ITDs were found to be dominated by the boundary layer separation and counter-rotating vortices in both the casing and hub regions. The duct mean rise angle determined the severity of adverse pressure gradient in the casing's first bend, whereas the duct AR mainly governed the second bend's static pressure rise. The combination of upstream wake flow and the first bend's adverse pressure gradient caused the boundary layer to separate and intensify the strength of counter-rotating vortices. At high mean rise angle, the separation became stronger at the casing's first bend and moved farther upstream. At high ARs, a two-dimensional separation appeared on the casing and resulted in increased loss. Pressure loss penalties increased significantly with increasing duct mean rise angle and AR.

On the Pressure Losses Due to the Tip Clearance of Centrifugal Blowers

1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ishida ◽  
Y. Senoo
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Relative Velocity ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Input Power ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Centrifugal Impeller ◽  
Clearance Ratio ◽  
Local Pressure ◽  
Pressure Losses

The pressure distribution along the shroud is measured for three types of centrifugal impeller at seven different values of tip clearance each. The change of input power due to a change of tip clearance is related to the effective blockage at the impeller tip. Since the change of input power is little for the test cases, the variation of local pressure gradient along the shroud is mostly attributed to the change of local pressure loss. The local pressure loss is related to the local tip clearance ratio and to the local pressure gradient based on the deceleration of relative velocity in the impeller. Since the local pressure gradient is largest near the throat of the impeller, for many impellers the clearance ratio at the throat is used as the representative value. The tip clearance loss is related to the clearance ratio and the pressure rise based on the deceleration of relative velocity in the impeller. A good correlation is observed in all cases at various flow rate.

Backpressure propagation mode and balance property in a rectangular duct

2018 ◽  
Vol 233 (4) ◽  
pp. 1472-1489
Author(s):  
Yubao He ◽  
Hongyan Huang ◽  
Daren Yu
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Propagation Mode ◽  
Rectangular Duct ◽  
Local Boundary ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Balance Property

The backpressure propagation mode accompanied by shock-train evolution is investigated numerically in a rectangular duct with an open space. On this basis, the balance mechanism and parametric effects of heat transfer and skin friction for backpressure propagation are revealed to understand the nature of force competition better. As a result, the backpressure propagation mode can be classified into two different flow processes with increased backpressure. In addition, balance property mechanism reveals that both the momentum inside the boundary layer and the shear force which transfers the momentum from the outer core flow to boundary layer are combined to resist the adverse pressure gradient. Further, parametric effect indicates that varying wall temperatures and roughness heights lead to different degrees of changes in balance property. According to quantitative results, both wall temperature and roughness height decrease the local boundary-layer momentum at the starting point of original pressure rise and thus the local adverse pressure gradient wins the force competition. In the subsequently continuous flow, the adverse pressure gradient continues to propagate upstream and then is retarded gradually by the boundary layer with a fuller velocity profile until a new force balance is generated.

Investigation on the Highly Loaded Helium Compressor Based on Helium Thermophysical Properties: Part B — The Loss Analysis of Highly Loaded Axial Helium Compressor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhitao Tian ◽  
Qun Zheng ◽  
Bin Jiang ◽  
Qingfang Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Compressor Cascade ◽  
Loss Mechanism ◽  
Air Compressor ◽  
Loss Analysis ◽  
Profile Loss ◽  
Highly Loaded

Helium compressor is a main component of high temperature gas reactor (HTGR) helium power conversion unit, and its performance has significant effects on the power output and cycle efficiency. In this paper, the flow loss analysis of highly loaded axial helium compressor is carried out using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program at both design and off-design point. To understand the loss mechanism of the highly loaded helium compressor, special attention is paid to the tip clearance loss, profile loss and the end wall loss. As is well-known, when increasing the backpressure, the specific power and adverse pressure gradient of general air compressor cascade increase as well. But the specific power and adverse pressure gradient of the highly loaded design helium compressor in this paper will decrease with the backpressure increasing due to the new velocity triangle. So the loss characteristics of the highly loaded helium compressor are different from that of air compressor. From the three-dimensional viscous numerical results, the profile loss is the most important loss source of the highly loaded helium compressor. The proportion of the highly loaded helium compressor profile loss is more than 50%.

Effect of Solidity on Non-Axisymmetric Endwall Contouring Performance in Compressor Linear Cascades

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Xiwu ◽  
Jin Donghai ◽  
Gui Xingmin ◽  
Liu Xiaoheng ◽  
Guo Hanwen
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Flow Separation ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Suction Surface ◽  
Optimum Range ◽  
Geometric Scaling ◽  
Endwall Contouring ◽  
Profile Loss

This paper presents both the computational and experimental results to assess the effectiveness of non-axisymmetric endwall contouring in linear cascades under different solidities. Endwalls were designed by geometric scaling of a prior optimized endwall. The results show that the total pressure loss can be reduced by the contoured endwall (CEW) under different solidities. The mechanism of the improvement of CEW is that the adverse pressure gradient (APG) has been reduced mainly through the groove configuration near the leading edge of the suction surface. Besides, the cross-passage pressure gradient (CPG) has also been reduced, which has the benefits to further suppress the corner separation. Moreover, there is an optimum range of the solidity for the CEW. For a lower solidity, the performance of the CEW at +7 degree incidence presents a rapid deterioration, due to the risk of flow separation near the mid-span, for a higher solidity, the profile loss can be more dominant.

Effects of Area Ratio and Mean Rise Angle on the Aerodynamics of Inter-Turbine Ducts

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfeng Zhang ◽  
Shuzhen Hu ◽  
Ali Mahallati ◽  
Xue-Feng Zhang ◽  
Edward Vlasic
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Adverse Pressure Gradient ◽  
Boundary Layer Separation ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Wake Flow ◽  
High Area ◽  
Inlet Swirl

The present work, a continuation of a series of investigations on the aerodynamics of aggressive inter-turbine ducts (ITD), is aimed at providing detailed understanding of the flow physics and loss mechanisms in four different ITD geometries. A systematic experimental and computational study was carried out for varying duct mean rise angles and outlet-to-inlet area ratio while keeping the duct length-to-inlet height ratio, Reynolds number and inlet swirl constant in all four geometries. The flow structures within the ITDs were found to be dominated by the counter-rotating vortices and boundary layer separation in both the casing and hub regions. The duct mean rise angle determined the severity of adverse pressure gradient in the casing’s first bend whereas the duct area ratio mainly governed the second bend’s static pressure rise. The combination of upstream wake flow and the first bend’s adverse pressure gradient caused the boundary layer to separate and intensify the strength of counter-rotating vortices. At high mean rise angle, the separation became stronger at the casing’s first bend and moved farther upstream. At high area ratios, a 2-D separation appeared on the casing. Pressure loss penalties increased significantly with increasing duct mean rise angle and area ratio.

scholarly journals On the Pressure Losses due to the Tip Clearance of Centrifugal Blowers

1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ishida ◽  
Y. Senoo
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Relative Velocity ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Input Power ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Centrifugal Impeller ◽  
Clearance Ratio ◽  
Local Pressure ◽  
Pressure Losses

The pressure distribution along the shroud is measured for three types of centrifugal impeller at seven different values of tip clearance each. The change of input power due to a change of tip clearance is related to the effective blockage at the impeller tip. Since the change of input power is little for the test cases, the variation of local pressure gradient along the shroud is mostly attributed to the change of local pressure loss. The local pressure loss is related to the local tip clearance ratio and to the local pressure gradient based on the decleration of relative velocity in the impeller. Since the local pressure gradient is largest near the throat of impeller is used as the representative value. The tip clearance loss is related to the clearance ratio and the pressure rise based on the deceleration of relative velocity in the impeller. A good correlation is observed in all cases at various flow rate.

scholarly journals Blade Loading Effects on Axial Turbine Tip Leakage Vortex Dynamics and Loss

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Huang ◽  
E. M. Greitzer ◽  
C. S. Tan ◽  
E. F. Clemens ◽  
S. G. Gegg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Distribution ◽  
Vortex Dynamics ◽  
Vortex Breakdown ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Leakage Loss ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Tip Leakage ◽  
Dominant Feature

Numerical simulations have been carried out to define the loss generation mechanisms associated with tip leakage in un-shrouded axial turbines. Tip clearance vortex dynamics are a dominant feature of two mechanisms important in determining this loss: (i) decreased swirl velocity due to vortex line contraction in regions of decreasing axial velocity, i.e., adverse pressure gradient and (ii) vortex breakdown and reverse flow in the vortex core. The mixing losses behave differently from the conventional view of flow exiting a turbine tip clearance. More specifically, it is shown, through both control volume arguments and computations, that as a swirling leakage flow passes through a pressure rise, such as in the aft portion of the suction side of a turbine blade, the mixed-out loss can either decrease or increase. For turbines the latter typically occurs if the deceleration is large enough to initiate vortex breakdown, and it is demonstrated that this is the case in modern turbines. The effect of blade pressure distribution on clearance losses is illustrated through computational examination of two turbine blades, one with forward loading at the tip and one with aft loading. A 15% difference in leakage loss is found between the two, due to lower clearance vortex deceleration (lower core static pressure rise) with forward loading, and hence lower vortex breakdown loss. Additional computational experiments, carried out to define the effects of blade loading, incidence, and solidity, are found to be consistent with the proposed ideas linking blade pressure distribution, vortex breakdown and turbine tip leakage loss.

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