scholarly journals Experimental Methods Applied in a Study of Stall Flutter in an Axial Flow Fan

2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 597-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Gill ◽  
Vincent R. Capece ◽  
Ronald B. Fost

Flutter testing is an integral part of aircraft gas turbine engine development. In typical flutter testing blade mounted sensors in the form of strain gages and casing mounted sensors in the form of light probes (NSMS) are used. Casing mounted sensors have the advantage of being non-intrusive and can detect the vibratory response of each rotating blade. Other types of casing mounted sensors can also be used to detect flutter of rotating blades. In this investigation casing mounted high frequency response pressure transducers are used to characterize the part-speed stall flutter response of a single stage unshrouded axial-flow fan. These dynamic pressure transducers are evenly spaced around the circumference at a constant axial location upstream of the fan blade leading edge plane. The pre-recorded experimental data at 70% corrected speed is analyzed for the case where the fan is back-pressured into the stall flutter zone. The experimental data is analyzed using two probe and multi-probe techniques. The analysis techniques for each method are presented. Results from these two analysis methods indicate that flutter occurred at a frequency of 411 Hz with a dominant nodal diameter of 2. The multi-probe analysis technique is a valuable method that can be used to investigate the initiation of flutter in turbomachines.

1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Shaw ◽  
D. R. Boldman ◽  
A. E. Buggele ◽  
D. H. Buffum

Flush-mounted dynamic pressure transducers were installed on the center airfoil of a transonic oscillating cascade to measure the unsteady aerodynamic response as nine airfoils were simultaneously driven to provide 1.2 deg of pitching motion about the midchord. Initial tests were performed at an incidence angle of 0.0 deg and a Mach number of 0.65 in order to obtain results in a shock-free compressible flow field. Subsequent tests were performed at an angle of attack of 7.0 deg and a Mach number of 0.80 in order to observe the surface pressure response with an oscillating shock near the leading edge of the airfoil. Results are presented for interblade phase angles of 90 and −90 deg and at blade oscillatory frequencies of 200 and 500 Hz (semichord reduced frequencies up to about 0.5 at a Mach number of 0.80). Results from the zero-incidence cascade are compared with a classical unsteady flat-plate analysis. Flow visualization results depicting the shock motion on the airfoils in the high-incidence cascade are discussed. The airfoil pressure data are tabulated.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Honkan ◽  
C. B. Watkins ◽  
J. Andreopoulos

Phenomena related to turbulence interactions with shock waves have been studied in detail. The present investigation is focused on interactions of a normal shock wave with homogeneous/grid-generated turbulence. When a shock wave formed in a shock-tube is passed through a grid, the induced flow behind the shock has the features of a compressible flow with free-stream turbulence. The decaying turbulence is subjected to an interaction with the reflected shock traveling in the opposite direction. Data were sampled simultaneously from four channels of high frequency response pressure transducers and dual hot-wires probes. A cold-wire was used to provide instantaneous total temperature measurements while a single hot-wire provided instantaneous mass flux measurements. Amplification of velocity and temperature fluctuations and dissipative length scales has been found in all experiments. Velocity fluctuations of large eddies are amplified more than the fluctuations of small eddies. The dissipative length scale, however, of the large eddies is amplified less than the length scale of the small eddies.


1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 564-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Samuel Martin ◽  
H. Medlarz ◽  
D. C. Wiggert ◽  
C. Brennen

Cavitation has been investigated in directional control valves in order to identify damage mechanisms characteristic of components of aircraft hydraulic systems. Tests have been conducted in a representative metal spool valve and in a model three times larger. Data taken under noncavitating conditions with both valves showed that the position of the high-velocity annular jet shifts orientation, depending upon valve opening and Reynolds number. By means of high-frequency response pressure transducers strategically placed in the valve chamber cavitation could be sensed by the correlation of noise with a cavitation index. The onset of cavitation can be detected by comparing energy spectra for a fixed valve opening and a constant discharge. Another sensitive indicator of cavitation inception is the ratio of cavitating to noncavitating spectral densities. The incipient cavitation number as defined in this investigation is correlated with the Reynolds number for both valves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Eck ◽  
Roland Rückert ◽  
Dieter Peitsch ◽  
Marc Lehmann

Abstract The aim of the present paper is to improve the physical understanding of discrete prestall flow disturbances developing in the tip area of the compressor rotor. For this purpose, a complementary instrumentation was used in a single-stage axial compressor. A set of pressure transducers evenly distributed along the circumference surface mounted in the casing near the rotor tip leading edges measures the time-resolved wall pressures simultaneously to an array of transducers recording the chordwise static pressures. The latter allows for plotting quasi-instantaneous casing pressure contours. Any occurring flow disturbances can be properly classified using validated frequency analysis methods applied to the data from the circumferential sensors. While leaving the flow coefficient constant, a continuously changing number of prestall flow disturbances appears to be causing a unique spectral signature, which is known from investigations on rotating instability. Any arising number of disturbances is matching a specific mode order found within this signature. While the flow coefficient is reduced, the propagation speed of prestall disturbances increases linearly, and meanwhile, the speed seems to be independent from the clearance size. Casing contour plots phase-locked to the rotor additionally provide a strong hint on prestall disturbances clearly not to be caused by a leading edge separation. Data taken beyond the stalling limit demonstrate a complex superposition of stall cells and flow disturbances, which the title “prestall disturbance” therefore does not fit to precisely any more. Different convection speeds allow the phenomena to be clearly distinguished from each other. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the pressure fluctuations caused by the prestall disturbances offer the potential to use them as a stall precursor or to quantify the deterioration of the clearance height between the rotor blade tips and the casing wall during the lifetime of an engine.


1996 ◽  
Vol 309 ◽  
pp. 45-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Andreopoulos ◽  
J. H. Agui

Four high-frequency-response pressure transducers with 10 viscous units resolution each have been used to obtain simultaneously the fluctuating pressure gradients at the wall of a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer and then to compute the vorticity flux away from the wall. Since the viscous force on an element of incompressible fluid is determined by the local vorticity gradients, understanding of their dynamical characteristics is essential in identifying the turbulent structure. Extremely high and low amplitudes of both vorticity gradients have been observed which contribute significantly to their statistics although they have low probability of appearance. The r.m.s. of the vorticity flux when scaled with inner wall variables depends very strongly on the Reynolds number, indicating a breakdown of this type of scaling. The application of a small threshold to the data indicated two preferential directions of the vorticity flux vector. An attempt has been made to identify these high- and low-amplitude signals with physical phenomena associated with bursting-sweep processes. Vortical structures carrying bipolar vorticity are the dominant wall structures which are associated with the violent events characterized by large fluctuations of vorticity flux.


Author(s):  
Erio Benvenuti

This axial compressor design was primarily focused to increase the power rating of the current Nuovo Pignone PGT10 Heavy-Duty gas turbine by 10%. In addition, the new 11-stage design favourably compares with the existing 17-stage compressor in terms of simplicity and cost. By seating the flowpath and blade geometry, the new aerodynamic design can be applied to gas turbines with different power ratings as well. The reduction in the stage number was achieved primarily through the meridional flow-path redesign. The resulting higher blade peripheral speeds achieve larger stage pressure ratios without increasing the aerodynamic loadings. Wide chord blades keep the overall length unchanged thus assuring easy integration with other existing components. The compressor performance map was extensively checked over the speed range required for two-shaft gas turbines. The prototype unit was installed on a special PGT10 gas turbine setup, that permitted the control of pressure ratio independently from the turbine matching requirements. The flowpath instrumentation included strain-gages, dynamic pressure transducers and stator vane leading edge aerodynamic probes to determine individual stage characteristics. The general blading vibratory behavior was proved fully satisfactory. With minor adjustments to the variable stator settings the front stage aerodynamic matching was optimized and the design performance was achieved.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 634-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. V. Marathe ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
D. G. Maddock

The stator flow field of an automotive torque converter is highly unsteady due to potential and viscous interactions with upstream and downstream rotors. The objective of this investigation is to understand the influence of potential and viscous interactions of the upstream rotor on the stator surface pressure field with a view toward improvement of the stator design. Five miniature fast-response pressure transducers were embedded on the stator blade. The measurements were conducted at three locations near the leading edge and two locations near the trailing edge at the midspan location. The upstream flow field was measured using a fast response five-hole probe and is described in Part I of this paper. The experimental data were processed in the frequency domain by spectrum analysis and in the temporal-spatial domain by the ensemble-averaging technique. The flow properties were resolved into mean, periodic, aperiodic, and unresolved components. The unsteady amplitudes agreed well with the pressure envelope predicted by panel methods. The aperiodic component was found to be significant due to the rotor–rotor and rotor–stator interactions observed in multistage, multispool environment.


Author(s):  
Daniel H. Buffum ◽  
Sanford Fleeter

The aerodynamics of a biconvex airfoil cascade oscillating in torsion is investigated using the unsteady aerodynamic influence coefficient technique. For subsonic flow and reduced frequencies as large as 0.9, airfoil surface unsteady pressures resulting from oscillation of one of the airfoils are measured using flush-mounted high-frequency-response pressure transducers. The influence coefficient data are examined in detail and then used to predict the unsteady aerodynamics of a cascade oscillating at various interblade phase angles. These results are correlated with experimental data obtained in the traveling-wave mode of oscillation and linearized analysis predictions. It is found that the unsteady pressure disturbances created by an oscillating airfoil excite wind tunnel acoustic modes which have detrimental effects on the experimental results. Acoustic treatment is proposed to rectify this problem.


Author(s):  
B. V. Marathe ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
Donald G. Maddock

The stator flow field of an automotive torque converter is highly unsteady due to potential and viscous interactions with upstream and downstream rotors. The objective of this investigation is to understand the influence of potential and viscous interactions of the upstream rotor on the stator surface pressure field with a view towards improvement of the stator design. Five miniature fast-response pressure transducers were embedded on the stator blade. The measurements were conducted at three locations near the leading edge and two locations near the trailing edge at the mid-span location. Upstream flow field was measured using a fast response five-hole probe and is described in the first part of this paper. The experimental data were processed in the frequency domain by spectrum analysis and in temporal-spatial domain by the ensemble averaging technique. The flow properties were resolved into mean, periodic, aperiodic and unresolved components. The unsteady amplitudes agreed well with the pressure envelope predicted by panel methods. Aperiodic component was found to be significant due to the rotor-rotor and rotor-stator interactions observed in multistage, multi-spool environment.


Author(s):  
J. M. Ferna´ndez Oro ◽  
K. M. Argu¨elles Di´az ◽  
C. Santolaria Morros ◽  
R. Ballesteros Tajadura

The potential effect of the inlet guide vanes blockage is predominant in an axial one-stage configuration when the upstream flow field is considered. In the same way, rotor downstream, the main unsteadiness is provoked by the rotor wakes mixing-out at the machine discharge. Nevertheless, if the gap between the rows is significantly reduced, the stator wakes are not allowed to be mixed out before impinging the rotor blades, so a chopping effect overcomes, stretching and tilting them, and generating wake-wake interactions and new loss sources at the exit. On a similar trend, it is expected that a reduced axial gap allows the potential unsteadiness of the rotor blockage between the blades to be propagated upstream, modulating the flow conditions at the stator passages, and even at vanes leading edge locations. In this paper, the evolution of the rotor potential interaction within the stator passages and up to the vanes leading edge is analyzed. The main goal is placed on the analysis of the propagation, relating the axial distance with the attenuation of those potential mechanisms. A numerical 3D simulation of a complete single stage axial flow blower has been developed and executed using a commercial code that resolves the URANS set of equations. The axial gap between the 13-IGVs stator and the 9-blade rotor has been modified in order to evaluate its influence on the potential distortion propagated upstream of the stator. For the closing of turbulence, a LES scheme with a Smagorinsky-Lilly model is used in the computations. Finally, due to the LES characteristics, a phase-averaged procedure has to be introduced for the simulation post-processing. Complementary, experimental measurements have been carried out over a test rig with modifiable axial gap between the fixed and rotating blade rows. As a matter of fact, pressure transducers were placed all along the machine shroud to capture pressure fluctuations related to potential sources radiated from the rotor blades. These measurements have been analyzed using frequential analysis, which is essential to identify the origin of the flow inlet distortions. The final objective is to complete the rotor-stator interaction scenario both downstream and upstream the stage. Previous works were focused on the downstream conditions and now the upstream potential propagation is studied in detail.


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