scholarly journals Numerical Simulation of Oil Jet Lubrication for High Speed Gears

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommaso Fondelli ◽  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Cipolla

The Geared Turbofan technology is one of the most promising engine configurations to significantly reduce the specific fuel consumption. In this architecture, a power epicyclical gearbox is interposed between the fan and the low pressure spool. Thanks to the gearbox, fan and low pressure spool can turn at different speed, leading to higher engine bypass ratio. Therefore the gearbox efficiency becomes a key parameter for such technology. Further improvement of efficiency can be achieved developing a physical understanding of fluid dynamic losses within the transmission system. These losses are mainly related to viscous effects and they are directly connected to the lubrication method. In this work, the oil injection losses have been studied by means of CFD simulations. A numerical study of a single oil jet impinging on a single high speed gear has been carried out using the VOF method. The aim of this analysis is to evaluate the resistant torque due to the oil jet lubrication, correlating the torque data with the oil-gear interaction phases. URANS calculations have been performed using an adaptive meshing approach, as a way of significantly reducing the simulation costs. A global sensitivity analysis of adopted models has been carried out and a numerical setup has been defined.

Author(s):  
Tommaso Fondelli ◽  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Cipolla

In high speed gearbox systems, the lubrication is generally provided using nozzles to create small oil jets that feed oil into the meshing zone. It is essential that the gear teeth are properly lubricated and that enough oil gets into the tooth spaces to permit sufficient cooling and prevent gearbox failure. A good understanding of the oil behaviour inside the gearbox is therefore desirable, to minimize lubrication losses and reduce the oil volume involved, and ensure gearbox reliability. In order to reach these objectives, a comprehensive numerical study of a single oil jet impinging radially on a single spur gear teeth has been carried out using the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. The aims of this study are to evaluate the resistant torque produced by the oil jet lubrication, and to develop a physical understanding of the losses deriving from the oil-gear interaction, studying the droplets and ligaments formation produced by the breaking up of the jet as well as the formation of an oil film on the surface of the teeth. URANS calculations have been performed with the commercial code ANSYS FLUENT and an adaptive mesh approach has been developed as a way of significantly reducing the simulation costs. This method allows an automatic mesh refinement and/or coarsening at the air-oil interface based on the volume of fluid gradient, increasing the accuracy of the predictions of oil break-up as well as minimizing numerical diffusion of the interface. A global sensitivity analysis of adopted models has been carried out and a numerical set-up has been defined. Finally several simulations varying the oil injection angle have been performed, in order to evaluate how this parameter affects the resistant torque and the lubrication performances.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Halina Pawlak-Kruczek ◽  
Robert Lewtak ◽  
Zbigniew Plutecki ◽  
Marcin Baranowski ◽  
Michal Ostrycharczyk ◽  
...  

The paper presents the experimental and numerical study on the behavior and performance of an industrial scale boiler during combustion of pulverized bituminous coal with various shares of predried lignite. The experimental measurements were carried out on a boiler WP120 located in CHP, Opole, Poland. Tests on the boiler were performed during low load operation and the lignite share reached over to 36% by mass. The predried lignite, kept in dedicated separate bunkers, was mixed with bituminous coal just before the coal mills. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a cofiring scenario of lignite with hard coal was also performed. Site measurements have proven that cofiring of a predried lignite is not detrimental to the boiler in terms of its overall efficiency, when compared with a corresponding reference case, with 100% of hard coal. Experiments demonstrated an improvement in the grindability that can be achieved during co-milling of lignite and hard coal in the same mill, for both wet and dry lignite. Moreover, performed tests delivered empirical evidence of the potential of lignite to decrease NOx emissions during cofiring, for both wet and dry lignite. Results of efficiency calculations and temperature measurements in the combustion chamber confirmed the need to predry lignite before cofiring. Performed measurements of temperature distribution in the combustion chamber confirmed trend that could be seen in the results of CFD. CFD simulations were performed for predried lignite and demonstrated flow patterns in the combustion chamber of the boiler, which could prove useful in case of any further improvements in the firing system. CFD simulations reached satisfactory agreement with the site measurements in terms of the prediction of emissions.


Author(s):  
T. Fondelli ◽  
D. Massini ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
F. Leonardi

The reduction of fluid-dynamic losses in high speed gearing systems is nowadays increasing importance in the design of innovative aircraft propulsion systems, which are particularly focused on improving the propulsive efficiency. Main sources of fluid-dynamic losses in high speed gearing systems are windage losses, inertial losses resulting by impinging oil jets used for jet lubrication and the losses related to the compression and the subsequent expansion of the fluid trapped between gears teeth. The numerical study of the latter is particularly challenging since it faces high speed multiphase flows interacting with moving surfaces, but it paramount for improving knowledge of the fluid behavior in such regions. The current work aims to analyze trapping losses in a gear pair by means of three-dimensional CFD simulations. In order to reduce the numerical effort, an approach for restricting computational domain was defined, thus only a portion of the gear pair geometry was discretized. Transient calculations of a gear pair rotating in an oil-free environment were performed, in the context of conventional eddy viscosity models. Results were compared with experimental data from the open literature in terms of transient pressure within a tooth space, achieving a good agreement. Finally, a strategy for meshing losses calculation was developed and results as a function of rotational speed were discussed.


Author(s):  
Cosimo Bianchini ◽  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Lorenzo Giannini ◽  
Tommaso Fondelli ◽  
Daniele Massini ◽  
...  

Abstract The development of Ultra-High Bypass Ratio (up to 20) engines with the aim of improving the propulsive efficiency, introduces new challenges for the transmission system in terms of heat management and power losses, since the amount of power transferred through the gearbox is greatly increased. In this respect the accurate estimate of losses at the various flow regimes realized during a typical aeroengine mission within a Power Gear Box (PGB) is essential for the correct design and operation of the engine itself. This paper proposes a computational methodology to estimate all fluid-dynamic (load-independent) losses, which become a major source of dissipation at the high rotational speeds typical of aeroengines, developing within an epicyclic PGB. The overall procedure is based on the superposition principle and approaches the three fluid-dynamic losses, namely injection, windage and meshing losses, with different numerical techniques. The simulations of windage effects, which consider the actual PGB geometry including the carrier disk, the lubricant spray-bar and the external casing, are based on steady-state computations. In order to introduce such simplification, a scaling procedure that avoids interference of the stationary and rotating interfaces was implemented following the outcomes of a previous analysis. The computation of meshing losses employs a fully unsteady dynamic mesh approach and considers a portion of the meshing gears only. Both the sun-planet and planet-ring meshing were considered showing that the latter introduces a much lower level of losses. Finally the injection losses are calculated considering the oil jet momentum variation with simplified methods based on 0D modelling. The proposed procedure, based on the superposition principle and applied to a planetary power gear train, is tested against experimental results described in a previous paper focused on a meshing gear pair.


Author(s):  
Kohyu Satoh ◽  
Kunio Kuwahara ◽  
K. T. Yang

Forest fires are of common occurrence all over the world, which cause severe damages to valuable natural resources and human lives. In the recent California Fire, which burned 300,000 hectors of land, the disaster danger could reasonably be predicted, but early control of fires by means of aerial fire fighting might have been failed in that situation. Also in Japan, there are similar problems in the aerial fire fighting. Most forest fires occur in the daytime and the fires are freely in progress without any control during the nighttime. Therefore, it is important to attack the fires when there is daylight. The water dropped by helicopters is not always sufficient to control fires, since the quantity of water that can be carried aloft is a critical issue. Large amount of water can be dropped from aircrafts, but the high-speed flight of aircrafts may be dangerous in the mountain, where tall trees and steel towers with electric wires may exist. Therefore, those aircrafts have to fly at much higher altitudes than helicopters, while the water drop at high altitudes changes water into mist in the air. The objective of this study is to examine the methods to prevent the ignition by firebrands in the downwind area by applying water through the aerial fire fighting. However, tests by real aircrafts to obtain such information would be too costly. Therefore, the patterns of water drop from aircrafts were examined in CFD simulations, together with the investigation of needed water drop rate based on the forest fire statistics, the previous real aircraft tests and laboratory experiments. It has been found in the simulations that the water supply with the water density of 2 L/m2 is effective to control fires and the patterns of dropping water are reasonable.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Youssef El Halal ◽  
Crístofer Marques ◽  
Luiz Rocha ◽  
Liércio Isoldi ◽  
Rafael Lemos ◽  
...  

In the present work it is performed a numerical study for simulation of turbulent air and water flows in a nozzle based on the Coanda effect named H.O.M.E.R. (High-Speed Orienting Momentum with Enhanced Reversibility). The main purposes of this work are the development of a numerical model for simulation of the main operational principle of the H.O.M.E.R. nozzle, verify the occurrence of the physical principle in a device using water as working fluid and generate theoretical recommendations about the influence of the difference of mass flow rate in two inlets and length of septum over the fluid dynamic behavior of water flow. The time-averaged conservation equations of mass and momentum are solved with the Finite Volume Method (FVM) and turbulence closure is tackled with the k-ε model. Results for air flow show a good agreement with previous predictions in the literature. Moreover, it is also noticed that this main operational principle is promising for future applications in maneuverability and propulsion systems in marine applications. Results obtained here also show that water jets present higher deflection angles when compared with air jets, enhancing the capability of impose forces to achieve better maneuverability. Moreover, results indicated that the imposition of different mass flow rates in both inlets of the device, as well as central septum insertion have a strong influence over deflection angle of turbulent jet flow and velocity fields, indicating that these parameters can be important for maneuverability in marine applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5283-5290
Author(s):  
Bartosz Chmielewski ◽  
Iván Herrero-Durá ◽  
Paweł Nieradka

Baffle silencers are a well-known solution for noise mitigation in industrial applications. One of the issues concerning these devices is the flow-inducted noise produced when a non-laminar flow of the medium in the duct occurs. These situations occur, for example, in dedusting installations or exhaust systems with the high-speed flow (large Reynolds number of the turbulence and small Mach number). This kind of installation has a complex shape that causes a turbulent flow in the medium. Installing a baffle silencer in these conditions causes additional noise. This noise cannot be predicted by using a standard approach with equations for laminar flow conditions. This paper presents the first step of the research in this field. The first step is to find a relation between CFD simulations' results and self-noise of the baffle silencer. In this work, we use the formulation proposed by Proudman in 1952 to calculate the sound power generated by the flow. The formulation is based on the turbulent kinetic energy k and dissipation rate ε of the flow, which is calculated by CFD simulations. The resulting sound power level needs to be calibrated. The calibration method is developed and presented. The aim of this research is to design an experimental setup.


Author(s):  
D. Massini ◽  
T. Fondelli ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
L. Tarchi ◽  
F. Leonardi

In recent years the aero-engine community is looking towards the reduction of specific fuel consumption by increasing the efficiency of gearing systems. Considering their weight contribution, internal power losses and lubrication requirements, they have indeed a direct impact on the engine overall efficiency. Even though nowadays gears have reached very high efficiencies, over 99%, all the power dissipated through losses is converted into heat that must be removed by the lubrication system. Heat reduction is hence beneficial for minimizing lubrication system dimensions that is crucial in aero engine applications where it is mandatory to limit the weight of every component. Among the sources of loss, two main categories may be distinguished: load dependent and load independent losses. The first ones are due to the transmission of torque and have been deeply studied in the last years, the latter are related to fluid-dynamic interaction between gears and the surrounding environment, they are negligible at low pitch line velocities, but become very important in high speed applications, typical of turbomachinery. This work deals with an experimental investigation of the load independent losses due to a couple of spur meshing gears working at different conditions in presence of an oil-jet lubrication system. The test rig allows the gears to rotate, at different velocities up to 15000 rpm, in a controlled environment contained in a sealed box. Test rig pressure can be imposed (0.3–1.0 bar) and monitored as well as the oil jet conditions, in terms of mass flow rate (jet volume flow rate up to 1.65 litres per minute), temperature (80–140 °C) and inclination angle. A high precision bearing-less torque meter, equipped with a speedometer, was exploited to measure at the same time the torque losses and rotating speed. Results of the experimental survey allowed a better understanding of load independent losses at pitch line speed up to 100 m/s and in different environmental conditions.


Author(s):  
Hidenori Arisawa ◽  
Yuji Shinoda ◽  
Mitsuaki Tanaka ◽  
Tatsuhiko Goi ◽  
Hirofumi Akahori ◽  
...  

Reducing the fluid dynamic power loss for increasing speed is critical for the development of highly efficient high-speed aircraft engine gearing. In this study, the fluid dynamic loss was experimentally performed using a precise friction loss management technique along a vacuum being drawn on the gearbox. The experimental fluid dynamic loss could be classified as either “oil jet acceleration loss and oil reacceleration loss based on the conservation law of momentum for a point mass” or “oil churning loss and windage loss based on the conservation law of momentum for an incompressible continuum.” Windage loss and oil dynamic loss (i.e., the summation of oil jet acceleration loss, oil reacceleration loss, and oil churning loss) were modeled to develop equations for a loss prediction. The equations of the windage loss are pressure loss of flow passing through the side clearance of the gears and energy loss caused by the vortex generation in the cavity between tooth valleys. Oil dynamic loss was determined by multiplying the oil jet acceleration loss by an empirical coefficient. The results of the loss prediction equations agree with the experimental results, demonstrating the validity of the proposed model of the fluid dynamic loss.


Author(s):  
K. Boyd Fackler ◽  
Megan F. Karalus ◽  
Igor V. Novosselov ◽  
John C. Kramlich ◽  
Philip C. Malte

This paper describes an experimental and numerical study of the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the lean premixed (LPM) combustion of gaseous fuel alternatives to typical pipeline natural gas in a high intensity, single-jet, stirred reactor (JSR). In this study, CH4 is mixed with varying levels CO2 and N2. NOx measurements are taken at a nominal combustion temperature of 1800K, atmospheric pressure, and a reactor residence time of 3 ms. The experimental results show the following trends for NOx emissions as a function of fuel dilution: (1) more NOx is produced per kg of CH4 consumed with the addition of a diluent, (2) the degree of increase in emission index is dependent on the chosen diluent; N2 dilution increases NOx production more effectively than equivalent CO2 dilution. Chemical kinetic modeling suggests that NOx production is less effective for the mixture diluted with CO2 due to both a decrease in N2 concentration and the ability of CO2 to deplete the radicals taking part in NOx formation chemistry. In order to gain insight on flame structure within the JSR, three dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are carried out for LPM CH4 combustion. A global CH4 combustion mechanism is used to model the chemistry. While it does not predict intermediate radicals, it does predict CH4 and CO oxidation quite well. The CFD model illustrates the flow-field, temperature variation, and flame structure within the JSR. A 3-element chemical reactor network (CRN), including detailed chemistry, is constructed using insight from spatial measurements of the reactor, the results of CFD simulations, and classical fluid dynamic correlations. GRI 3.0 is used in the CRN to model the NOx emissions for all fuel blends. The experimental and modeling results are in good agreement and suggest the underlying chemical kinetic reasons for the trends.


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