Effects of axial length and integrated design on the aggressive intermediate turbine duct

Author(s):  
Qingzong Xu ◽  
Pei Wang ◽  
Qiang Du ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Guang Liu

With the increasing demand of high bypass ratio and thrust-to-weight ratio in civil aero-engine, the intermediate turbine duct between the high pressure and low pressure turbines of a modern gas turbine tends to shorter axial length, larger outlet-to-inlet area ratio and high pressure-to-low pressure radial offset. This paper experimentally and numerically investigated the three-dimensional flow characteristics of traditional (ITD1) and aggressive intermediate turbine duct (ITD2) at low Reynolds number. The baseline case of ITD1 is representative of a traditional intermediate turbine duct of aero-engine design with non-dimensional length of L/dR = 2.79 and middle angle of 20.12°. The detailed flow fields inside ITD1 and flow visualization were measured. Results showed the migration of boundary layer and a pair of counter-rotating vortexes were formed due to the radial migration of low momentum fluid. With the decreasing axial length of intermediate turbine duct, the radial and streamwise reverse pressure gradient in aggressive intermediate turbine duct (ITD2) were increased resulting in severe three-dimensional separation of boundary layer near casing surface and higher total pressure loss. The secondary flow and separation of boundary layer near the endwall were deeply analyzed to figure out the main source of high total pressure loss in the aggressive intermediate turbine duct (ITD2). Based on that, employing wide-chord guide vane to substitute “strut + guide vane”, this paper designed the super-aggressive intermediate turbine duct and realized the suppression of the three-dimensional separation and secondary flow.

Author(s):  
Ping-Ping Chen ◽  
Wei-Yang Qiao ◽  
Karsten Liesner ◽  
Robert Meyer

The large secondary flow area in the compressor hub-corner region usually leads to three-dimensional separation in the passage with large amounts of total pressure loss. In this paper numerical simulations of a linear high-speed compressor cascade, consisting of five NACA 65-K48 stator profiles, were performed to analyze the flow mechanism of hub-corner separation for the base flow. Experimental validation is used to verify the numerical results. Active control of the hub-corner separation was investigated by using boundary layer suction. The influence of the selected locations of the endwall suction slot was investigated in an effort to quantify the gains of the compressor cascade performance. The results show that the optimal chordwise location should contain the development section of the three-dimensional corner separation downstream of the 3D corner separation onset. The best pitchwise location should be close enough to the vanes’ suction surface. Therefore the optimal endwall suction location is the MTE slot, the one from 50% to 75% chord at the hub, close to the blade suction surface. By use of the MTE slot with 1% suction flow ratio, the total-pressure loss is substantially decreased by about 15.2% in the CFD calculations and 9.7% in the measurement at the design operating condition.


Author(s):  
Toyotaka Sonoda ◽  
Toshiyuki Arima ◽  
Mineyasu Oana

Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to gain a better understanding of the flow characteristics within an annular S-shaped duct, including the effect of the inlet boundary layer (IBL) on the flow. A duct with six struts and the same geometry as that used to connect compressor spools on our experimental small two-spool turbofan engine was investigated. A curved downstream annular passage with a similar meridional flow path geometry to that of the centrifugal compressor has been fitted at the exit of S-shaped duct. Two types of the IBL (i.e. thin and thick IBL) were used. Results showed that large differences of flow pattern were observed at the S-Shaped duct exit between two types of the IBL, though the value of “net” total pressure loss has not been remarkably changed. According to “overall” total pressure loss, which includes the IBL loss, the total pressure loss was greatly increased near the hub as compared to that for a thin one. For the thick IBL, a vortex pair related to the hub-side horseshoe vortex and the separated flow found at the strut trailing edge has been clearly captured in the form of the total pressure loss contours and secondary flow vectors, experimentally and numerically. The high-pressure loss regions on either side of the strut wake near the hub may act on a downstream compressor as a large inlet distortion, and strongly affect the downstream compressor performance. There is a much-distorted three-dimensional flow pattern at the exit of S-Shaped duct. This means that the aerodynamic sensitivity of S-Shaped duct to the IBL thickness is very high. Therefore, sufficient carefulness is needed to design not only downstream aerodynamic component (for example centrifugal impeller) but also upstream aerodynamic component (LPC OGV).


Author(s):  
Toyotaka Sonoda ◽  
Toshiyuki Arima ◽  
Mineyasu Oana

Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to gain a better understanding or the flow characteristics within an annular S-shaped duct, including the influence of the shape of the downstream passage located at the exit of the duct on the flow. A duct with six struts and the same geometry as that used to connect the compressor spools on our new experimental small two-spool turbofan engine was investigated. Two types of downstream passage were used. One type had a straight annular passage and the other a curved annular passage with a similar meridional flow path geometry to that of the centrifugal compressor. Results showed that the total pressure loss near the hub is large due to instability of the flow, as compared with that near the casing. Also, a vortex related to the horseshoe vortex was observed near the casing, in the case of the curved annular passage, the total pressure loss near the hub was greatly increased compared with the case of the straight annular passage, and the spatial position of the above vortex depends on the passage core pressure gradient. Furthermore, results of calculation using an in-house-developed three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code with a low Reynolds number k-ε turbulence model were in good qualitative agreement with experimental results. According to the simulation results, a region of very high pressure loss is observed near the hub at the duct exit with the increase of inlet boundary layer thickness. Such regions of high pressure loss may act on the downstream compressor as a large inlet distortion, and strongly affect downstream compressor performance.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 714-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sonoda ◽  
T. Arima ◽  
M. Oana

Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to gain a better understanding of the flow characteristics within an annular S-shaped duct, including the influence of the shape of the downstream passage located at the exit of the duct on the flow. A duct with six struts and the same geometry as that used to connect the compressor spools on our new experimental small two-spool turbofan engine was investigated. Two types of downstream passage were used. One type had a straight annular passage and the other a curved annular passage with a meridional flow path geometry similar to that of the centrifugal compressor. Results showed that the total pressure loss near the hub is large due to instability of the flow, as compared with that near the casing. Also, a vortex related to the horseshoe vortex was observed near the casing. In the case of the curved annular passage, the total pressure loss near the hub was greatly increased compared with the case of the straight annular passage, and the spatial position of this vortex depends on the passage core pressure gradient. Furthermore, results of calculation using an in-house-developed three-dimensional Navier–Stokes code with a low-Reynolds-number k–ε turbulence model were in good qualitative agreement with experimental results. According to the simulation results, a region of very high pressure loss is observed near the hub at the duct exit with the increase of inlet boundary layer thickness. Such regions of high pressure loss may act on the downstream compressor as a large inlet distortion, and strongly affect downstream compressor performance.


Author(s):  
Heyu Wang ◽  
Kai Hong Luo

Abstract A numerical investigation has been conducted for an axisymmetric dump diffuser combustor, which is a simplified geometry of a typical lean-burn combustor in a modern civil aero-engine gas turbine. The aerodynamic performance of the combustor is analyzed with an emphasis on two common performance parameters: static pressure recovery and total pressure loss. The former is essential in maintaining high-pressure air flow across the liner, whereas the latter involves the specific fuel consumption of the aero-engine. At first, the effects of geometrical parameters of the dump diffuser combustor are investigated. A high diffuser angle seems to be detrimental to both static pressure recovery and total pressure loss. On the other hand, a high dump gap ratio is beneficial from the aerodynamic performance point of view. However, all these desired characteristics are subject to mechanical constraints and their implications for specific consumption. Optimum values of those parameters should exist for a given desired aerodynamics performance. The majority of previous researches, including the first part of this study, have been carried out with uniform inlet conditions due to a typical independent design cycle of each component. The effects of compressor exit conditions are usually not considered in the early stage design process. In the second part of this study, various inlet conditions representing a more realistic compressor exit condition such as inlet symmetrical and asymmetrical boundary layer thickness are investigated. The performance of an asymmetrical configuration with a thin boundary layer thickness near the outer annulus is almost comparable to that of its uniform counterpart. Findings of this study provide useful input for combustor designers to improve the combustor’s performance based on the compressor exit conditions.


Author(s):  
Ralph J. Volino

Experiments were conducted in a linear high pressure turbine cascade with an adjustable tip gap at one endwall. The cascade included a wake generator with moving rods that simulated the effect of an upstream vane row. Cases were documented with no tip gap, a gap of 1.5% of axial chord, and a gap of 3.8% of chord. Cases with flat blade tips were considered with thick and thin endwall boundary layers. Cases with flat tips and squealer tips were documented with the thin endwall boundary layer. For all cases data were acquired both with and without upstream wakes. Documentation included total pressure loss fields in the endwall region and corresponding velocity fields acquired using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The PIV measurements showed the various vortices in the flow field and their response to unsteady wakes. The strength and position of the vortices were directly related to regions of high total pressure loss. Reducing the endwall boundary layer thickness tended to reduce losses, but also resulted in increased leakage flow, which increased losses, particularly in cases with a large tip gap. The squealer tip reduced losses compared to the flat tip cases.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. By ◽  
R. Kunz ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana

A three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous flow code, developed by NASA AMES (INS3D) using the pseudo-compressibility method, is modified for torque converter flow field computations. The code is used to predict the velocity and pressure fields in the pump of an automotive torque converter. Numerical results are compared to measured static pressure and velocity distributions. Results show that: 1) the code can fairly well predict the Cp distribution, the distribution of the through-flow velocity, and the secondary flow field, 2) pump rotation has a major effect on the secondary flow field and on the mass-averaged total pressure loss, and 3) inlet velocity profiles have a profound effect on the mass-averaged total pressure loss.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 626-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sonoda ◽  
T. Arima ◽  
M. Oana

Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to gain a better understanding of the flow characteristics within an annular S-shaped duct, including the effect of the inlet boundary layer (IBL) on the flow. A duct with six struts and the same geometry as that used to connect compressor spools on our experimental small two-spool turbofan engine was investigated. A curved downstream annular passage with a similar meridional flow path geometry to that of the centrifugal compressor has been fitted at the exit of S-shaped duct. Two types of the IBL (i.e., thin and thick IBL) were used. Results showed that large differences of flow pattern were observed at the S-shaped duct exit between two types of the IBL, though the value of “net” total pressure loss has not been remarkably changed. According to “overall” total pressure loss, which includes the IBL loss, the total pressure loss was greatly increased near the hub as compared to that for a thin one. For the thick IBL, a vortex pair related to the hub-side horseshoe vortex and the separated flow found at the strut trailing edge has been clearly captured in the form of the total pressure loss contours and secondary flow vectors, experimentally and numerically. The high-pressure loss regions on either side of the strut wake near the hub may act on a downstream compressor as a large inlet distortion, and strongly affect the downstream compressor performance. There is a much-distorted three-dimensional flow pattern at the exit of S-shaped duct. This means that the aerodynamic sensitivity of S-shaped duct to the IBL thickness is very high. Therefore, sufficient care is needed to design not only downstream aerodynamic components (for example, centrifugal impeller) but also upstream aerodynamic components (LPC OGV).


Author(s):  
Chunill Hah ◽  
Douglas C. Rabe ◽  
Thomas J. Sullivan ◽  
Aspi R. Wadia

The effects of circumferential distortions in inlet total pressure on the flow field in a low-aspect-ratio, high-speed, high-pressure-ratio, transonic compressor rotor are investigated in this paper. The flow field was studied experimentally and numerically with and without inlet total pressure distortion. Total pressure distortion was created by screens mounted upstream from the rotor inlet. Circumferential distortions of 8 periods per revolution were investigated at two different rotor speeds. The unsteady blade surface pressures were measured with miniature pressure transducers mounted in the blade. The flow fields with and without inlet total pressure distortion were analyzed numerically by solving steady and unsteady forms of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Steady three-dimensional viscous flow calculations were performed for the flow without inlet distortion while unsteady three-dimensional viscous flow calculations were used for the flow with inlet distortion. For the time-accurate calculation, circumferential and radial variations of the inlet total pressure were used as a time-dependent inflow boundary condition. A second-order implicit scheme was used for the time integration. The experimental measurements and the numerical analysis are highly complementary for this study because of the extreme complexity of the flow field. The current investigation shows that inlet flow distortions travel through the rotor blade passage and are convected into the following stator. At a high rotor speed where the flow is transonic, the passage shock was found to oscillate by as much as 20% of the blade chord, and very strong interactions between the unsteady passage shock and the blade boundary layer were observed. This interaction increases the effective blockage of the passage, resulting in an increased aerodynamic loss and a reduced stall margin. The strong interaction between the passage shock and the blade boundary layer increases the peak aerodynamic loss by about one percent.


Author(s):  
Chaoshan Hou ◽  
Hu Wu

The flow leaving the high pressure turbine should be guided to the low pressure turbine by an annular diffuser, which is called as the intermediate turbine duct. Flow separation, which would result in secondary flow and cause great flow loss, is easily induced by the negative pressure gradient inside the duct. And such non-uniform flow field would also affect the inlet conditions of the low pressure turbine, resulting in efficiency reduction of low pressure turbine. Highly efficient intermediate turbine duct cannot be designed without considering the effects of the rotating row of the high pressure turbine. A typical turbine model is simulated by commercial computational fluid dynamics method. This model is used to validate the accuracy and reliability of the selected numerical method by comparing the numerical results with the experimental results. An intermediate turbine duct with eight struts has been designed initially downstream of an existing high pressure turbine. On the basis of the original design, the main purpose of this paper is to reduce the net aerodynamic load on the strut surface and thus minimize the overall duct loss. Full three-dimensional inverse method is applied to the redesign of the struts. It is revealed that the duct with new struts after inverse design has an improved performance as compared with the original one.


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