scholarly journals REGARDING CERTAIN AERODYNAMIC SOURCES OF NON-STATIONARY FORCE LOADS ON TURBINE PROFILES

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 73-77
Author(s):  
Tomáš Radnic ◽  
Martin Luxa ◽  
David Šimurda

The paper deals with selected phenomena present in a blade cascade flow field. The presented research was performed on prismatic blade cascades composed mostly of the tip and root sections of the last stage rotor blade of a large output steam turbine. The unstarted supersonic flow on the cascade inlet, the separation of the flow and the swirl line behind the trailing edge have been identified as the possible sources of the unsteady force effects.

Author(s):  
David Sˇimurda ◽  
Martin Luxa ◽  
Jaroslav Syna´cˇ ◽  
Pavel Sˇafarˇik

This paper reports on the results of high-speed aerodynamic research on a blade cascade. The blade cascade represents the tip section of the last stage rotor blades of a large output steam turbine. The aerodynamic characteristics of the blade cascade are presented together with flow field photographs in a range of transonic and supersonic velocities. Pictures of the flow field were obtained by means of interferometry and the schlieren method. The pressure distribution over the profiles was also evaluated using interferometry. Finally, the data for evaluating the losses and other integral characteristics of the flow exiting from the cascade were measured pneumatically with the use of a traversing device. The results are analyzed and discussed.


Author(s):  
Fabian F. Müller ◽  
Markus Schatz ◽  
Damian M. Vogt ◽  
Jens Aschenbruck

The influence of a cylindrical strut shortly downstream of the bladerow on the vibration behavior of the last stage rotor blades of a single stage LP model steam turbine was investigated in the present study. Steam turbine retrofits often result in an increase of turbine size, aiming for more power and higher efficiency. As the existing LP steam turbine exhaust hoods are generally not modified, the last stage rotor blades frequently move closer to installations within the exhaust hood. To capture the influence of such an installation on the flow field characteristics, extensive flow field measurements using pneumatic probes were conducted at the turbine outlet plane. In addition, time-resolved pressure measurements along the casing contour of the diffuser and on the surface of the cylinder were made, aiming for the identification of pressure fluctuations induced by the flow around the installation. Blade vibration behavior was measured at three different operating conditions by means of a tip timing system. Despite the considerable changes in the flow field and its frequency content, no significant impact on blade vibration amplitudes were observed for the investigated case and considered operating conditions. Nevertheless, time-resolved pressure measurements suggest that notable pressure oscillations induced by the vortex shedding can reach the upstream bladerow.


Author(s):  
Ilias Bosdas ◽  
Michel Mansour ◽  
Anestis I. Kalfas ◽  
Reza S. Abhari ◽  
Shigeki Senoo

Modern steam turbines need to operate efficiently and safely over a wide range of operating conditions. This paper presents a unique unprecedented set of time-resolved steam flowfield measurements from the exit of the last two stages of a low pressure (LP) steam turbine under various volumetric massflow conditions. The measurements were performed in the steam turbine test facility in Hitachi city in Japan. A newly developed fast response probe equipped with a heated tip to operate in wet steam flows was used. The probe tip is heated through an active control system using a miniature high-power cartridge heater developed in-house. Three different operating points, including two reduced massflow conditions, are compared and a detailed analysis of the unsteady flow structures under various blade loads and wetness mass fractions is presented. The measurements show that at the exit of the second to last stage the flow field is highly three dimensional. The measurements also show that the secondary flow structures at the tip region (shroud leakage and tip passage vortices) are the predominant sources of unsteadiness at 85% span. The high massflow operating condition exhibits the highest level of periodical total pressure fluctuation compared to the reduced massflow conditions at the inlet of the last stage. In contrast at the exit of the last stage, the reduced massflow operating condition exhibits the largest aerodynamic losses near the tip. This is due to the onset of the ventilation process at the exit of the LP steam turbine. This phenomenon results in 3 times larger levels of relative total pressure unsteadiness at 93% span, compared to the high massflow condition. This implies that at low volumetric flow conditions the blades will be subjected to higher dynamic load fluctuations at the tip region.


Author(s):  
J. C. Garci´a ◽  
J. Kubiak ◽  
F. Sierra ◽  
G. Urquiza ◽  
J. A. Rodri´guez

In a steam turbine stage there is an interaction between blades and the flow field. The blades are subjected to the forces caused by the flow field, but also the flow field is affected by the blades and its movement. The nozzle wakes cause uneven pressure field downstream and produce alternating forces on blades which lead to blade vibrations. Some of the vibrations originated in this way may damage the blades and affect the turbine performance. The results of numerical computations about the forces acting on the blades as a result of the variations in the flow field in the axial clearance rotor-stator in the last stage of a 110 MW steam turbine are presented. The analysis is focused on discussing the pressure field because it is necessary for further computation of the useful life time. The flow field was resolved using computational fluids dynamics and the computed pressure field was integrated around the blades to get the forces acting on blades. These computed dynamical forces will be used in the blade useful life estimation and in the investigation to the failure causes of these blades. The Navier-Stokes equations are resolved in two and three dimensions using a commercial program based on finite-volume method. 2-D and 3-D geometry models were built to represent the dimensional aspects of the last stage of the turbine. Periodic boundary conditions were applied to both sides of a periodic segment of the 2-D and 3-D models with the purpose of reducing computational efforts. The computations were conducted in steady state and transient conditions. The results show that the force magnitude acting on blades has an harmonic pattern. Finally a Fourier analysis was used to determine the coefficients and frequency of a Fourier equation which can be used to calculate the alternating stresses on the blade in order to predict the useful life of the blades. Also, the pressure and velocity fields are shown between the diaphragm and rotor blades along the axial clearance.


Author(s):  
Ilias Bosdas ◽  
Michel Mansour ◽  
Anestis I. Kalfas ◽  
Reza S. Abhari ◽  
Shigeki Senoo

The largest share of electricity production worldwide belongs to steam turbines. However, the increase of renewable energy production has led steam turbines to operate under part load conditions and increase in size. As a consequence long rotor blades will generate a relative supersonic flow field at the inlet of the last rotor. This paper presents a unique experiment work that focuses at the top 30% of stator exit in the last stage of an LP steam turbine test facility with coarse droplets and high wetness mass fraction under different operating conditions. The measurements were performed with two novel fast response probes. A fast response probe for three dimensional flow field wet steam measurements and an optical backscatter probe for coarse water droplet measurements ranging from 30 up to 110μm in diameter. This study has shown that the attached bow shock at the rotor leading edge is the main source of inter blade row interactions between the stator and rotor of the last stage. In addition, the measurements showed that coarse droplets are present in the entire stator pitch with larger droplets located at the vicinity of the stator’s suction side. Unsteady droplet measurements showed that the coarse water droplets are modulated with the downstream rotor blade-passing period. This set of time-resolved data will be used for in-house CFD code development and validation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 672-674 ◽  
pp. 1626-1632
Author(s):  
Zhen Song ◽  
Jian Qun Xu ◽  
Li Peng Sun ◽  
Ming Tao Liu

The model of coupled exhaust hood with condenser throat and the model of coupled exhaust hood, condenser throat with last stage were simulated based on the turbulence model Realizable k-ε. Calculated results show that due to the ignoring of the inlet swirl in the model coupled exhaust hood with condenser throat, the flow field is symmetrical and the pressure loss is small. Due to the influence of last stage, in the model of coupled exhaust hood, condenser throat with last stage, the flow field of the inlet of the exhaust hood is uneven, and the vortexes changed more complex, resulting in the increase of the pressure loss of each part and a greater influence in the diffuser pipe. The proportion of pressure loss of diffuser pipe in total pressure loss increases from 0.086 to 0.358, and there is a 70% decline of proportion of pressure loss in volute and condenser throat. In addition, the proportion of the pressure loss in volute is the largest one in these two coupled models. So more attention should be paid in the influence of the last stage, and weaken the vortexes in the volute when designing or optimizing the exhaust passage of steam turbine.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. S. P. Chaluvadi ◽  
A. I. Kalfas ◽  
H. P. Hodson ◽  
H. Ohyama ◽  
E. Watanabe

This paper presents a study of the three-dimensional flow field within the blade rows of a high-pressure axial flow steam turbine stage. Compound lean angles have been employed to achieve relatively low blade loading for hub and tip sections and so reduce the secondary losses. The flow field is investigated in a low-speed research turbine using pneumatic and hot-wire probes downstream of the blade row. Steady and unsteady numerical simulations were performed using structured 3-D Navier-Stokes solver to further understand the flow field. Agreement between the simulations and the measurements has been found. The unsteady measurements indicate that there is a significant effect of the stator flow interaction in the downstream rotor blade. The transport of the stator viscous flow through the rotor blade row is described. Unsteady numerical simulations were found to be successful in predicting accurately the flow near the secondary flow interaction regions compared to steady simulations. A method to calculate the unsteady loss generated inside the blade row was developed from the unsteady numerical simulations. The contribution of various regions in the blade to the unsteady loss generation was evaluated. This method can assist the designer in identifying and optimizing the features of the flow that are responsible for the majority of the unsteady loss production. An analytical model was developed to quantify this effect for the vortex transport inside the downstream blade.


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