scholarly journals Effect of the Reynolds Number and Clearance Flow on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a New Variable Inlet Guide Vane

Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Hengtao Shi

Recently, a new type of low-loss variable inlet guide vane (VIGV) was proposed for improving a compressor’s performance under off-design conditions. To provide more information for applications, this work investigated the effect of the Reynolds number and clearance flow on the aerodynamic characteristics of this new type of VIGV. The performance and flow field of two representative airfoils with different chord Reynolds numbers were studied with the widely used commercial software ANSYS CFX after validation was completed. Calculations indicate that, with the decrease in the Reynolds number Rec, the airfoil loss coefficient ω and deviation δ first increase slightly and then entered a high growth rate in a low range of Rec. Afterwards, a detailed boundary-layer analysis was conducted to reveal the flow mechanism for the airfoil performance degradation with a low Reynolds number. For the design point, it is the appearance and extension of the separation region on the rear portion; for the maximum incidence point, it is the increase in the length and height of the separation region on the former portion. The three-dimensional VIGV research confirms the Reynolds number effect on airfoils. Furthermore, the clearance leakage flow forms a strong stream-wise vortex by injection into the mainflow, resulting in a high total-pressure loss and under-turning in the endwall region, which shows the potential benefits of seal treatment.

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. Yu ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
D. E. Thompson

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver which utilizes a pressure based method is used to compute the incompressible flow field through the inlet guide vane (IGV) of a high Reynolds number pump. The solver has precise control of numerical dissipation through the second and fourth order artificial dissipation terms added to the momentum equations. A low-Reynolds-number form of two-equation turbulence model is used to account for the turbulence effects. Predicted blade surface static pressure distributions are in good agreement with the measurement. The tangential and radial components of the IGV wake velocity, as well as the IGV secondary flow, are predicted well. However, the predicted maximum defect in wake is larger than the measured data. Possible causes for this discrepancy are discussed. The defect in velocity in wakes at midspan is found to decay faster than the perturbation in velocity due to the secondary flow and wake in the tip region.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Sun ◽  
Chunjun Ji ◽  
Junyi Fang ◽  
Chunyang Li ◽  
Xiaolin Zhang

Variable inlet guide vane (IGV) is used to control the mass flow and generate prewhirl in centrifugal compressors. The efficient operation of IGV is limited to the range of aerodynamic characteristics of their vane profiles. In order to find out the best vane profile for IGV regulation, the modern optimization method was adopted to optimize the inlet guide vane profile. The main methodology idea was to use artificial neural network for continuous fitness evaluation and use genetic algorithm for global optimization. After optimization, the regulating performance of IGV has improved significantly, the prewhirl ability has been enhanced greatly, and the pressure loss has been reduced. The mass flow and power of compressor reduced by using the optimized guide vane at large setting angles, and the efficiency increased significantly; the flow field distribution has been improved obviously, since the nonuniform distribution of flow and flow separation phenomenon greatly weakened or even completely disappeared. The achievement of this research can effectively improve the regulation ability of IGV and the performance of compressor.


Author(s):  
Kamal Abudu ◽  
Uyioghosa Igie ◽  
Orlando Minervino ◽  
Richard Hamilton

With the transition to more use of renewable forms of energy in Europe, grid instability that is linked to the intermittency in power generation is a concern, and thus, the fast response of on-demand power systems like gas turbines has become more important. This study focuses on the injection of compressed air to facilitate the improvement in the ramp-up rate of a heavy-duty gas turbine. The steady-state analysis of compressed airflow injection at part-load and full load indicates power augmentation of up to 25%, without infringing on the surge margin. The surge margin is also seen to be more limiting at part-load with maximum closing of the variable inlet guide vane than at high load with a maximum opening. Nevertheless, the percentage increase in the thermal efficiency of the former is slightly greater for the same amount of airflow injection. Part-load operations above 75% of power show higher thermal efficiencies with airflow injection when compared with other load variation approaches. The quasi-dynamic simulations performed using constant mass flow method show that the heavy-duty gas turbine ramp-up rate can be improved by 10% on average, for every 2% of compressor outlet airflow injected during ramp-up irrespective of the starting load. It also shows that the limitation of the ramp-up rate improvement is dominated by the rear stages and at lower variable inlet guide vane openings. The turbine entry temperature is found to be another restrictive factor at a high injection rate of up to 10%. However, the 2% injection rate is shown to be the safest, also offering considerable performance enhancements. It was also found that the ramp-up rate with air injection from the minimum environmental load to full load amounted to lower total fuel consumption than the design case.


Author(s):  
David Händel ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis ◽  
Uwe Rockstroh

In order to determine the aerodynamic behavior of a Variable Inlet Guide Vane as used in multishaft compressors, extensive experimental investigations with a 2D linear cascade have been conducted. All the experiments were performed at the High-Speed Cascade Wind Tunnel at the Institute of Jet Propulsion. They covered a wide range of Reynolds numbers and stagger angles as they occur in realistic turbomachines. Within this work at first the observed basic flow phenomena (loss development, overturning) will be explained. For the present special case of a symmetric profile and a constant decreasing chord length along the vane height, statements about different spanwise position can be made by investigating different Reynolds numbers. The focus of this paper is on the outflow of the VIGV along the vane height. Results for an open flow separation on the suction side are presented, too. Stall condition can be delayed by boundary layer control. This is done using a wire to trigger an early boundary layer transition. The outcomes of the trip wire measurement are finally discussed. The objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of the stagger angle and Reynolds number on the total pressure losses and the deviation angle. The results of the work presented here, gives a better insight of the efficient use of a VIGV.


2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
William Riéra ◽  
Lionel Castillon ◽  
Julien Marty ◽  
Francis Leboeuf

In the present study, the influence of the inlet condition on the tip clearance flow of an axial compressor is investigated. Two different zonal detached eddy simulations (ZDES) computations are carried out and compared to Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) and unsteady RANS (URANS) computations as well as to experimental data. A rotating distortion map of the flow cartography is set as inlet condition for the first ZDES computation. An azimuthally averaged inlet condition is used for the second one and uncouples the rotor tip-leakage vortex flutter phenomenon, which stems from the arrival of the inlet guide vane wake from the behavior inherent to the rotor tip-leakage vortex. In the studied configuration, the inlet guide vane tip vortex reveals to lower the effects from double leakage on the rotor. The topology of the rotor tip-leakage vortex is described, and its development is analyzed.


1984 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-345
Author(s):  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
N. Sitaram

The annulus wall boundary layer inside the blade passage of the inlet guide vane (IGV) passage of a low-speed axial compressor stage was measured with a miniature five-hole probe. The three-dimensional velocity and pressure fields were measured at various axial and tangential locations. Limiting streamline angles and static pressures were also measured on the casing of the IGV passage. Strong secondary vorticity was developed. The data were analyzed and correlated with the existing velocity profile correlations. The end wall losses were also derived from these data.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-285
Author(s):  
Katsuya Hirata ◽  
◽  
Ryo Nozawa ◽  
Shogo Kondo ◽  
Kazuki Onishi ◽  
...  

[abstFig src='/00280003/02.jpg' width=""300"" text='Iso-Q surfaces of very-slow flow past an iNACA0015' ] The airfoil is often used as the elemental device for flying/swimming robots, determining its basic performances. However, most of the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil have been investigated at Reynolds numbers Re’s more than 106. On the other hand, our knowledge is not enough in low Reynolds-number ranges, in spite of the recent miniaturisation of robots. In the present study, referring to our previous findings (Hirata et al., 2011), we numerically examine three kinds of high-performance airfoils proposed for very-low Reynolds numbers; namely, an iNACA0015 (the NACA0015 placed back to front), an FPBi (a flat plate blended with iNACA0015 as its upper half) and an FPBN (a flat plate blended with the NACA0015 as its upper half), in comparison with such basic airfoils as a NACA0015 and an FP (a flat plate), at a Reynolds number Re = 1.0 × 102 using two- and three-dimensional computations. As a result, the FPBi shows the best performance among the five kinds of airfoils.


Author(s):  
Hans Ma˚rtensson ◽  
Jo¨rgen Burman ◽  
Ulf Johansson

As the first design in a demonstration program for future fighter engine fans a 400 mm 1-1/2 stage fan has been designed and built. A new method including mechanical constraints for designing the blades and gas path is used for the first time on a new design. The approach closely integrates CFD for performance and FE methods for the structure. By this, advanced computational analyses affect the design from the early stages. A design that is successful in achieving good efficiency based on CFD as well as reasonable aeromechanical properties based on FE is derived. The fan incorporates a front frame (FF), variable inlet guide vane (VIGV), rotor 1 (R1) and stator 1 (S1).


Author(s):  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Roberto Pacciani

A recently developed, time-accurate multigrid viscous solver has been extended to handle quasi-three-dimensional effects and applied to the first stage of a modern transonic compressor. Interest is focused on the inlet guide vane (IGV):rotor interaction where strong sources of unsteadiness are to be expected. Several calculations have been performed to predict the stage operating characteristics. Flow structures at various mass flow rates, from choke to near stall, are presented and discussed. Comparisons between unsteady and steady pitch-averaged results are also included in order to obtain indications about the capabilities of steady, multi-row analyses.


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