Analysis of Rotor–Stator Interaction on the Aerothermal and TBC Insulation Performance of a Turbine Stage under Hot Streak Inlet Condition

Hot streaks and rotor–stator interaction have a great influence on the aerothermal performance of turbine blades. Previous investigations have conducted limited study of the film-cooled blade. To investigate the combined effects of a hot streak and rotor–stator interaction on the coated blade, an unsteady numerical simulation has been conducted with an efficient unsteady Navier–Stokes solver in this paper. The numerical results at four different relative stator–rotor locations (t = 0/4 T, 1/4 T, 2/4 T, and 3/4 T) have been investigated in one stator period. Compared with the stator, rotor–stator interaction exerts a significant impact on the cooling performance of the rotor blade under hot streak inlet conditions. The overall cooling effectiveness distribution of the coated rotor blade is similar to that of the uncoated blades in one stator period. Relatively lower overall cooling performance of the rotor blade can be observed in the 1/4 stator period. Then, the cooling performance begins to increase and relatively larger cooling effectiveness can be observed in the 3/4 stator period. The addition of a TBC is generally beneficial to the improvement of blade surface cooling performance, especially for the areas with low overall cooling performance. However, a negative cooling effectiveness increment can be observed at the trailing edge. It shows that for an area with poor cooling performance, the addition of thermal barrier coating will have the opposite effect. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the design of cooling arrangements at the trailing edge to maximize the insulation performance of TBCs for the coated rotor blade.

Effects of the Rates on the Performance and Pressure Pulsations of a High-Speed Pump with Straight Blade

Along with the crucial requirement for efficiency improvement in the cutting-edge petrochemical technology, the evaluation of the dynamic performance characteristics of high-speed pump is becoming increasingly important. It has become a main topic in the research of high-speed pump to minimize the pressure pulsation induced by the fluid in the pump body, so as to reduce the mechanical vibration. Although the research on the transient flow characteristic and pressure fluctuation of a high-speed pump with straight blades is of great significance, it has been seldom explored. In this work, the flow instability of a 16 straight-blade high-speed centrifugal pump is studied numerically at a rotational speed of 8500 rpm and flow rate of 3 m3/h. Results show that with the influence of rotor-stator interaction, time-domain pressure signals at the tongue show double peak characteristic, whereas a single peak characteristic exists at the diffuser wall. The pressure fluctuation near the tongue is reduced to approximately half of that at the volute wall by the water ring effect accompanied with the high-pressure factor. At the tongue region, the amplitude of the blade passing frequency is reduced by the unsteady flow, whereas the harmonic wave was increased at 2–4 times of the blade passing frequency.

Discrete Optimization on Unsteady Pressure Fluctuation of a Centrifugal Pump Using ANN and Modified GA

Pressure fluctuation due to the rotor-stator interaction in turbomachinery is unavoidable, inducing strong vibration and even shortening the lifecycle. The investigation on optimization method of an industrial centrifugal pump was carried out to reduce the pressure fluctuation intensity. Considering the time-consuming transient calculation of unsteady pressure, a novel optimization strategy was proposed by discretizing design variables and genetic algorithm. Four highly related design parameters were chosen, and 40 transient sample cases were generated and simulated using an automatic simulation program. Furthermore, a modified discrete genetic algorithm (MDGA) was proposed to reduce the optimization cost by unsteady simulation. For the benchmark test, the proposed MDGA showed a great advantage over the original genetic algorithm in terms of searching speed and could deal with the discrete variables effectively. After optimization, an improvement in terms of the performance and stability of the inline pump was achieved.

Characterization of the Effects of Ingested Bodies on the Rotor–Stator Interaction of Hydraulic Turbines

Runner and distributor blockages in hydraulic turbines occur due to the ingestion of external bodies such as rocks or logs. These obstructions can change the amplitude and uniformity of the pressure pulsations in the machine, creating large unbalanced forces that can lead to reduced efficiency, increased vibration and mechanical damage. In this paper, the effects of obstructions caused by ingested bodies in the runner and the distributor of a pump turbine on its internal pressure pulsation were investigated by means of computational fluid dynamics. A numerical model of an unobstructed pump turbine is presented and validated against experimental data. Several cases of runner or distributor blockage were studied, and their RSI pressure pulsations were recorded and analyzed at different locations. The results obtained allow us to characterize the effect of these blockages on the machine’s RSI, which can be helpful for the correct diagnosis of these types of damage.

Dynamic Instability Analysis of a Double-Blade Centrifugal Pump

The flow instability of a double-blade centrifugal pump is more serious due to its special design feature with two blades and large flow passages. The dynamic instabilities and pressure pulsations can affect the pump performance and operating lifetime. In the present study, a numerical investigation of unsteady flow and time variation of pressure within a complete double-blade centrifugal pump was carried out. The time domain and frequency domain of pressure pulsations were extracted at 16 monitoring locations covering the important regions to analyze the internal flow instabilities of the pump model. The frequency spectra of pressure pulsations were decomposed into Strouhal number dependent functions. This led to the conclusion that the blade passing frequency (BPF) related vibrations are exclusively flow-induced. Large vortices were observed in the flow passages of the pump at low flow rate. It is noted that high vorticity magnitude occurred in the vicinities of the blade trailing edge and tongue of the volute, due to the rotor-stator interaction between impeller and volute.

Investigation on the Robustness of Rotor/Stator Contact Interactions with Respect to Small Mistuning

In this work, the impact of small mistuning on rotor/stator contact interactions is investigated. First, a detailed study of a rotor/stator interaction between the first bending modes and the second engine order is presented in the tuned case. Then, a numerical investigation on the effect of mistuning on the studied rotor/stator contact interaction is carried out. In particular, a stochastic analysis is performed to evaluate the robustness of the interaction with respect to the mistuning level. Simulations are conducted using a reduced order model (ROM) of an industrial bladed disk that combines both physical degrees of freedom (along blades tip for contact treatment) and modal coordinates. Mistuning is introduced in the tuned ROM by means of a modified version of the component mode mistuning method that allows to keep physical degrees of freedom within the reduced basis. Nonlinear amplification factors, i.e. the amplification factors in the context of contact nonlinearities, are compared with their linear counterparts, the latter are computed using a linear forcing on each blade using a two nodal diameters traveling wave excitation on the mistuned and the tuned bladed disk. The comparison between the linear and nonlinear amplification factor for each sample highlights that no correlation exists between a mistuning pattern leading to high amplifications in a linear context or when contact nonlinearities are taken into account. Therefore, dedicated analyses on the effect of mistuning should be undertaken with contact nonlinearities considerations at the design stage especially if intentional mistuning is considered.

Inner Damping of Water in Conduit of Hydraulic Power Plant

The operation of any hydraulic power plant is accompanied by pressure pulsations that are caused by vortex rope under the runner, rotor–stator interaction and various transitions during changes in operating conditions or start-ups and shut-downs. Water in the conduit undergoes volumetric changes due to these pulsations. Compression and expansion of the water are among the mechanisms by which energy is dissipated in the system, and this corresponds to the second viscosity of water. The better our knowledge of energy dissipation, the greater the possibility of a safer and more economic operation of the hydraulic power plant. This paper focuses on the determination of the second viscosity of water in a conduit. The mathematical apparatus, which is described in the article, is applied to data obtained during commissioning tests in a water storage power plant. The second viscosity is determined using measurements of pressure pulsations in the conduit induced with a ball valve. The result shows a dependency of second viscosity on the frequency of pulsations.