Simple Instrumentation Rake Designs for Gas Turbine Engine Testing

The determination of gas turbine engine performance relies heavily on intrusive rakes of pilot tubes and thermocouples for gas path pressure and temperature measurement. For over forty years, Kiel-shrouds mounted on the rake body leading edge have been used as the industry standard to de-sensitise the instrument to variations in flow incidence and velocity. This results in a complex rake design which is expensive to manufacture, susceptible to mechanical damage, and difficult to repair. This paper describes an exercise aimed at radically reducing rake manufacture and repair costs. A novel ’common cavity rake’ (CCR) design is presented where the pressure and/or temperature sensors are housed in a single slot let into the rake leading edge. Aerodynamic calibration data is included to show that the performance of the CCR design under uniform flow conditions and in an imposed total pressure gradient is equivalent to that of a conventional Kiel-shrouded rake.

How to Get Component Maps for Aircraft Gas Turbine Performance Calculations

Precise simulations of gas turbine performance cannot be done without component maps. In the early days of a new project one often has to use scaled maps of similar machines. Alternatively one can calculate the component partload characteristics provided that the many details needed for such an exercise are available. In a later stage often rig tests will be done to get detailed information about the behavior of the compressors respectively turbines. Performance calculation programs usually require the map data in a specific format. To produce this format needs some preprocessing. Measured data cannot be used directly because they show a scatter and they are not evenly distributed over the range of interest. Due to limitations in the test equipment often there is lack of data for very low and very high speed. With the help of a specialized drawing program available on a PC one can easily eliminate the scatter in the data and also inter- and extrapolate additional lines of constant corrected speed. Many graphs showing both the measured data and the lines passing through the data as a function of physically meaningful parameters allow to check whether the result makes sense or not. The extrapolation of compressor maps toward very low speed, as required for the calculation of starting, idle and windmilling performance calculations, is discussed in some detail. Instead of true measured data one can use data read from maps published in open literature. The program is also an excellent tool for checking and extending component maps one has derived from sparse information about a gas turbine to be simulated.

Vibration Analysis of Rotor - Coupling - Bearing System With Misaligned Shafts

The shaft misalignment, even being a common fault in rotating machinery, is not sufficiently studied. The present work addresses effects of misalignment in rotating machinery. An attempt to give a theoretical model for a rotor-coupling-bearing system has been done. The rotor-bearing system including the flexible coupling is modelled using the finite elements. The reaction forces and moments developed due to flexible coupling misalignment both for parallel and angular are derived and introduced in the model. Vibration analyses such as eigen value analysis and unbalance response are carried out for the rotor system with misaligned shafts.

Experimental Assessment of the Emissions Benefits of a Ceramic Gas Turbine Combustor

Three subscale, cylindrical combustors were rig tested on natural gas at typical industrial gas turbine operating conditions. The intent of the testing was to determine the effect of combustor liner cooling on NOx and CO emissions. In order of decreasing liner cooling, a metal louvre-cooled combustor, a metal effusion-cooled combustor, and a backside-cooled ceramic (CFCC) combustor were evaluated. The three combustors were tested using the same lean-premixed fuel injector. Testing showed that reduced liner cooling produced lower CO emissions as reaction quenching near the liner wall was reduced. A reduction in CO emissions allows a reoptimization of the combustor air flow distribution to yield lower NOx emissions.

The Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Coatability of Diffusion Brazed CMSX-4 Single Crystal

Diffusion brazing is a joining process utilized both in the manufacture and repair of turbine blades and vanes. CMSX-4 is an investment cast, single crystal, Ni-based superalloy used for turbine blading and vanes, and has enhanced mechanical properties at elevated temperatures when compared to equiaxed, directionally solidified and first generation single crystal superalloys. The objective of this work was to develop a diffusion brazing procedure to achieve reliable joints in the manufacture of a hollow turbine blade (for a prototype engine in South Africa), and to verify the coatability of the diffusion brazed joints. Two commercially available brazing filler metals of composition Ni-15Cr-3.5B and Ni-7Cr-3Fe-4.5Si-3.2B-0.06C and a proprietary (wide gap) braze were utilized. With the aim of eliminating brittle centre-line boride phases, the effects of temperature and time on the joint microstructure were studied. Once the metallurgy of the joint was understood, tensile and stress rupture tests were undertaken, the latter being one of the severest tests to evaluate joint strength. The results demonstrated that the diffusion brazed joints could satisfy the specified stress rupture criterion of a minimum of 40 hrs life at 925 °C and 200 MPa. After mechanical property evaluations, an investigation into the effects of a low temperature high activity (LTHA) pack aluminide coating and a high temperature low activity (HTLA) pack aluminide coating on the braze joints was undertaken. The results showed that diffusion brazed joints could be readily coated.

Application of Transient and Dynamic Simulations to the U.S. Army T55-L-712 Helicopter Engine

The T55-L-712 turboshaft engine, used in the U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter, has been simulated using version 3.0 of the Advanced Turbine Engine Simulation Technique (ATEST) and version 1.0 of the Aerodynamic Turbine Engine Code (ATEC). The models simulate transient and dynamic engine operation from idle to maximum power and run on an IBM-compatible personal computer. ATEST is a modular one-dimensional component-level transient turbine engine simulation. The simulation is tailored to a specific engine using engine-specific component maps and an engine-specific supervisory subroutine that defines component interrelationships. ATEC is a one-dimensional, time-dependent, dynamic turbine engine simulation. ATEC simulates the operation of a gas turbine by solving the one-dimensional, time dependent Euler equations with turbomachinery source terms. The simulation uses elemental control volumes at the sub-component level (e.g. compressor stage). The paper discusses how limited information from a variety of sources was adapted for use in the T55 simulations and how commonality between the models allowed reuse of the same material. The first application of a new turbine engine model, ATEC, to a specific engine is also discussed. Calibration and operational verification of the simulations will be discussed, along with the status of the simulations.

Steady-State and Time-Dependent Experimental Results of a NACA-3506 Cascade in an Annular Channel

An experimental investigation of the steady-state and time-dependent aerodynamic behaviour of a compressor cascade in a ring channel was conducted at the Laboratoire de thermique appliquée et de turbomachines (LTT) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. The cascade consisted of 20 blades with a NACA-3506 profile, stagger angle of 40°, and solidity of 0.72 at midspan. Measurements were done for a number of incidence angles over a small range of inlet Mach numbers between ∼0.75 and ∼0.8 in order to examine the influence of an increasing angle of attack on the steady-state and time-dependent pressures. As the angle of attack increased a growing corner stall was observed at the hub and a supersonic zone appeared at the leading edge. The cascade was vibrated in bending mode with a constant amplitude at a reduced frequency of ∼0.42 at imposed interblade phase angles ranging from 0° to 324°, but also with each blade vibrating in a single blade vibration mode. The unsteady data showed that the cascade was in general damped with the minimum damping between ∼−36° to ∼+36° interblade phase angle for all examined incidence angles. The influence coefficient technique was used to identify the damping influence of each of the blades on itself (eigeninfluence) and of blades up and down the cascade (positive- and negative-sided) for different inlet incidence angles.

SiC High Temperature Electronics for Next Generation Aircraft Controls Systems

Several organizations, including Westinghouse, CREE, and ATM, as well as researchers in Japan and Europe, are working to develop SiC power devices for reliable, high power and high temperature environments in military, industrial, utility, and automotive applications. Other organizations, such as NASA Lewis and several universities, are also doing important basic work on basic SiC technology development. It has been recognized for two decades that the superior properties of SiC lead to range of devices with higher power, greater temperature tolerance, and significantly more radiation hardness than silicon or GaAs. This combination of superior thermal and electrical properties results in SiC devices that can operate at up to ten times the power density of Si devices for a given volume. Recent research has focused on the development of vertical metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (VMOSFET) power device technology, and complementary high speed, temperature-tolerant rectifier-diodes for power applications. We are also evaluating applications for field control thyristors (FCT) and MOS turn-off thyristors (MTO). The technical issues to be resolved for these devices are also common to other power device structures. The present paper reviews the relative benefits of various power devices structures, with emphasis on how the special properties of SiC enhance the desirability of specific device configurations as compared to the Si-based versions of these devices. Progress in SiC material quality and recent power device research will be reviewed, and the potential for SiC-based devices to operate at much higher temperatures than Si-based devices, or with enhanced reliability at higher temperatures will be stressed. We have already demonstrated 1000V breakdown, current densities of 1 kA/cm2, and measurements up to 400°C in small diodes. The extension of this work will enable the implementation of highly distributed aircraft power control systems, as well as actuator and signal conditioning electronics for next generation engine sensors, by permitting electronic circuits, sensors and smart actuators to be mounted on or at the engine.

Investigation of Wedge Probe Wall Proximity Effects: Part 2 — Numerical and Analytical Modelling

An experimental study of wedge probe wall proximity effects is described in Part 1 of this paper. Actual size and large scale model probes were tested to understand the mechanisms responsible for this effect, by which free stream pressure near the outer wall of a turbomachine may be over indicated by upto 20% dynamic head. CFD calculations of the flow over two-dimensional wedge shapes and a three-dimensional wedge probe were made in support of the experiments, and are reported in this paper. Key flow structures in the probe wake were identified which control the pressures indicated by the probe in a given environment. It is shown that probe aerodynamic characteristics will change if the wake flow structures are modified, for example by traversing close to the wall, or by calibrating the probe in an open jet rather than in a closed section wind tunnel. A simple analytical model of the probe local flows was derived from the CFD results. It is shown by comparison with experiment that this model captures the dominant flow features.

The Thermal-Mechanical Behavior of Selected Si3N4 and SiC Ceramics

This paper presents the results of a long term program initiated in December of 1984 to investigate the effects of environment (temperature, atmosphere, and stress) on the mechanical behavior of eight Si3N4 and three SiC ceramics being considered for heat engine applications. Microstructure, chemistry, and physical properties were determined. The mechanical behavior of these materials was investigated from room temperature to 1400°C by employing tests for flexural and tensile strength, dynamic, static and cyclic fatigue, and fracture toughness. The results obtained from these evaluations showed that the thermal mechanical behavior was quite varied, depending on the composition and processing methods employed. Batch to batch differences were also found to cause variances in the property values measured. Insights gained from this work about the failure mechanisms and potential service life are also discussed.