Application of Quantitative Monochrome Calibrated Schlieren Technique in Highly-Loaded Turbine Cascade Test

As the load of the turbine components of aircraft engines continuously increases, shock loss becomes the dominant factor of turbine stage loss and has become a hot topic. Schlieren technique is one of the few effective experimental methods to observe and study shock wave and, thus, has been widely used. Nevertheless, limited by camera accuracy and computer image processing technology, quantitative schlieren analysis methods were difficult to achieve in engineering applications. Fortunately, several quantitative schlieren methods have been developed with the help of new digital technology. Applying schlieren technique to the highly-loaded turbine cascade test is of great significance to the study of shock wave in highly-loaded turbine cascades. In this paper, the results of quantitative density field and shock intensity and loss in the cascade are obtained by using a double reflection type monochrome schlieren device. The boundary condition of density field is obtained by pressure test, and MATLAB software is used as image processing calculation tool. The quantitative results of this paper prove the feasibility of applying quantitative schlieren method to highly-loaded turbine cascade tests. Also, the implemented image processing method and density boundary condition acquisition method are suitable and convenient for cascade flow and shock measurement tests.

A Geometry Generation Framework for Contoured Endwalls

The mainstream, or primary, flow in a gas turbine annulus is characteristically two-dimensional over the mid-span region of the blading, where the radial flow is almost negligible. Contrastingly, the flow in the endwall and tip regions of the blading is highly three-dimensional, characterised by boundary layer effects, secondary flow features and interaction with cooling flows. Engine designers employ geometric contouring of the endwall region in order to reduce secondary flow effects and subsequently minimise their contribution to aerodynamic loss. Such is the geometric variation of vane and blade profiles — which has become a proprietary art form — the specification of an effective endwall geometry is equally unique to each blade-row. Endwall design methods, which are often directly coupled to aerodynamic optimisers, are widely developed to assist with the generation of contoured surfaces. Most of these construction methods are limited to the blade-row under investigation, while few demonstrate the controllability required to offer a universal platform for endwall design. This paper presents a Geometry Generation Framework (GGF) for the generation of contoured endwalls. The framework employs an adaptable meshing strategy, capable of being applied to any vane or blade, and a versatile function-based approach to defining the endwall shape. The flexibility of this novel approach is demonstrated by recreating a selection of endwalls from the literature, which were selected for their wide-range of contouring approaches.

Parametric Studies on Aerodynamic Performance of Various Types of LP Turbine Airfoils for Aero-Engines Under the Influence Periodic Wakes and Freestream Turbulence

This study carries out parametric investigations on aerodynamic loss of various types of LP turbine airfoils characterized with different flow deceleration rates (DR) on their suction surfaces under the realistic flow conditions such as wake inflow and freestream turbulence. The Reynolds number examined in this study ranges from 57,000 to 170,000. As for the freestream turbulence, two levels of the turbulence are used, i.e., about 1.2% and 3.5%. Stagnation pressure distributions downstream of each of the airfoil cascades are measured by use of a Pitot tube, while steady-state and unsteady boundary-layers are measured over the rear part of suction surface and pressure side near the trailing edge using a single hot-wire probe. The measured boundary-layer data are used to estimate the cascade loss along with RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) simulations by taking advantage of the momentum-theory based Denton’s method. First, relationships between the cascade loss for each flow condition and DR are examined. The estimated loss values are then compared with the measured cascade loss to check the validity of the loss estimation method, which is a derivative of Denton’s method, under the realistic flow conditions.

A New Approach to Performance Mapping of Radial Inflow Turbines

The performance of radial inflow turbines, and specifically of turboexpanders for oil & gas applications, has been traditionally described in terms of efficiency versus velocity speed ratio (U/C) and discharge flow coefficient (Q/N). Especially in the testing phase, this latter parameter has been often preferred to the angle setting of moveable inlet guide vanes (IGV), which are standard equipment for most turboexpanders. In practice, the expander U/C has been often considered to give the performance backbone, while the Q/N ratio has been used for secondary corrections. Moreover, although the role of pressure ratio (PR) is recognized, its impact has been experimentally unexplored in those cases where testing facilities had capacity limitations. Eventually, in case of variable nozzles, the inlet flow capacity curve has been rarely included among the output performance variables, being the attention mainly focused on efficiency. In the present paper, beside an overview and an explanation of the physical meaning of traditional performance parameters, an alternative approach based on torque mapping versus U/C is introduced and discussed in detail. As a matter of fact, numerical and experimental data show smooth and regular trends when torque coefficient is used instead of adiabatic efficiency. Moreover, performance based on torque coefficient can be more conveniently extrapolated at extreme off-design conditions such as start-up (locked rotor condition) or full speed no load. The ease of extrapolation is particularly important for machine operability, which often requires accurate modeling of transient missions at very partial loads (as for instance during start-up or shut-down). Examples will be offered to show the advantages of torque coefficient representation and how sensitive this is to IGV setting and pressure.

An Advanced Single-Stage Turbine Facility for Investigating Non-Axisymmetric Contoured Endwalls in the Presence of Purge Flow

In modern gas turbines, endwall contouring (EWC) is employed to modify the static pressure field downstream of the vanes and minimise the growth of secondary flow structures developed in the blade passage. Purge flow (or egress) from the upstream rim-seal interferes with the mainstream flow, adding to the loss generated in the rotor. Despite this, EWC is typically designed without consideration of mainstream-egress interactions. The performance gains offered by EWC can be reduced, or in the limit eliminated, when purge air is considered. In addition, EWC can result in a reduction in sealing effectiveness across the rim seal. Consequently, industry is pursuing a combined design approach that encompasses the rim-seal, seal-clearance profile and EWC on the rotor endwall. This paper presents the design of, and preliminary results from a new single-stage axial turbine facility developed to investigate the fundamental fluid dynamics of egress-mainstream flow interactions. To the authors’ knowledge this is the only test facility in the world capable of investigating the interaction effects between cavity flows, rim seals and EWC. The design of optical measurement capabilities for future studies, employing volumetric velocimetry and planar laser induced fluorescence are also presented. The fluid-dynamically scaled rig operates at benign pressures and temperatures suited to these techniques and is modular. The facility enables expedient interchange of EWC (integrated into the rotor bling), blade-fillet and rim-seals geometries. The measurements presented in this paper include: gas concentration effectiveness and swirl measurements on the stator wall and in the wheel-space core; pressure distributions around the nozzle guide vanes at three different spanwise locations; pitchwise static pressure distributions downstream of the nozzle guide vane at four axial locations on the stator platform.

Investigation of Combustor-Turbine-Interaction in a Rotating Cooled Transonic High-Pressure Turbine Test Rig: Part 2 — Numerical Modelling and Simulation

Reducing the uncertainties in the prediction of turbine inlet conditions is a crucial aspect to improve aero engine designs and further increase engine efficiencies. To meet constantly stricter emission regulations, lean burn combustion could play a key role for future engine designs. However, these combustion systems are characterized by significant swirl for flame stabilization and reduced cooling air mass flows. As a result, substantial spatial and transient variations of the turbine inlet conditions are encountered. To investigate the effect of the combustor on the high pressure turbine, a rotating cooled transonic high-pressure configuration has been designed and investigated experimentally at the DLR turbine test facility ‘NG-Turb’ in Göttingen, Germany. It is a rotating full annular 1.5 stage turbine configuration which is coupled to a combustor simulator. The combustor simulator is designed to create turbine inlet conditions which are hydrodynamically representative for a lean-burn aero engine. A detailed description of the test rig and its instrumentation as well as a discussion of the measurement results is presented in part I of this paper. Part II focuses on numerical modeling of the test rig to further extend the understanding of the measurement results. Integrated simulations of the configuration including combustor simulator and nozzle guide vanes are performed for leading edge and passage clocking position and the effect on the hot streak migration is discussed. The simulation and experimental results at the combustor-turbine interface are compared showing a good overall agreement. The relevant flow features are correctly predicted in the simulations, proving the suitability of the numerical model for application to integrated combustor-turbine interaction analysis.

Turbocharger Turbine Rotor Design for Low U/C Values

Emission regulations worldwide demand better low-end torque from internal combustion engines. This pushes the operating condition of turbocharger turbine to lower U/C values, where U is the blade tip speed and C is the turbine isentropic spouting velocity which increases with turbine expansion ratio. Traditional radial and some mixed flow turbines, dictated by their rotor design, have their efficiency peaks at U/C value around 0.70, a value considerably larger than desired. In this paper, we deliberate the measures to shift the peak efficiency of turbine rotor toward a lower U/C value than 0.7. The underlying physics of these measures are first explained, CFD and test results where available are then given. Implications to mechanical design, manufacturing and others are also discussed. Finally, an example of a turbine rotor design is given implementing these measures. Test results showed better efficiency was obtained from the design at lower U/C values than from the baseline.

TURBODYNA: Centrifugal/Centripetal Turbomachinery Dynamic Simulator and its Application on a Mixed Flow Turbine

1D modelling is crucial for turbomachinery unsteady performance prediction and system response assessment. The purpose of the paper is to describe a newly developed 1D modelling (TURBODYNA) for turbomachinery. Different from classic 1D modelling, in TURBODYNA, rotor has been meshed and its unsteadiness due to flow field time scale is considered. Instead of direct using of performances maps, source terms are added in Euler equation set to simulate the rotor. By comparing 1D modelling with 3D CFD results, It shows that rotor unsteadiness is indispensable for a better prediction. In addition, different variables response to pulse differently. In the rotor, mass flow is close to quasi-steady while entropy is significantly unsteady. TURBODYNA can capture these features correctly and provide an accurate prediction on pressure wave transportation.

The Influence of Fan Root Flow on the Aerodynamics of a Low-Pressure Compressor Transition Duct

To reduce fuel-burn and CO2 emissions from aero gas turbines there is a drive towards very-high bypass ratio and smaller ultra-high-pressure ratio core engine technologies. However, this makes the design of the ducts connecting various compressor spools more challenging as the higher required radius change increases their aerodynamic loading. This is exacerbated for the duct which feeds the engine core as it must accept the relatively low-quality flow produced by the fan root. This is characterised by a hub-low pressure profile and large secondary flow structures which will inevitably increase loss and the likelihood of flow separation. Additionally, the desire for shorter, lighter nacelles means that the engine intake may be unable provide a uniform inlet flow to the fan when the aircraft is at an angle of attack or subject to cross winds. Any inlet distortion this generates can also further degrade the quality of the flow entering the core of the engine. This paper uses a combination of experiments and CFD to examine the effects of the inlet flow on the aerodynamics of an engine section splitter and transition duct designed to feed the low-pressure spool of a high bypass ratio turbofan. A fully annular test facility incorporating a 1½ stage axial compressor was used to compare the system performance of a rotor that produced a nominally flat profile with one that had a notably hub deficient flow. A RANS CFD model, employing a mixing plane between the rotor and Engine Section Stator (ESS) and a Reynolds Stress turbulence model, was then validated and used to further investigate the effects of increased inlet boundary layer thickness and bulk swirl distortion at rotor inlet. Overall, changes to the inlet condition were seen to have a surprisingly small effect on the flow at duct exit — i.e. the flow presented to the downstream compressor. Changes to the inlet did, however, generate increased secondary flows and degrade the performance of the ESS. This resulted in notably increased total pressure loss; in excess of 12% for the hub-low inlet and in excess of 30% at high inlet swirl where the flow in the ESS separated. However, the increased ESS wake structures, and the enhanced mixing, delayed separation in the duct suggesting that, overall the design was reasonably robust, albeit with a significant penalty in system loss.

Non-Dimensional Parameters for Comparing Conventional and Counter-Rotating Turbomachines

Counter-rotating turbomachines have the potential to be high efficiency, high power density devices. Comparisons between conventional and counter-rotating turbomachines in the literature make multiple and often contradicting conclusions about their relative performance. By adopting appropriate non-dimensional parameters, based on relative blade speed, the design space of conventional machines can be extended to include those with counter-rotation. This allows engineers familiar with conventional turbomachinery to transfer their experience to counter-rotating machines. By matching appropriate non-dimensional parameters the loss mechanisms directly affected by counter-rotation can be determined. A series of computational studies are performed to investigate the relative performance of conventional and counter-rotating turbines with the same non-dimensional design parameters. Each study targets a specific loss source, highlighting which phenomena are directly due to counter-rotation and which are solely due to blade design. The studies range from two-dimensional blade sections to three-dimensional finite radius stages. It is shown that, at hub-to-tip ratios approaching unity, with matched non-dimensional design parameters, the stage efficiency and work output are identical for both types of machine. However, a counter-rotating turbine in the study is shown to have an efficiency advantage over a conventional machine of up to 0.35 percentage points for a hub-to-tip ratio of 0.65. This is due to differences in absolute velocity producing different spanwise blade designs.