Influence of Rotor Blade Aerodynamic Loading on the Performance of a Highly Loaded Turbine Stage

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. Moustapha ◽  
U. Okapuu ◽  
R. G. Williamson

This paper describes the performance of a highly loaded single-stage transonic turbine with a pressure ratio of 3.76 and a stage loading factor of 2.47. Tests were carried out with three rotors, covering a range of blade Zweifel coefficient of 0.77 to 1.18. Detailed traversing at rotor inlet and exit allowed an assessment of rotor and stage performance as a function of blade loading under realistic operating conditions. The effect of stator endwall contouring on overall stage performance was also investigated using two different contours with the same vane design.

Author(s):  
Vikram Shyam ◽  
Ali Ameri ◽  
Jen-Ping Chen

In a previous study, vane-rotor shock interactions and heat transfer on the rotor blade of a highly loaded transonic turbine stage were simulated. The geometry consists of a high pressure turbine vane and downstream rotor blade. This study focuses on the physics of flow and heat transfer in the rotor tip, casing and hub regions. The simulation was performed using the URANS (Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) code MSU-TURBO. A low Reynolds number k-ε model was utilized to model turbulence. The rotor blade in question has a tip gap height of 2.1% of the blade height. The Reynolds number of the flow is approximately 3×106 per meter. Unsteadiness was observed at the tip surface that results in intermittent ‘hot spots’. It is demonstrated that unsteadiness in the tip gap is governed by inviscid effects due to high speed flow and is not strongly dependent on pressure ratio across the tip gap contrary to published observations that have primarily dealt with subsonic tip flows. The high relative Mach numbers in the tip gap lead to a choking of the leakage flow that translates to a relative attenuation of losses at higher loading. The efficacy of new tip geometry is discussed to minimize heat flux at the tip while maintaining choked conditions. In addition, an explanation is provided that shows the mechanism behind the rise in stagnation temperature on the casing to values above the absolute total temperature at the inlet. It is concluded that even in steady mode, work transfer to the near tip fluid occurs due to relative shearing by the casing. This is believed to be the first such explanation of the work transfer phenomenon in the open literature. The difference in pattern between steady and time-averaged heat flux at the hub is also explained.


2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikram Shyam ◽  
Ali Ameri ◽  
Jen-Ping Chen

In a previous study, vane-rotor shock interactions and heat transfer on the rotor blade of a highly loaded transonic turbine stage were simulated. The geometry consists of a high pressure turbine vane and a downstream rotor blade. This study focuses on the physics of flow and heat transfer in the rotor tip, casing, and hub regions. The simulation was performed using the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes code MSU-TURBO. A low Reynolds number k-ε model was utilized to model turbulence. The rotor blade in question has a tip gap height of 2.1% of the blade height. The Reynolds number of the flow is approximately 3×106/m. Unsteadiness was observed at the tip surface that results in intermittent “hot spots.” It is demonstrated that unsteadiness in the tip gap is governed by inviscid effects due to high speed flow and is not strongly dependent on pressure ratio across the tip gap contrary to published observations that have primarily dealt with subsonic tip flows. The high relative Mach numbers in the tip gap lead to a choking of the leakage flow that translates to a relative attenuation of losses at higher loading. The efficacy of new tip geometry is discussed to minimize heat flux at the tip while maintaining choked conditions. In addition, an explanation is provided that shows the mechanism behind the rise in stagnation temperature on the casing to values above the absolute total temperature at the inlet. It is concluded that even in steady (in a computational sense) mode, work transfer to the near tip fluid occurs due to relative shearing by the casing. This is believed to be the first such explanation of the work transfer phenomenon in the open literature. The difference in pattern between steady and time-averaged heat fluxes at the hub is also explained.


Author(s):  
Tomoki Kawakubo

For radial turbines used in automotive turbochargers, the importance of variable flow capacity by means of a variable geometry system is getting higher under the growing demands for improved engine performance and reduced engine emissions. To realize a high-performance and aeromechanically-reliable turbine stage, the unsteady flow phenomena caused by the rotor-stator interaction and their impact on the mechanical integrity must be understood deeply. In the present paper, the periodic disturbance generated by the rotor-stator interaction of a research turbine stage is investigated. The research purposes are (i) to extract the flow phenomenon which is responsible for the blade excitation, (ii) to identify the operating condition at which the influence of the extracted phenomenon becomes stronger, and (iii) to clarify how and where the disturbance energy is fed into the blades. Three dimensional unsteady stage CFD simulations are conducted to investigate the unsteady stage interaction. Two parameters are mainly focused: the nozzle vane angle and the stage pressure ratio. By changing the former, the effect of different degrees of reaction can be examined, while by changing the latter, the effect of different Mach number levels can be evaluated. The unsteady blade loading is extracted from the CFD result and coupled with the blade displacement obtained from the eigen vibratory mode analysis to examine the aeromechanical influence of the unsteady loading on the impeller blade excitation at various operating conditions. The nozzle shock wave and nozzle clearance flow are identified as the principal phenomena for the impeller blade excitation. At the mean section of the impeller blade the nozzle shock wave impinges on the S/S and diffracts on the P/S periodically, these two processes constitute high unsteady blade loading at the impeller L/E. At the shroud section the nozzle clearance flow generates high fluctuation in the relative flow direction to the impeller which results in high unsteadiness in the blade loading. These two phenomena are more important at vane closed conditions due to the higher nozzle loading. The higher the pressure ratio, the higher the normalized loading, though once the nozzle shock wave is established the normalized loading does not increase appreciably. Most of the excitation energy enters the blade at the impeller L/E at the closed condition, while it enters the blade both at the L/E and T/E at the open condition.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Michelassi ◽  
F. Martelli ◽  
R. De´nos ◽  
T. Arts ◽  
C. H. Sieverding

A transonic turbine stage is computed by means of an unsteady Navier–Stokes solver. A two-equation turbulence model is coupled to a transition model based on integral parameters and an extra transport equation. The transonic stage is modeled in two dimensions with a variable span height for the rotor row. The analysis of the transonic turbine stage with stator trailing edge coolant ejection is carried out to compute the unsteady pressure and heat transfer distribution on the rotor blade under variable operating conditions. The stator coolant ejection allows the total pressure losses to be reduced, although no significant effects on the rotor heat transfer are found both in the computer simulation and the measurements. The results compare favorably with experiments in terms of both pressure distribution and heat transfer around the rotor blade.


Author(s):  
V. Michelassi ◽  
F. Martelli ◽  
R. Dénos ◽  
T. Arts ◽  
C. H. Sieverding

A transonic turbine stage is computed by means of an unsteady Navier-Stokes solver. A two equation turbulence model is coupled to a transition model based on integral parameters and an extra transport equation. The transonic stage is modeled in two-dimensions with a variable span height for the rotor row. The analysis of the transonic turbine stage with stator trailing edge coolant ejection is carried out to compute the unsteady pressure and heat transfer distribution on the rotor blade under variable operating conditions. The stator coolant ejection allows the total pressure losses to be reduced although no significant effects on the rotor heat transfer are found in both the computer simulation and measurements. The results compare favorably with experiments both in terms of pressure distribution and heat transfer around the rotor blade.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. de la Loma ◽  
G. Paniagua ◽  
D. Verrastro ◽  
P. Adami

This paper reports the external convective heat transfer distribution of a modern single-stage transonic turbine together with the physical interpretation of the different shock interaction mechanisms. The measurements have been performed in the compression tube test rig of the von Karman Institute using single- and double-layered thin film gauges. The three pressure ratios tested are representative of those encountered in actual aeroengines, with M2,is ranging from 1.07 to 1.25 and a Reynolds number of about 106. Three different rotor blade heights (15%, 50%, and 85%) and the stator blade at midspan have been investigated. The measurements highlight the destabilizing effect of the vane left-running shock on the rotor boundary layer. The stator unsteady heat transfer is dominated by the fluctuating right-running vane trailing edge shock at the blade passing frequency.


Author(s):  
Michele Vascellari ◽  
Re´my De´nos ◽  
Rene´ Van den Braembussche

In transonic turbine stages, the exit static pressure field of the vane is highly non-uniform in the pitchwise direction. The rotor traverses periodically this non-uniform field and large static pressure fluctuations are observed around the rotor section. As a consequence the rotor blade is submitted to significant variations of its aerodynamic force. This contributes to the high cycle fatigue and may result in unexpected blade failure. In this paper an existing transonic turbine stage section is redesigned in the view of reducing the rotor stator interaction, and in particular the unsteady rotor blade forcing. The first step is the redesign of the stator blade profile to reduce the stator exit pitchwise static pressure gradient. For this purpose, a procedure using a genetic algorithm and an artificial neural network is used. Next, two new rotor profiles are designed and analysed with a quasi 3D Euler unsteady solver in order to investigate their receptivity to the shock interaction. One of the new profiles allows reducing the blade force variation by 50%.


Author(s):  
Mohammad R. Saadatmand

The aerodynamic design process leading to the production configuration of a 14 stage, 16:1 pressure ratio compressor for the Taurus 70 gas turbine is described. The performance of the compressor is measured and compared to the design intent. Overall compressor performance at the design condition was found to be close to design intent. Flow profiles measured by vane mounted instrumentation are presented and discussed. The flow through the first rotor blade has been modeled at different operating conditions using the Dawes (1987) three-dimensional viscous code and the results are compared to the experimental data. The CFD prediction agreed well with the experimental data across the blade span, including the pile up of the boundary layer on the corner of the hub and the suction surface. The rotor blade was also analyzed with different grid refinement and the results were compared with the test data.


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