The Cumulative Effects of Forcing Function, Damping, and Mistuning on Blade Forced Response in a High Speed Centrifugal Compressor With Inlet Distortion

Author(s):  
Albert Kammerer ◽  
Reza S. Abhari

The vibratory response amplitude of a blade under forced response conditions depends primarily on the aerodynamic excitation amplitude, on damping, and on the effects of mistuning. The work presented here targets to identify the individual contribution of these parameters to the resultant response amplitude depending on the mass flow and the resonance case. For this purpose, measurements were performed of the excitation amplitude, damping, and response amplitude for a high-speed centrifugal compressor. The inlet flow field was intentionally distorted in order to target specific excitation cases of the first main blade mode. For the compressor used, it was found that the overall damping of the first mode could be considered to be constant for any resonance case and mass flow. For this reason, case-to-case variations in the blade-averaged response amplitude were found to depend solely on the aerodynamic excitation amplitude due to inlet flow distortion. Based on an examination of the aerodynamic work distribution during resonance, zones of either excitation or damping work on the blade surface could be successfully identified. This enabled the conclusion to be drawn that energy transfer is a very localized phenomenon and may significantly change as the mass flow is altered, thereby introducing a redistribution of the blade excitation function. The effect of mistuning was shown to alter aerodynamic damping and response amplitude. However, the variation in aerodynamic damping of individual blades was relatively low, thus suggesting that blade-to-blade variation in response amplitude is primarily driven by energy localization in the sense typically experienced with coupled and mistuned structures.

Author(s):  
K. Vogel ◽  
A. D. Naidu ◽  
M. Fischer

The prediction of aerodynamic damping is a key step towards high fidelity forced response calculations. Without the knowledge of absolute damping values, the resulting stresses from forced response calculations are often afflicted with large uncertainties. In addition, with the knowledge of the aerodynamic damping the aeroelastic contribution to mistuning can be considered. The first section of this paper compares two methods of one-way-coupled aerodynamic damping computations on an axial turbine. Those methods are: the aerodynamic influence coefficient, and the travelling wave mode method. Excellent agreement between the two methods is found with significant differences in required computational time. The average deviation between all methods for the transonic turbine is 4%. Additionally, the use of transient blade row methods with phase lagged periodic boundaries are investigated and the influence of periodic boundaries on the aerodynamic influence coefficients are assessed. A total of 23 out of 33 passages are needed to remove all influence from the periodic boundaries for the present configuration. The second part of the paper presents the aerodynamic damping calculations for a centrifugal compressor. Simulations are predominantly performed using the aerodynamic influence coefficient approach. The influence of the periodic boundaries and the recirculation channel is investigated. All simulations are performed on a modern turbocharger turbine and centrifugal compressor using ANSYS CFX V17.0 with an inhouse pre- and post-processing procedure at ABB Turbocharging. The comparison to experimental results concludes the paper.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Zemp ◽  
Albert Kammerer ◽  
Reza S. Abhari

Blade failure in turbomachinery is frequently caused by an excessive resonant response. Forced response of the blades originates from unsteady fluid structure interactions as conditioned in the inlet section by duct bends, struts, or inlet guide vanes. This paper presents the computational part of a research effort that focuses on the blade forced response in a centrifugal compressor. Unsteady fluid flow simulations are used to quantify the forcing function acting on the compressor blades due to inlet flow distortion. The measured inlet flow distribution is applied as inlet boundary conditions in the computation. The unsteady investigation provided the temporal evolution of the distorted flow through the compressor. The time-resolved blade pressure distribution showed the temporal evolution of the dynamic load on the blade surface caused by the inlet distortion. The results suggest that the forcing function is most sensitive in the leading edge region due to inlet angle variations. Toward the impeller stability line the increase in incidence caused separation on the suction side of the main blade and therefore considerably altered the amplitude and the phase angle of the unsteadiness. The investigation of the effect of idealizing the inlet flow distribution on the forcing function showed an increase in the peak amplitude of approximately 30% compared with the actual inlet flow distribution.


Author(s):  
Albert Kammerer ◽  
Reza S. Abhari

Centrifugal compressors operating at varying rotational speeds, such as in helicopters or turbochargers, can experience forced response failure modes. The response of the compressors can be triggered by aerodynamic flow nonuniformities such as with diffuser-impeller interaction or with inlet distortions. The work presented here addresses experimental investigations of forced response in centrifugal compressors with inlet distortions. This research is part of an ongoing effort to develop related experimental techniques and to provide data for validation of computational tools. In this work, measurements of blade surface pressure and aerodynamic work distribution were addressed. A series of pressure sensors were designed and installed on rotating impeller blades and simultaneous measurements with blade-mounted strain gauges were performed under engine representative conditions. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first publication, which presents comprehensive experimental unsteady pressure measurements during forced response, for high-speed radial compressors. The experimental data were obtained for both resonance and off-resonance conditions with uniquely tailored inlet distortion. This paper covers aspects relating to the design of fast response pressure sensors and their installation on thin impeller blades. Additionally, sensor properties are outlined with a focus on calibration and measurement uncertainty estimations. The second part of this paper presents unsteady pressure results taken for a number of inlet distortion cases. It will be shown that the intended excitation order due to inlet flow distortion is of comparable magnitude to the second and third harmonics, which are consistently observed in all measurements. Finally, an experimental method will be outlined that enables the measurement of aerodynamic work on the blade surface during resonant crossing. This approach quantifies the energy exchange between the blade and the flow in terms of cyclic work along the blade surface. The phase angle between the unsteady pressure and the blade movement will be shown to determine the direction of energy transfer.


Author(s):  
Armin Zemp ◽  
Albert Kammerer ◽  
Reza S. Abhari

Blade failure in turbomachinery is frequently caused by an excessive resonant response. Forced response of the blades originates from unsteady fluid structure interactions as conditioned in the inlet section by duct bends, struts or inlet guide vanes. This paper presents the computational part of a research effort that focuses on the blade forced response in a centrifugal compressor. Unsteady fluid flow simulations are used to quantify the forcing function acting on the compressor blades due to inlet flow distortion. The measured inlet flow distribution is applied as inlet boundary conditions in the computation. The unsteady investigation provided the temporal evolution of the distorted flow through the compressor. The time-resolved blade pressure distribution showed the temporal evolution of the dynamic load on the blade surface caused by the inlet distortion. The results suggest that the forcing function is most sensitive in the leading edge region due to inlet angle variations. Towards the impeller stability line the increase in incidence caused separation on the suction side of the main blade and therefore considerably altered the amplitude and the phase angle of the unsteadiness. The investigation of the effect of idealizing the inlet flow distribution on the forcing function showed an increase of the peak amplitude of approximately 30% compared to the actual inlet flow distribution.


2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Zemp ◽  
Reza S. Abhari

Blade failure in turbomachinery is frequently caused by an excessive resonant response. Forced response of the blades typically originates from unsteady fluid structure interactions. This paper presents the experimental and computational results of a research effort focusing on the blade forced response in a high-speed centrifugal compressor caused by the downstream vaned diffuser. The potential field from the downstream vaned diffuser acts as an unsteady impeller relative circumferentially nonuniform disturbance. In this work the effect of varying the radial gap between impeller exit and diffuser vane leading edges was examined. Dynamic strain gauges, which were installed on the blade surfaces, were used to measure the forced response levels of the blades and to estimate the damping properties for different compressor operating conditions and vaneless gap dimensions. Unsteady fluid flow simulations were used to quantify the forcing function acting on the compressor blades due to impeller-diffuser interaction. The time-resolved blade pressure distribution showed the temporal evolution of the dynamic load on the blade surface caused by the diffuser's potential field. The magnitude of the vibratory stress levels was found to depend on the radial gap size, the blade damping properties, and on the compressor operating point. The variation of the radial gap size resulted in a shift of the impeller-diffuser interaction zone towards the main blade leading edge by up to 5% of the streamwise location.


Author(s):  
Z. S. Spakovszky ◽  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
C. M. van Schalkwyk ◽  
K. L. Suder ◽  
...  

This paper presents the first attempt to stabilize rotating stall in a single-stage transonic axial flow compressor with inlet distortion using active feedback control. The experiments were conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center on a single-stage transonic core compressor inlet stage. An annular array of 12 jet-injectors located upstream of the rotor tip was used for forced response testing and to extend the compressor stable operating range. Results for radial distortion are reported in this paper. First, the effects of radial distortion on the compressor performance and the dynamic behavior were investigated. Control laws were designed using empirical transfer function estimates determined from forced response results. The transfer functions indicated that the compressor dynamics are decoupled with radial inlet distortion, as they are for the case of undistorted inlet flow. Single-input-single-output (SISO) control strategies were therefore used for the radial distortion controller designs. Steady axisymmetric injection of 4% of the compressor mass flow resulted in a reduction in stalling mass flow of 9.7% relative to the case with inlet distortion and no injection. Use of a robust H∞ controller with unsteady non-axisymmetric injection achieved a further reduction in stalling mass flow of 7.5%, resulting in a total reduction of 17.2%.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. S. Spakovszky ◽  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
C. M. van Schalkwyk ◽  
K. L. Suder ◽  
...  

This paper presents the first attempt to stabilize rotating stall in a single-stage transonic axial flow compressor with inlet distortion using active feedback control. The experiments were conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center on a single-stage transonic core compressor inlet stage. An annular array of 12 jet-injectors located upstream of the rotor tip was used for forced response testing and to extend the compressor stable operating range. Results for radial distortion are reported in this paper. First, the effects of radial distortion on the compressor performance and the dynamic behavior were investigated. Control laws were designed using empirical transfer function estimates determined from forced response results. The transfer functions indicated that the compressor dynamics are decoupled with radial inlet distortion, as they are for the case of undistorted inlet flow. Single-input-single-output (SISO) control strategies were therefore used for the radial distortion controller designs. Steady axisymmetric injection of 4 percent of the compressor mass flow resulted in a reduction in stalling mass flow of 9.7 percent relative to the case with inlet distortion and no injection. Use of a robust H∞ controller with unsteady nonaxisymmetric injection achieved a further reduction in stalling mass flow of 7.5 percent, resulting in a total reduction of 17.2 percent.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. S. Spakovszky ◽  
C. M. van Schalkwyk ◽  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
K. L. Suder ◽  
...  

This paper presents the first attempt to stabilize rotating stall in a single-stage transonic axial flow compressor with inlet distortion using active feedback control. The experiments were conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center on a single-stage transonic core compressor inlet stage. An array of 12 jet injectors located upstream of the compressor was used for forced response testing and feedback stabilization. Results for a circumferential total pressure distortion of about one dynamic head and a 120 deg extent (DC(60) = 0.61) are reported in this paper. Part I (Spakovszky et al., 1999) reports results for radial distortion. Control laws were designed using empirical transfer function estimates determined from forced response results. Distortion introduces coupling between the harmonics of circumferential pressure perturbations, requiring multivariable identification and control design techniques. The compressor response displayed a strong first spatial harmonic, dominated by the well-known incompressible Moore–Greitzer mode. Steady axisymmetric injection of 4 percent of the compressor mass flow resulted in a 6.2 percent reduction of stalling mass flow. Constant gain feedback, using unsteady asymmetric injection, yielded a further range extension of 9 percent. A more sophisticated robust H∞ controller allowed a reduction in stalling mass flow of 10.2 percent relative to steady injection, yielding a total reduction in stalling mass flow of 16.4 percent.


Author(s):  
Bugra H. Ertas ◽  
Huageng Luo

The present work focuses on the dynamic characterization of oil-free wire mesh dampers. The research was aimed at determining nonlinear stiffness and damping coefficients while varying the excitation amplitude, excitation frequency, and static eccentricity. Force coefficients were extracted using a forced response method and also a transient vibration method. Due to the nonlinearity of the dampers, controlled amplitude single frequency excitation tests were required for the forced excitation method, whereas the transient response was analyzed using a Hilbert transform procedure. The experimental results showed that eccentricity has minimal influence on force coefficients, whereas increasing excitation amplitude and frequency yields decreasing stiffness and damping trends. In addition to the parameter identification tests, a rotating test was performed demonstrating high-speed damping capability of the oil-free wire mesh dampers to 40,000 rpm, which was also simulated using a nonlinear rotordynamic response to imbalance analysis.


Author(s):  
Z. S. Spakovszky ◽  
C. M. van Schalkwyk ◽  
H. J. Weigl ◽  
J. D. Paduano ◽  
K. L. Suder ◽  
...  

This paper presents the first attempt to stabilize rotating stall in a single-stage transonic axial flow compressor with inlet distortion using active feedback control. The experiments were conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center on a single-stage transonic core compressor inlet stage. An array of 12 jet injectors located upstream of the compressor was used for forced response testing and feedback stabilization. Results for a circumferential total pressure distortion of about one dynamic head and a 120° extent (DC(60) = 0.61) are reported in this paper. Part I (Spakovszky et al. (1998)) reports results for radial distortion. Control laws were designed using empirical transfer function estimates determined from forced response results. Distortion introduces coupling between the harmonics of circumferential pressure perturbations, requiring multi-variable identification and control design techniques. The compressor response displayed a strong first spatial harmonic, dominated by the well known incompressible Moore-Greitzer mode. Steady axisymmetric injection of 4% of the compressor mass flow resulted in a 6.2% reduction of stalling mass flow. Constant gain feedback, using unsteady asymmetric injection, yielded a further range extension of 9%. A more sophisticated robust controller allowed a reduction in stalling mass flow of 10.2% relative to steady injection, yielding a total reduction in stalling mass flow of 16.4%.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document